Tesla's Automobile | MERLib.org

Nikola Tesla's Automobile from: Revolution in Technik, Medizin, Gesellschaft

In well informed circles, it is occasionally mentioned that Nikola Tesla, even in retirement, built an automobile propelled by gravity stressing energy. At the age of 70, in a period of deep economic depression, Tesla had considerable financial means. While these means were not as ample as originally and contractually promised by Westinghouse, they made possible this extraordinarily interesting episode which is today fully documented. We say this also because, once again. the episode points out the enormous significance of this extraordinary experimental physicist. It took no less than 100 years of today's fast-moving events to fully grasp the importance of the man. There is no explanation for this. One can merely humorously assume that Tesla came from some other world, to be born on Earth. His results in experimental physics, which appeared to be perfectly obvious, still cause indigestion in orthodox theoretical physics circles.

In 1930, Nikola Tesla asked his nephew, Petar [/Peter?][[3] (http://777001.com/index.php?title=Tesla_Automobile&action=submit#Peter_…)] Savo, who was born in Yugoslavia in 1899, to come to New York. Petar was 43 years younger than his uncle. Up to that date, he had lived under stringent conditions in Yugoslavia, Tesla's country of birth. During the summer of 1931, Tesla took his nephew to Buffalo to unveil and test a new automobile. Tesla had developed it with his own personal funds.

It was a Pierce Arrow, one of the luxury cars of the period. The engine had been removed, leaving the clutch, gearbox and transmission to the rear wheels undisturbed. The gasoline engine had been replaced with a round, completely enclosed electric motor of approximately 1 meter in length and 65 cm in diameter, with a cooling fan in front. Reputedly, it had no distributor. Tesla was not willing to say who had manufactured the engine. It was possibly one of the divisions of Westinghouse.

The "energy receiver" (gravitational energy converter) had been built by Nikola Tesla himself. The dimensions of the converter housing were approximately 60 X 25 X 15 cm. It was installed in front of the dashboard. Among other things, the converter contained 12 vacuum tubes, of which three were of the 70-L-7 type. A heavy antenna, approximately 1.8 meters long, came out of the converter. This antenna apparently had the same function as that on the Moray converter (see below). Furthermore, two thick rods protruded approximately 10 cm from the converter housing. Tesla pushed them in, saying "Now we have power." the motor achieved a maximum of 1,800 rpm. Tesla said it was fairly hot when operating, and therefore a cooling fan was required. For the rest, he said there was enough power in the converter to illuminate an entire house, besides running the car engine. The car was tested for a week, reaching a top speed of 90 miles per hour effortlessly. Its performance data were at least comparable to those of an automobile using gasoline. At a stop sign, a passerby remarked that there were no exhaust gases coming from the exhaust pipe. Petar answered "We have no motor."

The car was kept on a farm, perhaps 20 miles outside of Buffalo, not far from Niagara Falls.

A few months after this automobile test, and because of the economic crisis at the time, Pierce Arrow had to stop production. It is very likely that the interconnection between the electric motor and the transmission had been performed there. Pierce Arrow's tools were taken over by Studebaker, in South Bend. Not quite 30 years later, that company also vanished to form American Motors, jointly with Nash. Later, some of its fans attempted to resuscitate the Pierce Arrow. Unfortunately, they were not successful.

Thus, today that company's name is in a mausoleum, together with others. such as Horch, Maybach, Hispano-Suiza, Bugatti and Isotta Fraschini.

Nikola Tesla apparently knew that this construction contradicted the technical concepts of the time. He thus avoided all discussions with engineers, theoretical scientists, or companies (with very few exceptions). It is obvious that this Pierce Arrow was built only as a private hobby. An inventory of all available information – by aeronautical engineer Derek Ahlers – was completed on September 16, 1967, in New York. The complete documentation of all the information gathered by Ahlers is in our archives, The experimental car built by Nikola Tesla in 1931 already foreshadowed the cars of the future. Minimum operating costs and freedom from pollution are part of it also. The invention of super magnets, mentioned earlier. creates possibilities for unlimited conversion of gravity field energy anywhere on Earth, thus benefiting individualistic society.

http://www.tfcbooks.com/teslafaq/q&a_016.htm

It would appear the radiant energy Pierce Arrow story is a fabrication—mainly because Tesla didn't have a nephew named Peter Savo. On the other hand, Tesla believed that his system for the wireless transmission of electrical energy could be used for the propulsion of aircraft and automobiles. An article that appeared in the New York Daily News, April 2, 1934 titled "Tesla's Wireless Power Dream Nears Reality" mentions the planned test run of a "motor car" using wireless transmission of electrical energy to power the vehicle

http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/new/tesla.htm

The Complete Patents of Nikola Tesla Edited by Jim Glenn

http://www.keelynet.com/energy/teslcar.htm

This is an excerpt from the book, "Secrets of Cold War Technology - Project HAARP and Beyond", by Gerry Vassilatos. - ISBN 0-945685-20-3

http://www.keelynet.com/energy/teslafe1.htm

"...This file was inspired by a newspaper article in the local Dallas Morning News. It was in a column called "Texas Sketches" written by A.C. Greene. I called Mr. Green and Mr. Langkop who both courteously sent the additional source material. Both also expressed an interest in more Tesla information as well as Texas experimenters, we are sending them material in return. There is also a second file with my thoughts on the Tesla power box, that file is listed on KeelyNet as TESLAFE2.ASC...."

"...But it is a mystery car once demonstrated by Nikola Tesla, developer of alternating current, that might have made electrics triumphant.

Supported by the Pierce-Arrow Co. and General Electric in 1931, he took the gasoline engine from a new Pierce-Arrow and replaced it with an 80-horsepower alternating-current electric motor with no external power source.

At a local radio shop he bought 12 vacuum tubes, some wires and assorted resistors, and assembled them in a circuit box 24 inches long, 12 inches wide and 6 inches high, with a pair of 3-inch rods sticking out. Getting into the car with the circuit box in the front seat beside him, he pushed the rods in, announced, "We now have power," and proceeded to test drive the car for a week, often at speeds of up to 90 mph.

As it was an alternating-current motor and there were no batteries involved, where did the power come from?

Popular responses included charges of "black magic," and the sensitive genius didn't like the skeptical comments of the press. He removed his mysterious box, returned to his laboratory in New York - and the secret of his power source died with him...."

..."But, back to our electric automobiles - in 1931, under the financing of Pierce-Arrow and George Westinghouse, a 1931 Pierce-Arrow was selected to be tested at the factory grounds in Buffalo, N.Y. The standard internal combustion engine was removed and an 80-H.P. 1800 r.p.m electric motor installed to the clutch and transmission. The A.C. motor measured 40 inches long and 30 inches in diameter and the power leads were left standing in the air - no external power source!

At the appointed time, Nikola Tesla arrived from New York City and inspected the Pierce-Arrow automobile. He then went to a local radio store and purchased a handful of tubes (12), wires and assorted resistors. A box measuring 24 inches long, 12 inches wide and 6 inches high was assembled housing the circuit. The box was placed on the front seat and had its wires connected to the air-cooled, brushless motor. Two rods 1/4" in diameter stuck out of the box about 3" in length.

Mr. Tesla got into the driver's seat, pushed the two rods in and stated, "We now have power". He put the car into gear and it moved forward! This vehicle, powered by an A.C. motor, was driven to speeds of 90 m.p.h. and performed better than any internal combustion engine of its day! One week was spent testing the vehicle. Several newspapers in Buffalo reported this test. When asked where the power came from, Tesla replied, "From the ethers all around us". Several people suggested that Tesla was mad and somehow in league with sinister forces of the universe. He became incensed, removed his mysterious box from the vehicle and returned to his laboratory in New York City. His secret died with him!

It is speculated that Nikola Tesla was able to somehow harness the earth's magnetic field that encompasses our planet. And, he somehow was able to draw tremendous amounts of power by cutting these lines of force or causing them to be multiplied together. The exact nature of his device remains a mystery but it did actually function by powering the 80 h.p. A.C. motor in the Pierce-Arrow at speeds up to 90 m.p.h. and no recharging was ever necessary!..."

from: http://www.keelynet.com/energy/teslafe2.htm

...Now to the Tesla Power Box

We will first of all note the use of an AC coil motor. This alone tells us that the Tesla device was superior and not so dependent on tuning as was Moray's machine which could only power RESISTIVE loads. All universal energy moves in WAVES and so is essentially for alternating current (AC). That is why Moray called his book "THE SEA OF ENERGY IN WHICH THE EARTH FLOATS". The entire universe is continually bathed in these AC energies and they cover the entire frequency spectrum.

What intrigues the hell out of me was how Tesla could use "off-the- shelf" vacuum tubes and other components, put them together in the correct configuration and make it work.

Another point we should note is the list of components :

   * 1) 12 Vacuum Tubes (70L7-GT rectifier beam power tubes)
   * 2) Wires
   * 3) Assorted Resistors
   * 4) 1/4" diameter rods 3" in length

NOTE, NO CAPACITORS! The wires could have been simply for connection or wound as coils. The 1/4" rods were either BUS BARS for power output taps OR more likely ANTENNAS! Resonant circuits can be constructed using several techniques. You can achieve the same effect from :

   * 1) Resistors AND capacitors
   * 2) Capacitors AND coils
   * 3) Coils AND resistors

So, in the case of the Tesla Power Box, he either wound his own coils or simply used the wire to connect the resistors with the vacuum tubes. I am of the opinion that he used the wire ONLY for connection and DID NOT USE COILS! I also think he used a DIODE somewhere in the circuit in order to tap ONLY one polarity.

We have no specifications for the AC motor that Tesla used in the auto, so we have no idea if it was single or polyphase. In the case of a single phase motor, it only requires a single winding which projects a magnetic field that rotates according to the increase or decrease of the alternating current.

A polyphase (poly = two or more) motor uses multiple windings which are fed by phased input currents that alternate in such a manner as to reinforce each other. In the case of a 3 phase motor, the currents are phased 120 degrees apart. This gives much greater torque to the motor but requires 3 times the current because it uses 3 times the input energy.

Since the box powered an AC (coil) motor, it is probable it was TUNED to one or more frequencies, most likely polyphased frequencies.

So, if the 3" long rods were in fact ANTENNAS, we can calculate their frequency by using the following :

  (I cannot express Lambda here so we will use w for wavelength)

                           w = wavelength
                           v = velocity of propagation
                           f = signal frequency

        a short example :  w = v / f = wavelength in feet
                           w = 984,000,000/1,500,000 = 656 feet
                           f = 984,000,000/656 = 1,500,000 or 1.5 MHZ

                           3 inches * 4  = 1 foot
                           984,000,000/1 = 984,000,000
                           984,000,000/4 = 246,000,000 or 246 MHZ

This would indicate the 3" rods (if they were truly 3" in length and functioning as antennas) would resonate at 246 MHZ.

Because of the parts list description, I am of the opinion that it was a DUAL circuit. That is, 6 vacuum tubes and one 1/4" diameter 3" rod along with assorted resistors were to pick up and "pump" ONLY the positive going signals, while the other 6 vacuum tubes, rod and resistors did the same for the negative going signals. Such a scheme could either use PARALLEL or SERIAL connections of the vacuum tubes. Since current conduction is proportional to surface area, one would think that a parallel arrangement of the 70L7-GT rectifier beam power tubes with all INPUTS connected to one antenna source and all OUTPUTS connected to a common terminal attached to the load, would provide for the MAXIMUM current flow from incoming energy waves.

The nature of these "energy waves" is the question here. Are they cosmic rays, electrostatic, Schumann peaks (Schumann - http://www.vlf.it/Schumann/schumann.htm ) , magnetic force, something "other" or Aether flow into the neutral centers of mass as per Keely.

Vacuum tube construction takes several forms. Of these, the simplest is two plates separated by a grid wire. When the bottom plate is heated, thermally induced ions (thermionic emissions) are emitted by the bottom plate. The grid can be biased by the application of voltage to increase, decrease or halt the flow of these ions to the upper plate.

Other forms include more plates with more grids to allow better control of the ion flow. By proper biasing, vacuum tubes can be operated as switches, modulators or amplifiers among other uses.

Vacuum tubes operate primarily with high voltages that control the ion flows. Modern transistors are equivalent to vacuum tubes except that they operate using CURRENT instead of voltage. Transistors equate to Vacuum tubes by the following comparisons :

                    Vacuum Tube       Transistor   Polarity
  Operates from      Voltage           Current
                     lower plate       emitter     negative - cathode
                     grid              base        neutral
                     upper plate       collector   positive - anode

In the case of the Tesla Power Box, the vacuum tube appears to function as a "pump", collecting incoming current in the form of ion intensification. Once this "compressed" ion field reaches a certain density, the pump allows it to be released into the next stage of the circuit, be it the actual load or another vacuum tube.

So if the circuit is 6 vacuum tubes in parallel, all fed from a common antenna, outputting to a common load terminal, then the common antenna input would feed all vacuum tubes with the same wave. This would give the greatest CURRENT accumulation because of the EXPANDED SURFACE AREA of the paralleled tubes.

Note, these vacuum tubes most likely operate in the "cold cathode" mode since the heaters of the vacuum tubes were not fed by any outside voltage to provide the heat for the more orthodox therionic emission.

If the vacuum tubes are hooked in series, then one "pump" would feed another "pump" to get successively higher densities of electrons. This would give higher VOLTAGES because of increased PRESSURE.

Keep in mind that electricity is much like air or water. We can think of voltage as pounds per square inch (PSI) and current as cubic feet per minute (CFM). That is PSI is pressure, CFM is flow.

Another analog is comparing a river to electricity. In such a comparison, the speed of the river is the VOLTAGE or pressure while the width of the river is the CURRENT or rate of flow.

Such a comparison shows WHY current requires THE GREATEST SURFACE AREA for the maximum flow. Fuses function on just this principle, when the current flows over the surface of the fuse, it creates heat. If too much current flows, it creates too much heat causing the fuse to melt and separate. The more surface area the fuse, the greater the amount of current can flow, another reason to not place a penny in a fuse socket.

So we have two antennas (1/4" diameter, 3" long rods), two sets of 6 vacuum tubes connected together by wire and assorted resistors. As the waves of energy are collected by the 3" rods, positive on one, negative on another, the energy builds up in the form of increased ions in each of the paralleled vacuum tubes. As in Moray's generator, the circuit will feed whatever load is attached as long as it does not EXCEED the current carrying capacity of the circuit components. What we have is an energy pumping system.

I made a drawing of the box with some idea of the circuit. My electronics knowledge is on IC's and transistors with almost nothing in regard to vacuum tubes so there won't be much technical concept of the circuit per se. Perhaps after some study, either I or someone else will come up with some testable or useable circuits.

The Parallel Version

The Serial Version

check http://www.keelynet.com for more related information

Tesla's "Black Box"

http://www.frank.germano.com/blackbox.htmThe following recital on Tesla's work with Radiant Energy is an excerpt from the book, Secrets of Cold War Technology by Gerry Vassilatos, pages 86-93.

Peter Savo

http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/new/tesla.htm

Nikola Tesla's Automobile from: "Revolution in Technik, Medizin, Gesellschaft"

In 1930, Nikola Tesla asked his nephew, Petar Savo, who was born in Yugoslavia in 1899, to come to New York. Petar was 43 years younger than his uncle. Up to that date, he had lived under stringent conditions in Yugoslavia, Tesla's country of birth. During the summer of 1931, Tesla took his nephew to Buffalo to unveil and test a new automobile. Tesla had developed it with his own personal funds.

http://www.tfcbooks.com/teslafaq/q&a_016.htm

I've read a lot on the internet about Tesla and a 1931 Pierce Arrow. Apparently, he installed an 80 hp electric engine and drove the car for a week on radiant energy at speeds up to 90mph. The information was relayed by his nephew, Peter Savo, to a Derek Ahlers after Tesla's death. What's your take on this story?

from:

http://www.rexresearch.com/feg/feg2.htm

"Information about an Invention by Dr. Nikola Tesla, which is said to have harnessed Cosmic Energy" (Unidentified document circulated in the early 1980s)

The following is a summary of an interview on 16 September 1967 of Peter Savo, a nephew of Dr. Nikola Tesla, by Derek Ahlers, an aeronautical engineer. An attempt was made to record Peter's answers to 36 questions prepared in advance. However, Peter talked very freely, in a somewhat rambling fashion, and repeatedly provided the answers before the questions were asked. In addition, since Mr Savo and Mr Ahlers have known each other for some 10 years, the subject had previously been discussed and some of this earlier information is included.

Peter Savo was born in Knim, Yugoslavia, just before the turn of the century. As Yugoslavia was then a part of Austria, he entered the Austrian army and learned to fly at the military flying school at Wiener Neustadt. After World War 1 he emigrated to Italy.

Dr Nikola Tesla was Peter's uncle on his mother's side. It was he who suggested that Peter come to the United States. He met Peter at the boat on arrival and seems to have taken a fatherly interest in him until his death…

Sometime in 1931, Dr Tesla took Peter to Buffalo, NY for the unveiling and final testing of a new kind of automobile. Dr. Tesla acted somewhat mysteriously about it, would tell Peter nothing in advance, and even after he had seen the car, answered some of his questions with "Don't as any questions".

The car turned out to be a standard Pierce Arrow, with the engine removed and certain other components installed instead. The standard Clutch, gear box and drive train remained installed.

Under the hood, there was a brushless electric motor, connected to the engine [?]. The engine was said to measure 40" long by 28" diameter. However, some of these figures may be estimates. Tesla would not divulge who made the motor.

Set into the dash was a "power receiver" consisting of a box measuring about 24" long by 10" wide by 6" high, containing 12 radio tubes. Three of these tubes were model 70-L-7. A vertical antenna consisting of a 6-foot rod, was installed and connected to the power receiver.

The receiver, in turn, was connected to the motor by two heavy, conspicuous cables. Two "spindles" (rods?) about 1/4" diameter by 3" long protruded form the receiver towards the driver. Tesla pushed these in before starting and said: "We now have power". These spindles were in line with the two power cables coming out of the back of the unit and presumable worked to separate power switches.

There was a 12-volt Willard battery installed in the car, but it was for the lights only and much too small to run the car. In any case, the motor was an AC motor.

Peter said that Dr Tesla had built the power receiver himself in his hotel room, and carried it to Buffalo. The motor was built for him by some unknown company. The motor was completely enclosed and when Peter first saw it, it was stopped. Later, after the engine was running, Dr Tesla asked Peter to look under the hood to check whether the fan was running. Peter asked what the fan was for and was told that "The engine is running pretty hot". Maximum engine speed was 1800 rpm. Power rating was 80 hp.

To start the car, Dr Tesla handed Peter an ignition-type key. Peter inserted it and a green light came on, on the dash. Dr Tesla thereupon said: "The engine is now in motion". The engine could not be heard from the driver's seat at all. When listening under the hood with the engine on, there was a slight hum. The standard accelerator pedal was used to control engine speed. Clutch, brake and gearshift were unchanged.

The instruments on the dash appeared to be standard ones. However, there was a voltmeter which was used to measure output of the receiver. Dr Tesla commented that the receiver had enough reserve power so that you could drive the car next to a house, connect the wiring, and light up the whole house. There was also some kind of hydraulic pressure gauge on the dash. Peter asked its purpose but Dr Tesla would not tell him.

Peter drove the car for about 50 miles at speeds up to 90 mph (the speedometer was calibrated to 120 mph). Power seemed at least as good as the normal Pierce Arrow engine. Acceleration in second gear seemed particularly good. Shifting gears seemed somewhat smoother than with a normal engine.

Dr Tesla seemed enthusiastic on the first test ride and said, "Peter, this day will make history!" When Peter questioned the source of the energy to drive the car, Dr Tesla said: "It is a mysterious radiation that comes out of the ether." He said that he did not know where it came from but that it seemed to be available in limitless quantitites and that mankind should be thankful for it as it would soon drive boats, cars, trains and planes. Dr Tesla and Peter spent 8 days in Buffalo, testing the car. Peter described on incident where they stopped the car at a traffic light and a bystander commented that he could see no smoke coming from the exhaust. Peter replied to him: "We don't have an engine". When they left Buffalo, Dr Tesla removed the "ignition" key and the radio tubes and took them with him. The car was left at a farmhouse some 20 miles from Buffalo, not far from Niagara Falls.

The car was kept under tight security and this was the reason for keeping it at such a remote spot. Peter heard a rumor that a secretary of Tesla's broke security and told General Electric about it and promptly got fired. Dr Tesla acted somewhat mysterious and would not answer many of Peter's questions. However, Peter considers this merely part of security measures and categorically ruled out any possibility of a hoax or practical joke.

Peter knows of no specific persons to whom the car was shown. However, about a month after the Buffalo trip e got a phone call form Dr Lee De Forest who asked him: "How did you like that car?" Peter expressed his enthusiasm and De Forest then called Tesla one of the greatest living scientists.

About 7 years ago Peter was approached by a Yugoslav diplomat then at the United Nations (Peter could not remember the name but has a record of it) who asked if he could find the engine and power receiver of that car. He dropped the name Rockefeller and said that they "could make millions" if they had this engine to copy. Peter made some attempts to comply, but without results. Peter is very anti-Tito and probably did not try very hard. The diplomat died about two years ago.

Asked whether he knew of any other applications of this type of power, Peter said that Tesla was negotiating with some big shipbuilding concern to build a boat with such an engine. However, when he asked questions about this, Dr Tesla got annoyed and Peter never found out who the company was.

When asked whatever happened to the car, Peter said that he had heard that it had been shipped to Yugoslavia. However, he has written to friends in Yugoslavia about this and they replied that nothing ever arrived.

Upon being asked whether there was any possibility that drawings of the car might be in existence somewhere, Peter said there was a man in some town in Pennsylvania who might just have such information.

Peter Savo is a lonely, bored old man, living in a cheap Manhattan hotel and supported by his two sons who are US Navy pilots in Viet Nam. His idleness and worries have induced a nervous condition with certain accompanying physical symptoms. I told Peter that he needed an aim and purpose in life and that reconstructing the facts of Dr Tesla's invention and giving them to eh world would be such a purpose, to say nothing of a probable financial reward. Peter thereupon said that he would phone the man in Pennsylvania and would phone others in Akron Ohio and in Chicago. He will also write to his relatives in Yugoslavia, who are surviving members of the Tesla family, to get all possible information.

Since Peter was very poorly off financially, I gave his $20 out of my own pocket for the phone calls and postage. Peter is quite intelligent but lacks a formal education and has quite a thick accent. It is possible that he may be unable to reach the people he has in mind. However, in that event, it is still possible that a search by an experienced investigator who visits the places mentioned above, might locate them. However, this would of course cost more money and the question would then arise as to who has sufficient interest in this information to pay the expenses…

Sava Kosanovich

Nephew