When referring to an automobile, the description of hybrid electric" sounds like the very latest technology in today's marketplace. Amazingly it is also an accurate description of the Owen Magnetic, a pioneering American luxury car manufactured between 1915 and 1922. The history of this brand and its use of technology show how some new and creative ideas aren't so new at all.

Justus B. Entz was an electrical engineer working for Thomas Edison in 1890 when he became fascinated with the development of the automobile. Entz left Edison to become chief engineer for the Electric Storage Battery Company, a firm which was producing electric-powered taxi cabs in Philadelphia, PA. In 1902 Entz began experimenting with an electric drive transmission and by 1912 he had perfected a design which used a magnetic field to turn the driveshaft of the vehicle. Known as the Entz transmission there was no physical connection between the engine and the vehicles wheels. Instead, a generator and a magnet were attached to the engine's crankshaft and an electric motor on the drive shaft was fitted inside the magnet. Electric current was transmitted by the generator and magnet to the electric motor attached to the driveshaft, thus turning the car's rear wheels.

R. M. Owen & Company of New York obtained the rights to build cars using the Entz transmission and began production in 1915. Advertised as "The Car of a Thousand Speeds" these luxury automobiles quickly became popular with the rich and famous including Enrico Caruso and John McCormack. With no transmission there was no need to shift gears making the car easy to drive.

In 1920 an agreement for 500 cars was reached with Crown Limited of Great Britain. The cars were to be named Crown Magnetic and one was displayed at the London Motor Show that year. Sadly, the order was never filled. Before the cars were built the Owen Magnetic Motor Car Corporation had gone into receivership.



There are a few remaining examples of the car of a thousand speeds, most of course in museums. However, one of the easiest to see is a 1916 Owen Magnetic in the Jay Leno's Garage series. In the video itis compared to a new Chevrolet Volt showing the similarity of the drive systems.

Reprinted from British Boots & Bonnets Chronicle— November 2020 issue.