Arthur William Wall

Arthur William Wall (born 21 October 1874) was an engineer in the field of motorised transport and inventor of the self-powered wheel in England in the early 20th century.

He is best known for his creation of the self-powered wheel, the Wall Autowheel, which could be used to power a bicycle, but he was also the man behind Roc motorcycles and a tricar and four-wheel cyclecar.

[1] One of the earliest products of A. W. Wall Ltd launched at the Stanley Show in 1903, this unusually long and low motorcycle with a 3 hp engine had initially been used a Kelecom engine,[2] but also was used to promote the ROC epicyclic hub gearboxes and clutches produced by ROC Gear Co. (another A. W. Wall firm).

Kelecom merged with Ormonde in 1904, but the combined company failed later that year and the remaining assets was taken over by Taylor Gue, so the engine supplier must have changed.

[8] At the 1909 show they continued with their single and twin, but added a 6HP four cylinder motorcycle with pressed steel frame, with prop shaft drive.

Horris patented the autowheel concept in 1908 (GB190823080), and in November 1909 it was launched at the annual Stanley Show, and caused quite a sensation.

In July 1910 it was explained that this was due to it not yet being perfected and that while many orders were received "deliveries were being kept back until the invention could be further experimented with" with the result that "very few have been put on the road".

[17] During the long stage of 'perfecting' the Auto-Wheel it had evolved into a four-stroke of 118cc (bore 2.125in, stroke 2.5in) with automatic inlet valve and in this form the Wall Autowheel was finally to become a success.

It was described as having an "ornate coach-built body resembling a giant Easter Egg, which is set in an open pressed-steel frame".

At the 1913 Olympia Show it was said that the 4.5HP tricars were presented in several forms, mainly for goods carrying, but there was also a 2 seater with an 8HP air-cooled Precision engine.