Farwell engine

[wdfifteen]

Interesting automobile engine from the 1920s. Does anyone know anything about the motorcycle with the radial engine in the rear wheel that the narrator talks about?

[kach22i]

Remindes me on the WWI fighter engine, the Gnome (rotary).

Gnome et Rhône - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Video:
2009 05 10 1918 WWI GNOME ROTARY AEROPLANE ENGINE STARTED - YouTube

Might this automobile patent employ such a power plant?

Harry Miller's forgotten people-hauling streamliner - Autoweek

nine-cylinder radial of unknown specification

We're sure the race-proven Miller four would have been a worthy mill, but it's that radical radial -- shown in one of the two renderings -- that really has us intrigued. Miller worked with a wide variety of engines over the course of his career, so it isn't hard to believe that he would have been eager to experiment with the advanced radials of his time. Some, like the Packard DR-980, could produce 240 hp while running diesel.

There are other differences between the renderings: The radial engine sits directly above the rear axle, but the four-cylinder sits in front of it; the four-cylinder-powered car positions the spare underneath the driver's seat, while the radial car sets the extra tire in the front trunk; nose and fender styling varies between the two. It's hard to say whether these drawings represented a somewhat advanced stage of a development process or are simply well-executed flights of fancy.

Plenty of dreamers have sketched plans for radical automobiles over the years; most of them simply needed something to do during math class. Miller was different -- his record of success stood on his ability to keep pushing the technological envelope. He wouldn't be remembered today if he couldn't actually deliver on his boasts.

Does any of that mean that his streamliner had a ghost of a chance of production? Who knows -- Miller could have simply ended up as another Preston Tucker (a figure that, incidentally, Miller worked with closely during the 1940s). But it is neat to know that Miller at least occasionally turned his race-tuned mind toward the problems of mass transportation -- and it's always fun to imagine what might have been.

[red-beard]

Megola Motorcycle 1921-1925 | AuTo CaR