/

Two-Wheeled Cars.

Updated: 10 May 2004
Only two wheels but no gyroscope

These machines are not gyrocars; they are simply cars with only two wheels. Apparently such vehicles can be kept upright in much the same way as a motorcycle, so long as they are moving, but sooner or later you have to stop. In most cases coming to a halt without falling over requires two small extra wheels that are lowered when stopping.
Please note that so far only the Monotrace has its own page.

Left: The Monotrace: a restored model from 1928.
This 2-wheeler was made in France from 1925 to 1928, under licence from Mauser of Germany. (Yes, that Mauser) It had two retractable stabiliser wheels. The passenger sat behind the driver (unlike the remarkable Sabella tandem car of 1913, where the driver sat behind the passenger)
It was powered by a 510cc single. Very few were made and even fewer survive today. La Monotrace was made in St. Etienne, France.
The remarkable Monotrace has its own page: see link above or click on picture.
Picture by kind permission of the restorers: KOHLER AG, Riedtwil

Left: The Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo: 1912.
The Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo could be considered to be the largest motorcycle ever built, or it could be regarded as a 2-wheeled car. Given that it had a V8 engine and weighed 3500 pounds, I vote for the latter.

Left: The Cerreti Motocar: 1929.
Nothing known about this one; presumably it was Italian.

Left: The Moore Car: date unknown.
The Moore Car was less car.
Nothing known.

Left: The Verdon Roe car: 1927.
The caption reads: "MR E A Lawson in his NeraCar based FF machine in 19?8." The date is not wholly decipherable, but appears to be either 1918 or 1948.
FF means Foot-Forward, and refers to a kind of motorcycle where the rider sits with feet ahead in a car-type sitting position, rather than with feet below and astride, as on normal motorcycles. The NeraCar (not my pun) was an FF motorcycle made in the USA from 1921 - 1926.

Left: The Whitwood-OEC Monocar: 1934.
A Whitwood Monocar, manufactured by the Osborn Engineering Company. This was founded by Frederick Osborn who began building bicycles, then turned to motorcycles in 1901. The Whitwood was a two-wheel car with outrigger wheels and was fitted with engines from 250 to 1000cc. It was built from 1934 to 1936.
The text on this picture is unfortunately illegible.