Javi Martin
With more than 130 years of history, the automobile has become commonplace, in a tool that dominates the streets of all parts of the world. In fact, it has even changed the orography and landscape of many places, has influenced the design of cities and become a source of income for governments. At the same time, it also became an object to show off for its owners.
It is logical to think that, with more than a century of evolution, today's car is very different from the first gadgets that were created at the dawn of this invention. And indeed, that's right, today's cars are, compared to the first cars, spaceships, or almost.
In addition, have been fully standardized. In other words, all cars drive the same, have the same controls, use identical solutions for their engine, for their security systems... A huge contrast with the first cars, which had their own controls and solutions for engines or brakes, the steering wheel was placed in the place that best suited the manufacturer...
Basically before every time you bought a new car you were forced to learn how to drive it. Have you ever seen how a car drives? Ford T? Seen from the user of a modern car, it is all crazy, and it is a simple example. Although it is true that the controls were standardized relatively soon, it was the only way that users did not always stay in the same brand and when they changed cars they would also think of the rest.
OTHER EXPERIMENTS: ADLER DIPLOMAT 8 WHEELS
However, where if Many experiments were done, it was at a technical level.. The Knight engine is a clear example of the inventiveness and daring of engineers in the early days of the automotive industry, although even more peculiar things were done, such as putting eight wheels on a car!
This is the case of Adler Diplomat 8 Wheels. What is the point of installing so many wheels on a car? Well, the information we have about it is very little, but thanks to what seems like a clipping from some publication of the time, we can know a few things.
According to said cut, by having multiple rolling surfaces, ensures ample support and good traction and neither sand nor mud are an obstacle. In other words, the objective of this invention is to offer better traction and greater comfort on the unpaved roads of that time.
Currently, we are used to smooth, wide roads, built with asphalt, a mixture of tar with sand or gravel, but in those years, in the late 30s, there weren't the roads we have now. In fact, it was normal that, outside the big cities, the roads that were used were not paved. When a road is not paved, the rain, the passage of vehicles or the wind itself, cause holes to appear, unevenness or the gravel and earth that make them up to end up loose, which negatively affects the traction capacities and the comfort.
WITHOUT BARELY INFORMATION
In the technical section, the information on the Adler Diplomat with 8 wheels is null, so We have only found the photos and the production date: 1935. We can also see that all the front wheels turn in unison, just like on two-way trucks.
It was developed in Germany and according to our information, never made, there was only one unit whose whereabouts are unknown. It may have been destroyed. However, in some images you can see some details of the front axles, you can see what appear to be the steering bars and they are really thin, they give the impression of being quite fragile.
With regards to Adler Diploma which serves as the basis for this experiment, is a model whose market launch dates from 1934. It was designed to replace the Adler Standard Six, which had already become somewhat outdated. The Standard Six used a type of suspension that had gone out of style, which anchored the axles just below the frame members, which caused a high ground clearance.
In those years, having a good height was important, but the passing of the years allowed the development of other systems that, without so much height, offered a more efficient behaviour. That system was based, simply, on anchoring the suspension arms as is currently done, on the sides of the chassis itself and not below, which allowed a lower center of gravity and better road behavior.
In addition, the Adler Diplomat had a steel body, manufactured by one of the leading specialists in the production of bodies with this material in Germany, Ambi-Budd, which was based in the Spandau district of Berlin. A body that, in the case of the Adler Diplomat with 8 wheels, receives modifications to the fenders, to accommodate the additional wheels. That gives it a rather unique image, if the extra wheels weren't enough.
