Quite often, a photo of an unusual eight-wheeled car comes across on the Internet. The photo is old, 1928, but there is very little information about the miracle machine. But, after wandering and digging, you can find something.
So, the photo. An eight-wheeled vehicle was photographed in front of the side door of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. The fact that there are a lot of people around is no wonder, such a thing would still look attractive today. It is believed to have been made by the newly opened Eight Wheel Motor Vehicle Company. Even the name is clear, the company intended to promote the idea of "eight-wheeled vehicles". The emphasis was on ride comfort and overall passenger safety.
Investigating further, you can also find images of an eight-wheeled bus and a truck. parked in front of Service Truck Tire Co. in San Francisco. And here you can already find the name of the creator of these unusual concepts - Rollie B. Fageola, who received patent no. 59,728, as well as a later patent for the rear axle, which were eventually acquired by the Eight Wheel Motor Vehicle Company.
Where did this Fageol and this eight-wheeled company come from?
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The Fageol Brothers: Rollie, Frank, Louis and William have been building Fageol trucks since 1917 and used Westinghouse worm drive axles and air brakes. They embodied all their developments in an advertising eight-wheeled passenger car. But what about the other two cars? The Power Wagon reported in September 1922 that the Pacific 8 Wheeler bus and truck were built by the National Axle Company in San Jose, California, under a contract with the American Highway Transportation company of San Francisco.
Because the creator of the unusual concept, together with the brothers, sold the patents and rights of "Highway Transportation". The company was led at the time by Emory Winship, who was also the main investor in the eight-wheelers. And later he created the Eight Wheel Motor Vehicle Company.
Winship signed a contract with the National Axle Company to build two more eight-wheeled vehicles, but efforts to further develop such vehicles have come to nothing. Only three multi-wheeled wonders were created.
