Max Wenkel

He built his first pennyfarthing bicycle while still an apprentice engineer, and was soon taking part in races with well-known cyclists such as Willy Tischbein, who later became Director General of the Continental-Caoutchouc and Guttapercha Company.

He was officially commissioned to open up the Cordillera region for motor traffic, and also built flat-bottomed speed boats suitable for Argentine rivers.

[10] Wenkel's first car, built around 1899, was based on a light tubular steel frame for an air-cooled De-Dion-Bouton engine, originally developed for tricycles.

With an improved 4-hp version with a Belgian Vivinus engine he travelled through the Far East from 1901 to 1903 and built Wenkelmobils adapted to the tropical climate in Java, where petrol was very cheap.

"The engine a sets the face plate b, which serves as the flywheel, into motion and the rotation is transferred to the discus wheel c. Through this the shaft dd with the sprocket turns.

In 1906 a model with a 9/10 hp engine was produced, but in the long run the car was not able to compete because of its friction drive and lack of a differential.