n I have been told that many years ago a
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two-wheeled car was run experimentally fitted with a gyroscope to provide stability when it was travelling slowly. A friend has advised me that a load-carrying vehicle of this type has been developed in America. Can you confirm this and, if so, give details?
AA gyroscope two-wheeled car was built by the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company in 1912 under the direction of the inventor, Peter Schilowsky, a Russian Count. The car was demonstrated in Regent's Park in 1914. Development work was interrupted by the 1914/1918 war and was not resumed. Two-wheeled load-carrying vehicles have been built by The Summers Gyro Corporation of Thousand Oaks, California. for forestry work Art engine-driven gyroscope stabilizes the vehicle at low speeds and enables it to be driven along narrow tracks in safety. A vehicle being tested is said to be capable of carrying a 1,0001b. load and the possibility of building heavier vehicles of this type is being investigated. A low-mounted petrol engine is coupled to an hydraulic pump that drives hydrostatic wheel motors.
Of technical interest, the axis of the gyro of the Summers vehicle is horizontal. It is understood that the axis of the Wolseley gyro was vertical.