From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
THE GYROCAR:
In 1912, the Russian Count Peter Schilovski visited the Wolseley Tool and Motorcar Company and asked their engineers to build one of the strangest wheeled vehicles ever. Wolseley was a successful and sizeable maker of cars, buses, taxis and lorries. Its reaction to the Count's proposal for a 2-wheeled gyroscopically stabilised car is not known.
Wolseley did, however, accept the commission and set to work under the direction of its chief experimental engineer, AW Dring, at its Adderley Park Works in Birmingham. The Gyrocar was powered by a modified Wolseley C5 16-20 hp engine mounted ahead of the radiator, driving the rear wheel through a conventional clutch and gearbox. Braking was by a transmission brake mounted behind the gearbox - there were no brakes on either wheel.
The Gyrocar weighed 2¾ tons reflecting its substantial size and construction. Apparently the Count, a member of the Russian royal family, foresaw the car being of great military value - it would be able to traverse rough terrain which defeated 4-wheel vehicles.
The gyroscope was some 40" in diameter and spun at between 2,000 and 3,000 rpm powered by a 11/4 hp electric motor mounted beneath the gyro wheel. This motor in turn was powered by an engine-driven dynamo which absorbed about 10 per cent of engine power.
If power to the gyro ran too low, two small support wheels on either side of the body were automatically lowered to keep the car from falling over.
The Gyrocar was tested successfully in November 1913 and made its first public demonstration on April 28th, 1914, in Regent's Park, London, before a very large crowd. It was apparently completely stable and people could jump on and off as it moved slowly along without in any way upsetting its stability. Additionally, the car could balance perfectly while stationary.
Between then and the outbreak of the first World War in August, the Gyrocar made many impressive demonstration runs in and around London.
With the outbreak of the conflict, Schilovski returned to Russia and the project was abandoned as Wolseley turned its attention to war work.
It was believed that the Count became a victim of the Russian Revolution. Not wishing to destroy the vehicle but needing the space it was occupying, the Wolseley directors hit upon the extraordinary idea of burying the Gyrocar!
However, Schilovski survived and turned up at the Wolseley factory again in 1924. His reaction to the news that his Gyrocar was now buried beneath a railway yard is not recorded. No doubt disappointed and frustrated, he devoted the rest of his life to applying the principals of the gyroscope to aircraft instruments and to a monorail project between St Petersburg and Pushkin.
The Gyrocar stayed where it was until 1938, when it was decided to lift the railway tracks and exhume the car. Surprisingly, it had survived quite well and was restored and displayed for a time in the Wolseley Museum.
The final act in the history of this remarkable vehicle was equally bizarre - it was broken up for scrap in 1948, a totally inexplicable end to an already bizarre story.