CLARKE GASOLINE TRICYCLE, 1897 

 Gift of Louis S. Clarke in 1947 (USNM 313142) 



In 1897, Louis S. Clarke founded the Pittsburg Motor 

 Vehicle Co., Pittsburg, Pa., with himself as president and 

 engineer, and constructed this experimental motor tricycle 

 (fig. 40). The next year, with the experience thus gained, 

 the company built a 4-wheeled automobile, now preserved 

 in the Henry Ford Museum. In 1899, the company name 

 was changed to the Autocar Co., which today is one of a 

 small number of surviving pioneer automobile companies. 

 This tricycle is known as the first Autocar. 



The vehicle is a conventional tricycle with a gasoline en- 

 gine driving the rear wheels. The frame is built of standard 

 bicycle parts, with special parts designed and made by Mr. 

 Clarke. The 1 -cylinder, gasoline engine (fig. 41), with 

 mechanically operated exhaust valve and automatic intake 

 valve, has a gear on its crankshaft extension meshing 

 directly with the ring gear of the differential. No gear 



Figure 40. — This 1 897 gasoline tricycle was the first vehicle built by Louis S. 

 Clarke, who founded the Autocar Co. 



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