In the early part of the 20th Century, the Wolseley Tool and Motorcar Co. was one of the largest motor manufacturers in Britain. Wolseley not only produced conventional cars but was open to orders for a wide variety of related engineering contraptions.
One such was the quirky Gyrocar of 1912. Wolseley was approached by Count Peter Schilovski, a lawyer and member of the Russian Royal family, to make his gyroscopic brainchild a reality. Schilovski had surmised that a car that rode on only two wheels could cross terrain that a four wheel vehicle could not and that it would require a smaller engine to give the same performance, making it attractive to the military. A gyroscope positioned in the car would keep it balanced on two wheels.
The Gyrocar took one year to build. The engine, a 16hp Wolseley, sat behind the front wheel and the radiator behind that. The gyroscope was mounted in the middle of the car, powered by an electric motor. At rest, slow speeds or when the car tilted over too much, sprag wheels dropped down to stop the car from falling over.
The car was tested in Birmingham during late 1913 and in this picture Count Schilovski can be seen riding in the front passenger seat. In April 1914, the Gyrocar was demonstrated to an interested public in Regents Park, London, successfully travelling on its two wheels. It had, however, several shortcomings. It was underpowered, had a large turning circle and was heavy - 2¾ tons spread over only two wheels.
Further development was halted by outbreak of the First World War and Schilovski returned to Russia. At the end of hostilities, Wolseley heard no more from Schilovski and presumed him lost in action, so the car was left to languish in a corner of the factory. After several years it was decided that, just in case he should reappear, the car ought to be disposed of and so it was buried in the factory grounds.
In 1938 the company had second thoughts and the car was disinterred. As the photograph shows, the land was in use as a railway yard and so the tracks had to be lifted before the Gyrocar could be dug out. The Gyrocar was cleaned up and presented in Wolseley’s Museum at the factory. By the early 1950s, however, interest in it had once again waned and sadly the Gyrocar was cut up for scrap.
And what of Count Peter Schilovski? Well he did survive the First World War and the ensuing Russian Revolution. He returned to Britain in the early 1920s, living in London. He continued his work with gyroscopes, including designs for monorail trains.
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