Autocar Number One

The second Wolseley car was built during 1896, and it made its first public appearance at the National Cycle Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in December of that year. It was described in The Autocar of December 12th, 1896, with a second article in the same paper on January 9th, 1897. The Engineer of December 25th, 1896 and the Automotor Journal of February. 1897, also described this car. The Engineer description is quoted below: -

This car, which was exhibited at the National Show, is in the form of a dogcart, the seats being arranged for two people back to back. It has three wheels, the one steering wheel in front being similar to that of a bath chair. The framework throughout consists of tubes, rendering it very light and yet strong. The engine is arranged in the body of the car under the seats, and is entirely hidden from view by light wooden panels, which are lined with thin sheet iron to prevent the oil soaking into the wood.

The engine works on the well-known Otto cycle, and has two cylinders, which are water-jacketed, the water being carried in a tank under the front seat. The crankpins are fixed directly into the two flywheels, and are case hardened and ground up to fit the hardened steel bushes in the ends of the connecting rods.

The differential speed gear is of a new and special design, particulars of which we may be able to describe in a future issue, together with a section of the car. The forward and backward motions, and the application of the brake are all worked with one lever, which can be fixed either side of the car.

The firing is effected by an electric spark from a small accumulator, which is carried in a box in the front footboard. The engine is made in a very substantial manner, and, being designed for hard use, has good long bearings, cast-steel frame, etc., and an aluminium bed-plate. All the bearings are fitted with grease lubricators, which will last for a considerable time without replenishing. The exhaust discharges on to the ground, after assisting to cool the water in the tank. One good feature about the car is the handy way in which the seats, etc., are arranged to allow of ready examination of the motor and gearing.

St John C Nixon, in his book "Wolseley, a Saga of the Motoring Industry" (published by G T Foulis & Co in 1949), has the following to say about this second Wolseley car:

In June, 1898, Austin successfully completed a journey of 250 miles from Birmingham to Rhyl and back on this car - a remarkable performance.

A few years before his death, Lord Austin was questioned whether this journey was accomplished on this car whilst it had the original epicyclic gear or after it had been converted to belt drive. Although, he was not sure on the point, he said that, so far as he could remember, it had belt transmission. This would seem to be confirmed by the fact that shortly after the date of this historic journey, the car was abandoned in favour of a four-wheeled model. There are a number of features of this second Wolseley car as it exists to-day, which are of striking interest, and the generally out of the chassis is a testimony to the advanced ideas of its designer. Independent rear-wheel suspension still remains largely an unsolved problem, but it is incorporated in this Wolseley car of 1896-97.

The frame is constructed of steel tubing throughout, and its side members are triangulated and braced in precisely the same manner as in the first car. Austin was so impressed with this design that he protected it by a Patent No. 12394, dated June 6th, 1896, which is described in detail in the Automotor Journal of December, 1897.At the front the side members contract and link together into a tube, forming the steering head, exactly as in a bicycle. There are also patents in connection with this, entitled " Improved means for the use of clamping the ball head of a cycle or other vehicles and the adaptation of a part thereof for other uses." The number of this is 4840, dated February 28th, 1898. The front wheel, by which the car is steered, is carried in bicycle-type forks, at the top of which is a tiller. The construction of the main frame provides a considerable degree of " springiness " to the front wheel, which is otherwise unsprung.

Bronze is used very extensively in the construction of this vehicle. Presumably, this was due to the case with which this metal could be cast and worked, and, in spite of its age, no deterioration of any of these parts has taken place. The following major parts are constructed of this material: Cylinder block and crankcase (the whole is machined in one casting), driving pulleys, the massive casting which carries the countershaft and houses the differential gear, the large diameter brake rims and the water pump. In addition, there are a host of smaller bronze castings, in fact, this metal is used almost exclusively except for the moving parts of the engine and the steel tubing in the chassis construction.

The engine, which has a bore of 4-in. and a stroke of 4-15/16-in. is mounted horizontally with the cylinder to the rear. The square casting which constitutes the combined crankcase and cylinder block is fitted with a wet liner, held in position by four studs. The cylinder head, which is air cooled by porcupine spikes, houses the sparking plug axially and the valves vertically; the lower being the mechanically operated exhaust and the upper the automatic inlet. A governor driven frictionally by one of the two flywheels, operates by holding open the exhaust valve. The radiator is unusual and consists of eight tubes, carried longitudinally below the chassis. Within the tubes are smaller tubes, providing an annular space for the water. Cool air passing through the smaller diameter tubes reduced the temperature of the water as, in an opposite manner, hot gases are used to heat the water in a steam boiler. A small eccentrically operated pump returns the water to a header tank under the passenger's seat.

Two speeds are provided, giving an overall ratio of 9.6 and 7.2 to 1, and the primary drive is by flat belts. Fixed and loose pulleys are carried on the countershaft, and the gears are changed by means of a hand lever on the right of the driver which shifts the belts from fixed to loose pulleys, through spring-loaded striking forks. The intermediate drive is by a roller chain to an axle easing which is bolted rigidly to the chassis. This casing contains both a reduction gear and a differential, and at the outside extremities of the half shafts are spur gears which transmit the drive to the 30-in. diameter rear wheels.

The final drive is perhaps the most interesting feature of the car, seeing that it incorporates independent springing. The drawing of this mechanism makes the principle clear, and it will be seen that the rear wheels are carried on swinging. brackets which have, as their fulcrum, the end of the axle casing. Lugs are provided on these brackets and attached to them are rods which are free to move within a cylinder, the opposite end of which is anchored to the chassis frame. A spring is enclosed between the ends of the rod and the free end of the cylinder, and consequently a considerable amount of movement of the rear wheel, in a general vertical direction, may take place; this is resisted by the spring being compressed within the cylinder. The movement of the rear wheel is actually in an are struck from the centre of the axle housing so that the spur gear on the end of the half shaft and the gear wheel attached to the road wheel which it drives, are in constant mesh.

Two brakes are provided, both operating on rims bolted to the rear wheels. The footbrake is actuated by a rocking lever extending the full width of the driver's footboard as in car No. 1, coupled to a brake shoe acting on the rim of each rear wheel. The handbrake is actuated by a lever on the right-hand side of the vehicle and coupled to another pair of brake shoes.