Rare Schacht high-wheeler still rolling along a century later (+video)

Back in the early 20th century, when transportation was transitioning from the horse and buggy to the automobile, it seems like everyone, not just Ford, “had a better idea.” There were auto manufacturers springing up everywhere — and dying off just as fast, some having never produced a single car.

Innovation was the keyword for those who actually did make a go of it. One of those manufacturers was the Schacht Motor Car Company of Cincinnati, which built 2,547 high-wheeled buggy-style cars from 1907 to 1909. Only 59 are thought to have survived over the intervening 107 years and one of them calls Wichita home.

“They were scattered all over the world,” says Pat Daniels, who with his brother, Kelly, owns the beautifully preserved 1908 Schacht Side-Spring Auto-Runabout. Their parents, Dan and Willa Daniels, were avid antique car buffs and brought the car to Wichita in 1979, intent on bringing it back to life as a Horseless Carriage Club touring car.

“It was owned by a farmer in the Ohio area from the mid ’20s through the late ’60s,” Pat Daniels said. “He was approached several times during World War II by neighbors who were pressuring him to scrap any old `junk’ he had to help with the war effort. They remembered seeing him driving the old car and felt he should do his part.

“He hid the Schacht in the back of his barn and told them he had sold it long ago. It did not reemerge until the 1950s. This was a very original automobile which needed a full mechanical restoration.”

Dan Daniels rebuilt the opposed 2-cylinder engine, substituting lighter aluminum pistons, and developed his own urethane coating for the unusual friction drive system of the Schacht. A large aluminum clutch plate is surfaced with the friction material, which is brought into contact with another disc that is edged with friction material. A hand lever is used to engage and disengage the drive system. The Schacht does not have a conventional geared transmission, but the friction drive amounts to a sort of early constantly variable transmission.

The engine, which is designed with an exposed valve train, uses a “total loss” oiling system, which means when the engine oil has done its job, it simply leaks away into a container and is not recirculated.

“Every 30 to 40 miles, you have to stop and drain the oil and refill it,” Pat Daniels explained. The exact displacement of the engine is not known, but it generates approximately 18-20 horsepower.

“This car will run more than 30 mph and cruises comfortably at 25 mph,” he said. He said his parents completed more than 20 national Horseless Carriage Club tours in the Schacht, which was “an unheard of level of dependability from a High Wheeler, which are usually very slow and frequently succumb to mechanical problems.”

The 1908 Schacht sold new for $640, or $680 equipped with the only option offered, the folding top.

“You can see the top is exactly like the buggy tops of the time,” said Kelly Daniels, who said his parents enjoyed donning period-correct driving attire on their adventures with the Schacht. “Mom and Dad drove it a lot on tours with the top up because it helped keep the sun off of them.”

They had a special wicker box made for the rear of the car, to carry the on-road accessories needed for quick maintenance or repairs. The car has an oval opening on each side of the body that gives access to the cylinder heads; a pair of threaded plugs can be removed with a wrench and a valve job done roadside without removing the heads.

“Gustav Schacht was quite the perfectionist about making sure everything was right,” said Pat Daniels. “Their whole push was simplicity.”

For example, he pointed out that the car used old-fashioned wooden-spoke buggy wheels mounting hard rubber tires. Pneumatic tires were notorious for going flat back then on the rough roads.

“There are no flats with these,” Pat Daniels said.

The 1908 Schacht displays its buggy heritage in other details. The frame, for example, is made of hardwood rails.

But the innovative part of the chassis is the long semi-elliptical springs that run all the way from the front to the back of the car, cushioning the ride for the driver perched behind the upright steering wheel on the right-hand side of the car, and his passenger, seated alongside.

Dan Daniels had the late Paul Matz reupholster the seat in period-correct black button-tufted leather.

A huge brass radiator dominates the front of the Schacht, with pipes connecting it to the engine in the rear of the car. There’s no firewall or even a dashboard to separate occupants from the radiator.

Besides touring events, the car was a popular entry in area parades.

“Dad restored a 1900 fairground organ and pulled it on a trailer with wheels that matched the car,” said Kelly Daniels.

Another popular feature of the Schacht is the holder for the buggy whip in front of the driver.

“People ask why does this have a buggy whip?” Pat Daniels said. “Because at the time, it didn’t look right without one.” But rather than urging horses on, early Schacht drivers found the long whip handy for fending off excited dogs that got in the way of the car.

Pat Daniels said the Schacht has surprisingly good brakes and a remarkably tight turning radius. It had not been fired up in 8-10 years, but he wanted to show it at the recent Geezer Gathering in Old Town.

“I put fresh fuel in it and it took three pulls of the crank: two to prime the cylinders, one to start it, and it fired right up,” he said.

Which goes to prove, they really don’t build them like they used to.

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 8:35 AM with the headline "Rare Schacht high-wheeler still rolling along a century later (+video)."