4x4Founder Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Hello from Northwest Ohio, USA. While I am interested in all HMVs, I am most interested in WWI era vehicles and before. Most focused on the history and origins of four-wheel drive in all its forms. This forum has a particularly good Pre-WW2 forum and I am ashamed it took me this long to find it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Welcome Jim and good to have you hear and you need to catch with Tim (GWT) and his family - they are gods in that field..........have I just promoted Tim to a high status??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Welcome Jim, all eras covered here, some of us even go back to the time of the horse and cart. It was the 1904 Spyker that is credited with being the first 4 wheel drive isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 welcome to the forum :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichelK Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Welcome Jim, also from the other side of the globe Tony B, concerning the Spyker It was the 1904 Spyker that is credited with being the first 4 wheel drive isn't it? It was actually build in 1903 and besides being the first 4WD it was also the first car with an 6-cylinder engine And it still exist's in an museum in The Neherlands :-D http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Spyker_60_H.P._1903.jpg Sorry, had to say it :cool2: MichelK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Teach me to argue with our Dutrch comrades! :n00b: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichelK Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Teach me to argue with our Dutrch comrades! :n00b: If you are willing to learn arguing in Dutch, I'm happy to ablige :whistle: MichlK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn deuce Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Howdy Jim I m sure you could be putting a four wheel drive vehicle to good use in parts of Ohio right now . Post any pics you have so the rest of us can enjoy them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Hi Jim Always pleased to have another person with an early truck interest to talk to and compare notes. Do you have any WW1 vehicles to play with in Ohio? Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4Founder Posted March 1, 2010 Author Share Posted March 1, 2010 Hi Jim Always pleased to have another person with an early truck interest to talk to and compare notes. Do you have any WW1 vehicles to play with in Ohio? Tim Hi All! No actual iron, Tim, but I have a filing cabinet full of photos, research and literature and the privilege of having driven or touched some of the earliest stuff. And here I go raising cain in one of my earliest posts.... Sorry, but the the Spyker wasn't the first 4x4 vehicle. It certainly was the first with the drivetrain layout that became the standard, and still is until today, but I can think of several four-wheel drives that preceded it. The Brits get first dibs on that, with the 1824 Burstall & Hill steam coach. Yes, that's eighteen-twenty-four. There was the 1899-1907 Twyford and the 1900-1903 Cotta "Cottamobile." You could argue about the 1900 Lohner-Porsche. I'm not partisan about these things, just relaying the facts. I would love to see the Spyker up close. Especially the front axle. Would like to see how much resemblance Otto Zachow and Bill Besserdich's steerable front axle in the 1908 prototype has to it. That first steam powered car, with an engine change and a body, would become the legendary Four Wheel Drive Auto Company's "Battleship,"one of the cars I have had the privilege of driving (along with the Nancy Hank). I look forward to conversing with a group of like-minded "spurgear-heads!" Right now, I am researching the Militor, the short-lived, low production US Army standardized truck developed at the end of WWI and used for a few years after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lssah2025 Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Welcome aboard.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Hi All! That first steam powered car, with an engine change and a body, would become the legendary Four Wheel Drive Auto Company's "Battleship,"one of the cars I have had the privilege of driving (along with the Nancy Hank). Thats really cool. Are they still in Ottos old workshop? I know their Model b gets an airing once a year. Is it the same with the other gems in the collection? Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4Founder Posted March 1, 2010 Author Share Posted March 1, 2010 Thats really cool. Are they still in Ottos old workshop? I know their Model b gets an airing once a year. Is it the same with the other gems in the collection? Tim Yes, they are still in Otto's old shop, I drove (and photographed) everything in there that ran. The hallenge was, "If you can start it, you can drive it." One of the John Payne trucks was not operable and I darn near didn't get the Nancy Hank started, having cranked all the others to life on that cold November day. The caretake joked, "Yeah... old Nancy... she like a lot of foreplay, don't she?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 John Payne? Was that the Model A? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4Founder Posted March 1, 2010 Author Share Posted March 1, 2010 Yeah, the prototype 1.5-tonners they built and later sold to John Payne... and later bought back. They were tested in the Dubuque, Iowa-Sparta, Wisconsin maneuvers in 1912, along with the first Model Bs and some other 4x4 trucks (as well as the original FWD Scout Car). I believe the production variant of the 1.5-ton was called the Model G (IIRC). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi Jim Although not military, this tractor forum thread may be just up your street: http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34686 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4Founder Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 Thanks Runflat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.