Although advancements in England declined due to their new laws, advancements in other countries were flourishing.  Between 1885-1886 two Germans Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler built what many people regard as the first petrol driven car.  Although at the same time an Englishman, Edward Butler, was building a 3-wheeler powered by an engine which worked by mineral hydro-carbons. lt is said that his plans were exhibited two years before Benz and Daimler, and the first recordings ot his work with improvements for further hydro-carbon engines came in 1887. Three years later on the 12th December 1890 with regard to his vehicle (The Butler Petrol Driven Cycle) he wrote;

"..the authorities do not countenance its use on the roads,and I have abandoned in consequence any further development of it~

(Butler.The English Mechanic. 1890)

His machine had two large wheels at the front which steered the vehicle, and one rear wheel powered by a two-cylinder engine. The water cooled engine worked by a spray of Benzoline or petroleum product carburetted with air.  The braking device was simply achieved by pressing a pedal which forced two small rollers on to the ground and so lifting the drive wheel from the road!

Benz, who by sheer coincidence lived just fifty miles from Daimler, was granted a patent for his motor vehicle on 26th January 1886, and a few months later Daimler installed one of his experimental petrol engines into a horseless carriage. Benz's patent application simply and precisely read, 'A vehicle operated by a gas engine ... whose gas is generated from vaporizable substances by an apparatus carried on the vehicle'. His car was a 3-wheeler with the single wheel at the front. The vehicle was fitted with a gas engine driven by the vapour of Ligroin or Benzine and was water cooled.  Even though Daimler's car was a 4-wheeler, Benz continued with the 3-wheeled configuration for many years producing a number of models before he eventually turned to the 4-wheeler models. One reason for this was that on the continent Daimler's car with the added wheel had a much greater advantages owing to the roads being mud tracks, most had two ruts either side carved in by carriages continuously using them. The centre of the road therefore was a pile of churned up ground, and for a 3-wheeler, the central wheel travelling through this made the journey very uncomfortable, as well as placing a great deal of strain on to the body of the vehicle. Another disadvantage for the 3-wheeler was that even though it may have been perfect in its power to weight ratio, its shape (at the time) provided limitations to the body design on it.

The wealthy purchasers of these early motor cars insisted on keeping all the comforts and weather protection they had become accustomed to with the horse or steam-drawn carriage, and so motor manufacturers built cars they knew would sell, despite being large and cumbersome. Motoring was legalised by the passing of the "Emancipation Act" in 1896. This act at last defined the 'light locomotive' (under three tons.) and relieved it of the three persons in attendance requirement. This act also increased the speed limit to 12 mph (19 km/h). This in turn encouraged many manufacturers to develop lighter vehicles with little or no bodywork on them.

John Henry Knight of Farnham, Surrey (UK) is recognised as being the maker of the first British built motor car of which he exhibited at the Crystal Palace show in 1896.  His car, a small 3-wheeler made to seat two, was billed as the only British built car propelled by internal combustion.  Before Knight's car there is some dispute as to the first petrol car to be driven on British soil.  Benz's Patent Motor Wagen is one contender of which Mercedes-Benz tell me it was the Roger Benz 3-wheeler which was imported to Britain in 1894, though no one knows how. The first records of this car are in 1913 when the Science Museum in Kensington brought the vehicle from a Miss.E.Bath for the sum of £5.  Kensington Science Museum's minutes of 8th May 1913 state

" The car came into the possession of Miss Bath from her brother, a motor engineer, who probably took it in exchange, but at present nothing more is known of its history. lt is,of course not possible to say with certainty when it came into this country, but I should be inclined to the idea that it was ordered by someone who saw the Roger car at Paris in 1889. [Emile Roger made the Benz car under licence in Paris.) It may even have been imported by Roger himself in order to exploit the cars in this country. ln any case it is highly probable that it was the first petrol motor car to be imported,and there is little doubt that it is the earliest period car we are likely to have an opportunity of acquiring.I have no hesitations the refore, in recommending that the car be purchased for the sum of £5.

However the National Motor Museum at Bealieu (UK) say more records exist for the 1895 3-wheeler of John Knight.  In the same year that Knight was producing his car, a chap called Georges Bouton developed his high revolution engine. This 137cc air cooled single cylinder engine was capable of 2000 revolutions per minute and was extremely successful and efficient. The engine was used to power numerous makes of 3-wheelers all over the world, the influence of which developed even further the motorcycle and 3-wheeler. By 1900 3-wheeler manufacturers were numerous, many sprouting up over night and even bicycle makers tried there hands at producing their own 3-wheeler.

One of these companies was the Riley Cycles Company.  At the National Cycle Show in 1900, Riley's stand displayed not only bicycles, but a Royal Riley motor tricycle powered by a 2.5hp De Dion type engine. By the end of 1902 the directors at Riley believed that such 3-wheelers were in great demand and so experiments began to build a light 3-wheeled vehicle for two persons. ln 1903 whilst Riley were building the Moto-bi motorcycle, the 1903 Motor car act was passed which raised the speed limit from 12 to 20 mph and required all cars to carry a number plate, and so 1904 saw a new 3-wheeler based upon this machine. This tri-car was fitted with a larger engine and an extra seat placed between the two front wheels. An article in the' Motor Cycle Magazine 1904, after testing the vehicle summed up with;

'Altogether we can confidently say it is a thoroughly practical and road worthy tricar"

(The Motor Cycle Magazine.5th September 1904.)

After numerous changes it was not until 1906 that the vehicle took on a definite car shape, the cycle seat was exchanged for a bucket seat and a steering wheel replaced the handlebars. By 1907 Riley had reached the pinnacle of their development, the 1907 model being basically the 1906 version, except for a cleaner external appearance and fully enclosed engine. lt was Riley's 3-wheelers, along with numerous newly acquired competition results that made Riley a profitable business. However since 1905 a 4-wheeler was being developed and this proceeded the 3-wheelers in 1907.

Previous

Next