A certain amount of deception is said to have happened later on as well, e.g. as experiments with the engine were hidden in boats by electric cables on deck. That was, by the way, the least problematic part of the realization of projects with the new engine.It was supposedly also able to perform well against the current. You can see in the pictures indicated above, where the engine is still used.
But the installation of a smaller version in a motorcycle can be viewed as a failure. Maybach obviously had little idea of the suspension construction of two-wheelers at the time. Thus, the prototype had no caster and it had auxiliary wheels under the running boards, whhich complicated rather than facilitate the cornering. And additionally there was a hot butt.
How then was the new power train to be used in vehicles? There was a coach with engine where the drawbar was kept and where someone could sit in the back in direction of travel on the left, where the engine was installed. It was difficult to drive with a belt drive and without rear axle differential. This especially because to change the speed ratio uphill, the car had to be stopped.
The steering appeared to be a problem because the centre pivot of the coach was retained. The next project, the steel-wheeled car, was basically composed of two reinforced bicycles where a not very easy to construct connection frame was needed, which also took up the complete drive. It was also used for cooling. Unfortunately, it then appeared to be insufficient.
One of the two ever built were left behind in Paris afetr presenting it, where it was rebuild for eventual mass production. It got a spring system and thereby lost something that will be a basic component of cars after the turn of the century, the variable-speed gearbox. But at this time the chain drive , still dominated, which was to combine better with the leaf spring system taken from the coach.
Engine variants in every conceivable vehicle
It really seemed that the new engine would be more successful in other areas. If it e.g. drove a slightly larger boat, it had an advantage compared to the much heavier steam engine. It also did not have to be preheated and it made the vehicle relatively easy to maneuver together with a reversing gear. 07/13
Gottlieb Daimler 5