Auto History - Steam Automobiles

RIKER ELECTRIC
Around the turn of the century, electric cars emerged as the elegant solution to horseless transportation. Because EVs were not temperamental or difficult to operate, they became the vehicle of choice among women. And many lawyers and physicians preferred them because they were clean. Charging at home also was considered a luxury, certainly more refined than pumping gas and adding oil. The 1897 Riker Victoria (shown) was one of the more refined examples of an electric car of that era, although it was one of the worst in terms of range. The stylish bodywork took precedent over battery placement, shortening its range to about 20 miles per charge. Still, that was far more than the average driver of the day ever needed. A.L. Riker, founder of Riker Electric Motor Co. in Brooklyn, blamed the car's limited range not on its design, but on the lack of a satisfactory battery technology. During a 1897 meeting of the Electric Vehicle Manufacturers, Riker said he had "yet to learn of a battery of high-efficiency and low-depreciation, which was the type required" for electric vehicles.

EARLY FWD CAR
The Horseless Age
Walter Christie's patent application for a front-drive car appeared in our June 29, 1904 issue. The powerplant sat transversely between the front wheels, with the crankshaft connected to the front wheels through, " a novel and improved transmission-gearing and clutch mechanism. The clutch was used to couple and de-couple the front wheels from the engine. It also was used to shift between low and direct gear, or reverse. The short halfshafts ended in Hooke joints, and the steering pivot was carried on the outer stub shaft. Walter Christie specialized in racing cars and "motor-propelled war chariots, including those of the amphibian type." The front-drive system shown here was used successfully by Christie on some of his early racing cars, but the lack of a suitable transaxle design likely doomed this novel approach.

DETROIT AUTO SHOW
Unlike serious motor vehicle exhibitions such as the Paris show, the 1903 Detroit Auto Show was actually an adjunct to a Sportsmen's show that ran at the Detroit Armory. The Horseless Age covered the event in its February 18, 1903 issue, stating that the event only had about 3000 visitors per day, and that most of them did not come to see the cars. "To put it mildly, the show from the standpoint of the automobile exhibitors was hardly a success," our editors reported. "The growling of the 200 or more dogs and the noise in the shooting gallery put a hard strain on the nerves of some attendants." We concluded that a dog show was not the proper place to promote the automobile.

SPRUNG POWERTRAINS
This device, written about in our May 24, 1899 issue, was designed to transmit power "jerk-free" by attaching the drive gear to a spring-mounted arm. A casing was fitted around the solid axle connecting the left and right wheels. It carried the lower spring arm and axle assembly. This could rotate fore and aft, changing the position of the drive pulley. Acceleration and bumps compressed the spring and moved the pulley forward, which slackened the belt. Under braking, the spring expanded, stretching the belt tight. This was, the inventor claimed, especially effective when an electric motor was used for both drive and braking. About this same time, A.B. Andrews of Center Point, Iowa was taking spring theory a bit farther. He used a clock spring type mechanism to drive a vehicle. His prototype was his child's baby carriage. A winding mechanism was fitted to permit the "engine" to rewind on downhill sections, or to provide self-winding on level roads.

RACING
Growing interest in the automobile spawned the inevitable sport of racing. Henry Ford was one of the pioneers, building his first race car in 1901. Ford's 26 hp racer was tested against a Winton in October of that year, winning the race handily with an average speed of 43.5 mph. Mr. Ford later claimed to have done a flying half-mile in 26 seconds (69.2 mph), and defied any foreign machine to challenge him. In France, speed was also a topic of the day. M. Serpollet drove his torpedo-shaped steam-car (shown) to a flying-kilometer record at a speed of near 75 mph. It broke the world's record in April 1902. Two years later, Ford drove his famous 999 racer over a record flying mile, averaging 92.3 mph. In the same year, Ford's 999 set a speed record on an oval track at nearly 60 mph.

STEAM POWER
Steam power was well understood in early automotive days, but its use in passenger vehicles peaked quickly and disappeared. Because of its limitations in range and safety, it was best suited for industrial applications such as locomotives or overland freight trains as shown in this 1899 ad. Steam automobiles couldn't carry enough water to provide acceptable mileage, and the drive to make passenger vehicles lighter forced boilermakers to compromise integrity for weight. Many tragic boiler explosions resulted, tainting the image of the steam-powered car. By the time a reliable kerosene-fired boiler came on the market, along with more steam-efficient engines, demand for the technology was surpassed by interest in electric and gasoline power.

By the time a reliable kerosene-fired boiler came on the market, along with more steam-efficient engines, demand for the technology was surpassed by interest in electric and gasoline power.
Useful materials about auto on a site engineturbine.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roman_Rusak_Antonov

Original article

Ford-Lincoln 1930's K-Series V12 Fine Luxury Automobiles

The Lincoln K-Series V12, often referred to simply as "Ford's K Series", were a line of high end luxury cars built by Lincoln Division of the Ford Motor Company during the economic depression of the 1930's. Specifically Lincoln K-Series vehicles were built between 1932 & 1939. It was a case of an ultra-deluxe premium product being delivered and marketing to the automotive market at the wrong time. Perhaps it could be said that there are "always people with money" and its important to have a flagship for your brand - in this case the competition was against the V12 Cadillac road cars - yet still Ford and its Lincoln division struggled valiantly to keep the sales price under the $ 4,000 mark.

The history of the Lincoln K-Series V12 model line goes as such. Mr. Henry Leland had resigned from Cadillac in 1917, just after WW1 ended, and evolved a new car for 1921 which he branded and named "Lincoln". Lincoln was not a part of the Ford empire yet - it was its own entity. This time period in terms of the automotive industry in the US and worldwide was one of "consolidation" where smaller more entrepreneurial auto making firms where gobbled up by larger concerns with more financial, marketing and sales resources. Lincoln was one such entity being acquired by Ford in 1922.

Mr. Henry Ford himself was happy to let the Lincoln division of his company to carry on making small numbers of exclusive for over ten years before the first "Ford-Lincoln" (the Zephyr) was designed. The new management carried on building "Lincoln V8s" for ten years, but in 1932 they announced the splendid and rather exclusive K-Series cars one of which, (specifically the KB model), was given a V12 engine of 7.3 liters.

These cars were beautifully made and were downright impressive rather than just attractive to look at and admire as fixtures of the road. Their quantity-production precision engineering was obvious, but they were simply just one of seven "V12's" on the US auto market in 1932. Hence sales figures were low. Just over 2,000 were sold in the 1933 automotive marketing and sales year. Even though the KA, which had been V8 powered, acquired a smaller edition 6.2 liter V12 in 1933, it alone had a retail sticker price of $ 2,700, which thus put it into the luxury end of the auto market out of reach of what was then considered "rich" ( but impoverished) Americans. Even so there was much interest in the technical details overall.

The chassis and suspension were entirely conventional, but the engine was a mixture of both old and new. Among its technical details were a 65-degree angle between banks (60 degrees was then the norm and would of given perfect balance), side valves and detachable cylinder blocks on a light-alloy crankcase. There was synchromesh in the gearbox (all America was following GM's 1928 example), and a freewheel feature into the setup. Surprisingly brakes were mechanically operated, but they had a vacuum "servo" to assist the driver or chauffeur.

A new model Lincoln was announced in 1934 to replace the original KAs and KBs; this had a slightly smaller engine of 6.8 liters (414 cubic inches), aluminum cylinder heads and a maximum top speed of 100 miles per hour mph. There was yet important restyling a year of two later down the road. Yet sales continued to decline and grind down with the last of the K-Series Lincoln V12s being built and rolling out of Ford-Lincoln production facilities in 1939.

Yet the Lincoln name and exclusive marquee had been established by this product. The Ford designed Lincoln-Zephyr, which carried this prestige brand name which both, was an ultra fast vehicle and filled a lower auto market price niche hit the roads. It began to sell as if were the Ford Mustang of its time. Hence although the Ford-Lincoln K-Series V12 was a case of a magnificent product which emerged against staunch competition and a higher price than most potential customers in its market arena could afford. Yet the Ford-Lincoln K12 V12's set the stage for the foundation and success of the Lincoln division of the giant Ford Motor Company - which served as Ford's high end prestige premium faceplate.

Original article