Um...

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 01/15/2020 at 11:22 • Filed to: oddimotive

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That’s... That’s a box on two bicycles with a motor. Someone literally made a car out of two bicycles, a carriage body, and... Wait a minute, the engine consists of two long, skinny cylinders mounted to the bicycle frame and driving the bicycle pedals. Who made this thing!? The only information I can find about it is that it was made by someone named D.J. Ames in 1895 in Owatonna, Minnesota. Man, the early days of the automobile were bonkers...

Thomas Donohue > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 11:25

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Left rear is down a few PSI.   

Chariotoflove > Thomas Donohue 01/15/2020 at 11:28

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That’ll put them into a curb for sure. 

Jim Spanfeller > Thomas Donohue 01/15/2020 at 11:29

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Perhaps it’s just aired down for off-roading purposes ;) In reality, I’m guessing it had something to do with the tire having to bear quite a bit more weight than it normally would, and they didn’t want to put too much pressure in it.

CobraJoe > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 11:39

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What powers it? Those cylinders look too long and narrow for internal combustion (and I don’t see any spark plugs) , but I don’t see any steam essentials or even a compressed air tank.

functionoverfashion > Chariotoflove 01/15/2020 at 11:39

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“in the event of a crash, occupants will be safely ejected from the vehicle, where they will land clear of any resulting debris” 

facw > Thomas Donohue 01/15/2020 at 11:40

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It’s not like they had digital tire gauges back then. It’s a wonder cars weren’t flying across medians all over the place...

Jim Spanfeller > CobraJoe 01/15/2020 at 11:50

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I dunno. Not much information is out there on this... thing, but long, skinny cylinders have been done before.

So it may have been internal combustion, even if not powered by gasoline. Another possibility is that maybe those long, skinny things aren’t cylinders but valves, and the engine is elsewhere? It does appear to have been capable of moving under its own power, but I can only guess how it actually worked.

user314 > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 12:09

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Ah-ha! Found this :

Responsive to the popular interest generated by the motor exhibitions, the Chicago Times-Herald sponsored the United States’ first auto race in 1895. Among the scheduled entries was the “Ames machine” prepared by a Mr. Nichols of Owatonna. The crude machine, pictured in the December, 1895, issue of Horseless Age, consisted of a buggy box and seat suspended between two bicycle frames. A boiler provided steam to the pistons on each frame. Because it was not ready 1895 AMES in time, the machine did not run in the race, and Minnesota automobile producers missed this chance for national exposure. (A Mueller-Benz car finished first in the highly publicized event, and a Duryea brothers vehicle placed second.)

BONUS CONTENT!!! The Dec 1895 issue of The Horseless Age , for your reading pleasure.

CalzoneGolem > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 12:21

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SiennaMan > user314 01/15/2020 at 12:41

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Well, at least their feet would of been warm on chilly days..

Jim Spanfeller > user314 01/15/2020 at 12:45

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Wow, thanks for finding some of the story behind this car! And the Horseless Age magazine sounds fascinating. I will definitely give it a read.

user314 > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 13:02

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Now I’m trying to figure out how this contraption was steered. Shame there’s no movies of this thing in action (so far as I’ve found, anyway). Wonder how hard it would be to build a replica?

user314 > user314 01/15/2020 at 13:17

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Wait, wrong volume; that’s the January 1905 edition. This is December 1895, Volume 1 .

CobraJoe > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 13:31

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Also not visible in the picture are any carbs or hoses or intake or exhaust plumbing or cooling fins or a flywheel, and the controls for the driver appear to be very minimal .

I think the lack of a flywheel alone makes this unlikely to be internal combustion or even steam power.

Further inspection of the pictures revealed a couple clues: There is a tank forward of the “front” seat, and the vehicle has changed slightly between the two pictures (The front sprocket on the bikes seem smaller on the 2 passenger picture, and the carriage springs do not seem to be installed on the 4 person photo) .

I’m guessing those are pneumatic cylinders (which were a functional tech in the late 1800s), with the big tank in the front being a compressed air tank. It’s possible there’s a small internal combustion engine on there somewhere to help refill the compressed air tank (Selden had a patent for a car with 6 cylinders - 3 powered and 3 dummy for compressing air - in 1879), but there’s not many places to hide an engine in this simple carriage. There were also some “fireless locomotives” built around the same time, some with compressed air and some with chemical reactions providing the heat or gaseous expansion to push the cylinders.

It’s kind of fun researching some of the old tech, there were some crazy ideas back then.  

Jim Spanfeller > CobraJoe 01/15/2020 at 13:41

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Another person here dug up some information about the car, which confirmed that it is steam powered and built for racing purposes. Also, if you look closely at the bottom photo in my post, there appears to be a small boiler underneath the front seat. So there’s still a bit of mystery surrounding the car, but at least now we know it’s a steam car.

Jim Spanfeller > user314 01/15/2020 at 13:51

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I think there’s probably just a linkage going through the carriage part linking the two front wheels where the handlebars would normally be. I imagine getting started building a replica wouldn’t be too hard since it’s a carriage box on two bicycles. The hardest part would be figuring out how the thing worked. We know it’s steam powered, you can clearly see where the cylinders are, and if you look closely you can see what appears to be the boiler underneath the front seat, so at least that’s a start...

CobraJoe > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 13:54

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Neat!

Now I’m curious how steam was generated, was it a firebox, or a liquid fuel, or some chemical reaction?  Whatever it is, it is very well hidden in the carriage.  

user314 > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 13:59

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FWIW, here’s the entry from The Horseless Age:

Haven’t really been able to find anything about the “Ames Motor Cycle Co.” beyond this article, so I’m guessing that went nowhere. 

Jim Spanfeller > CobraJoe 01/15/2020 at 13:59

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Well, in the top photo, you can see a small box underneath the carriage body up front , right underneath the area where the boiler appears to be. I’d guess that’s where the heat is generated, though I’m still not sure what fuel it used...

user314 > CobraJoe 01/15/2020 at 14:00

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Would You Like To Know More?

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 14:02

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“Run whatcha brung", right?

CobraJoe > user314 01/15/2020 at 14:07

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Thanks for the info!  Impressive that it only weighted 400lbs with a full load of water.  

Jim Spanfeller > user314 01/15/2020 at 14:09

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Wow. Well that answers a lot of questions. This is very interesting, thanks for finding it.

Jim Spanfeller > CobraJoe 01/15/2020 at 14:12

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Update: Skyfire77 found more information, which, among many other things, says that it was powered by gasoline. 

Jim Spanfeller > BaconSandwich is tasty. 01/15/2020 at 14:13

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Lol. Can you imagine bringing a car like this to something like 24 hours of Lemons?

user314 > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 14:18

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Or Burning Man. 

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Jim Spanfeller 01/15/2020 at 14:20

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I can't imagine it'd pass safety. Maybe as a pit car?