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That's how we roll; early tracks

This was the design of Mr Gaston Liègeard, a french photographer from a wealthy family who travelled extensively. In 1907 and 1908 he travelled the deserts of Maghreb with his 28 hp type 93 Peugeot. To conquer the sand, he rolled the automobile over coconut fibre mats of roughly 50 cm width. Which, as you can see in the picture, rotated around the whole car – quite an invention. The source tells us that “After a successful trip of 450 km from Biskra to Touggourt, and also a 150 km route between Tebessa and Gafsa, this curious process was abandoned.”

Maybe it wasn't ideal – but it must have been a real sight!

Please comment below and give us your best caption!

 

Source: Europeana.

 

Published:
Thursday March 25th, 2021
Richard McDonough
28 March 2021, 03:06
I say Watson! Let NASA know immediately that we've perfected the next Mars Rover!
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Joop Terpstra
25 March 2021, 10:46
I guess this system will work in a straight line but what about cornering? I think the frontwheels will run off the coconut fibre mats if you steer left or right. But maybe he only drove in a straight line to prove that it works somehow. I think Citroën did a much better job with the Kégresse a few years later and with that system steering was no problem :)
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Herman van Oldeneel
25 March 2021, 10:10
Band-aide
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