Arnold Motor Carriage
1896 · Dogcart Motor Car · Work 260 of 1,871
An Arnold Motor Carriage on the village road at East Peckham in Kent, a Benz derived dogcart body with tall rear wheels, horizontal engine and exposed flywheel behind the seat back.
- What it was used for
- William Arnold & Sons of East Peckham, Kent, were millers and general engineers. From 1894 Walter Arnold and Henry Hewetson were concessionaires for Benz cars; from 1896 to 1899 the firm built its own cars on the Benz pattern, twelve according to Grace's Guide. According to Motor Sport there were also delivery vans at £250 said to carry five to six hundredweight; one went to Lever, maker of Sunlight soap. Two Arnolds apparently took part in the Emancipation Run to Brighton on 14 November 1896, though Motor Sport suggests they may not have covered the full distance. The car in which Walter Arnold was fined for speeding in January 1896 was a Benz, not an Arnold.
- What was new
- As a vehicle the Arnold was a copy of the Benz. One example is notable: electrical engineer H. J. Dowsing coupled a dynamotor to the flywheel, meant to start the engine and help on hills. Grace's Guide calls it the world's first self-starter; Motor Sport is more cautious: Dowsing, who had patented an electric starter, bought the car to try it out, and nothing more was heard of the experiment. Dowsing's initials (H. J. in Grace's Guide, R. W. in Motor Sport) and year of death (1931 and 1930 respectively) are inconsistent. The electric starter became a production item only in 1912 at Cadillac, some 16 years later.