A high wheeler is a car which uses large diameter wheels that are similar to those used by

horse-drawn vehicle A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...

s. These cars were produced until about 1915, predominantly in the United States.

Design

High wheelers were derived from horse-drawn wagons, and often were conversions of these. Similarly to these wagons, they often feature wood-spoke wheels, suspensions and boxy wooden bodies. The large-diameter slender

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

s were frequently with solid rubber tires, to provide ample ground clearance on the primitive roads of the late 19th century. These cars were produced in many body styles. The most common were the motorized wagon (utility vehicle) runabout, roadster and buggy, some with detachable tonneaus. File:International Torpedo - Coupe Florio 2015 01.jpg,

International Harvester Auto-Buggy The International Harvester Auto-Buggy is a two-cylinder, air-cooled motor car made by International Harvester Corporation. First announced in February 1907, the Auto-Buggy was dropped from their range of products in early 1912, but the Auto Wagon c ...

File:1911 International Wagon.JPG, 1911 International Harvester Auto Wagon File:Vintage International Harvester Auto Buggy (5043226321) (cropped).jpg, International Harvester Auto Wagon File:Sears Model L.JPG, Sears Model L Image:Patent, Duryea Road Vehicle, 1895.png,

Patent drawing A patent application or patent may contain drawings, also called patent drawings, illustrating the invention, some of its embodiments (which are particular implementations or methods of carrying out the invention), or the prior art. The drawings ...

for the Duryea Road Vehicle, 1895 File:George B Selden driving automobile in 1905.jpg,

George B. Selden George Baldwin Selden (September 14, 1846 – January 17, 1922) was a patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895.Flink, p. 51 ''Probably the most absurd action in the history of patent law was the granting ...

driving an automobile in 1905 File:Lenoir Hippomobile.jpg,

Lenoir Lenoir may refer to: Locations: * Lenoir, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir City, Tennessee In Universities: * Lenoir-Rhyne University * Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...

Hippomobile

History

Before gasoline engines became widely available, high wheelers were powered by electric motors or

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s. The decline of the high wheeler began when standard automobiles became more sophisticated and inexpensive. The end came with the popularity of the

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

. The last high wheelers were built around 1915.

Manufacturers

The following companies produced high-wheeler cars: *

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* Anchor Buggy * Åtvidabergs Vagnfabrik *

Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

* Black * Buckeye * *Clymer * Cole* * Columbia Electric* * De Schaum * DeWitt * * Duryea * *

Electrobat The Electrobat was one of the first electric automobiles. It was designed and built in 1894 by mechanical engineer Henry G. Morris and chemist Pedro G. Salom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History Both Morris and Salom had backgrounds in batt ...

* Eureka * Fuller* * Hatfield *

Haynes-Apperson Haynes-Apperson Company was a manufacturer of Brass Era automobiles in Kokomo, Indiana, from 1896 to 1905. It was the first automobile manufacturer in Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-l ...

* *

Hobbie Accessible The Hobbie Accessible was an American automobile manufactured in Hampton, Iowa from 1908 until 1909. One of many high wheeler cars produced at the time, it featured a twin-cylinder air-cooled engine, tiller steering, and solid tire A ...

* Holsman *

Holyoke Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

* International Harvester* *Jeannin * Jewell/Jewel* * Keystone * Kiblinger * King* *Lindsley * Luverne* *

McIntyre McIntyre, McEntire, MacIntyre, McAteer, and McIntire are Scottish and Irish surnames derived from the Gaelic ' literally meaning "Son of the Craftsman or Mason", but more commonly cited as "son of the Carpenter."Scottish Clans: MacIntyre - Origin ...

* * * Reliable Dayton * Schacht* * Sears * Single Center *Sperry Electric *

Staver The Staver and Staver-Chicago was an American Brass Era automobile manufactured at 76th and Wallace Streets in Chicago, Illinois, by the Staver Carriage Company from 1906 until 1914. History Staver Carriage Company was organized after the ...

* *

Success Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person mig ...

* * Waverley Electric* Waverley Electric
/ref> * Woods* ** * Companies which also produced cars other than high wheelers

References

Sources

*Kimes, Beverly Rae and Clark Jr, Henry Austin. ''Standard Catalog of American Cars: 1805-1942'' (Third Edition). Iola, WI: Krause. 1996. {{ISBN, 0-87341-428-4 Car body styles Car classifications Highwheeler 1890s cars 1900s cars 1910s cars Veteran vehicles Brass Era vehicles