Solved: GTE 500 - Herds 3-Wheel Automobile by Edvin Herds 1929

[Oguerrerob]

Herds Three Wheel Automobile by Edvin Herds 1929 New York, New York, USA

"By 1929, Edvin Herds had moved to New York City where he constructed an attractive three-wheeled prototype roadster with folding top. The car's silhouette was reminiscent of the Duryea GEM, including the use of wooden-spoke artillery wheels. However, Herds mounted his engine in front of the driver and perched the seat over the rear axle. He claimed his car was safer at high speeds than any four-wheeler of comparable construction. "The front wheel will, in the act of steering, shift laterally and so incline against the curve that the fourth wheel is not needed any more," he stated in his low-budget advertising, which consisted primarily of post cars, personal letters and photographs of the car taken near New York's Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) building at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue.

"It is faster because its weight per horsepower is less than in comparable four wheelers," Herds claimed. "It is safer at high speed, first because it is on three wheels but mainly because of a new principle of powerful self-centering effect, which makes the front wheel steadier the faster it is driven." Herds also promised excellent performance and economical operation. "The speed and acceleration are faster simply because it has much less weight, also less road resistance. For the same reason, it is obviously more economical to run."

"Herds built the car with financial assistance from his business partner, Vilho Saila. "I could have sold it already and started another," he once told Saila, "but after a fast trial in Long Island I found it necessary to increase the positive caster angle. It would have been two weeks work and no more dough." However, Herds did make several slight aesthetic modifications to his prototype over a period of three of four years. He replaced the original two-piece windshield with a single-pane unit. He moved the headlights from a low position at the front of the car to a higher position on the cowl, perhaps because the front tire blocked the beams when the wheel turned. He shortened the long, tapered running boards, which originally extended the length of the body from the rear fenders forward. And he highlighted the belt line with a contrasting color when he refreshed the car's paint scheme."

[gte4289]

Herds Three Wheel Automobile by Edvin Herds 1929 New York, New York, USA

Thank you! Two points for you!

[Oguerrerob]

Thank you!!