I am asking this question purely out of curiosity.
Many early cars that I have seen in films etc, either had the spare wheel mounted on the outside of the boot, or occasionally on the side "running board".
At what stage did it become norm for these to come inside the car into the boot and what instigated the change? Did early cars not have boots, or not big enough for a wheel? Or was running gear so much more complex?
I realise that some early cars were rear engined but I am not so sure if they all were?
[This was prompted by my son looking at old cars and discussing them with me. Things like spare wheel positions are obvious to a 7 year old. Its amazing to look at and see how in some ways things have progressed like indicator lights compared to pop up arms. However, windscreen wipers are still windscreen wipers!]
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I was told many years ago that you could tell a pre-war Rolls-Royce from a post-war one as the spare wheels were on the right front wing of pre-war cars and in the boot of post-war ones.
From memory (I was a child in the 50s) it was about that time, maybe late 1930s, when boots became more common with the spare no longer visible. Sometimed thee would be an obviously spare-wheel-shaped cover. Luggage was often strapped on to a rack attached to the back of the car.
It wasn't till after the war that new designs had what we would now call 'three-box' structure. There were no hatchbacks until, I think, the Austin A40 Countryman of about 1960 (someone will be along to correct this if I'm wrong!).
But anything is better than no spare wheel at all, Mr Bangle. (Yes, I know wheels are fatter now - but then designers should also be cleverer after all this time.)
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I suppose it's largely down to how likely you are to need the spare wheel during your journey. Whilst today it's not too bad to empty the boot and dig out the spare wheel once in a blue moon early motorists had to change wheels (or even tyre rims!) on a regular basis. I suppose it won't be long before the kids will be amazed that cars carried any spare and that the drivers changed them on their own.
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At what stage did it become norm for these to come inside the car into the boot
In the Citroen DS, the clean, dry wheel, the jack and a 2-foot long wheelbrace were waiting for you as you opened the bonnet. Undo a strap, a quick tug and the wheel somersaulted over the front bumper to land at your feet. And, if the jacking points hadn't rusted away, the car would even pick its road wheels off the floor for you to remove. Genius.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Newer BMs haven't got any :-(
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Could it have been a result of the increasing scrote factor, making the spare wheel marginally less accessible to all and sundry?
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Talking of spare wheels, my Mk3 Golf VR6 has a space saver wheel. Unfortunatly (and they dont tell you this in their manual) if you get a flat on the front the space saver will foul the brake calipers, so you have to swap your rear for the flat front and put the spare on the back. Only effects later Mk3 VR6's which had slighlty larger front brakes - i guess it was a detail that no one thought of when the decided on larger brakes.
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if you get a flat on the front the space saver will foul the brake calipers, so you have to swap your rear for the flat front and put the spare on the back.
Personally I would prefer the space saver on the rear end rather than on the front anyway. Surely steering would be compromised with a pram wheel fitted to the front?
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I can categorically state that handling is severely impaired with a spacesaver on the front. I had no choice though - it was stonking it down and I was on a main road. I wasn't about to mess around swapping wheels left right and.....well - left and right!
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Adam
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