[3] It had a rotary, air-cooled, 3-cylinder engine, mounted vertically in the rear and revolving around a fixed crankshaft.
Each front wheel had its own bicycle fork axle which was connected by a bar which was operated by a tiller[4]) By 1897, he had built three cars.
[1] When Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel P. Langley learned about these vehicles and their engine in 1898, he contacted Balzer, ordering one for his experimental airplane.
For proper use, Langley's technical assistant, Charles M. Manly, had to modify it heavily.
[3] On May 16, 1899, Balzer donated his prototype to the Smithsonian Institution, the first automobile in its collection.