An American veteran with a relatively famous driver

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Who recognises the young man behind the tiller of this charming little three-wheeler? If the information we have is to be believed, it's none other than Albert Einstein in the shorter-haired but still moustachioed days of his youth. If we are to assume that this picture was taken when the car was still new, Einstein, born in 1879, woul only be aged about 20 or 21, or perhaps just a little bit older. This in turn means that he would have been living at Switzerland at the time, having enrolled in 1896 on a course for a mathematics and physics teaching diploma at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, from which he graduated in 1900.

Although it's well-known that he spent much of his life in America, he did not arrive in New York until 1921. Prior to then, he lived mainly in Switzerland, travelling occasionally to Bohemia and Germany on academic business. This makes the photograph all the more surprising to us, because we are certain that the car is an American one, and we wonder how come it ended up in Switzerland.

On the subject of the car, it's surely a Knox Model A, produced by Harry Knox, a friend and neighbour of Frank Duryea in Springfield, Massachusetts. Like later Knoxes, the Model A featured the 'Porcupine' engine, an air-cooled single-cylinder distinguished by the steel 'spines' radiating from the cylinder barrel, which assisted with heat dissipation. The outward appearance was distinctive, too, on account of the single front wheel and gracefully curved frame. It's been reckoned that sixteen Model As were built in 1899, followed by 100 in 1900, although all Knoxes became four-wheelers from 1901.

A total of at least 116 cars was by no means a bad run for a very early, slightly experimental first car of an inexperienced manufacturer at the dawn of motoring, and a handful are still in existence today, but it still surprises us that one of them found its way to Switzerland. Can anyone tell us more?

As for Einstein, despite this early dalliance, we're not aware that he ever became an enthusiast for the motor car. In fact, it has been said many times that he never even had a driving licence, so did he really drive the Knox or was he just posing? Of course, it's entirely possible he didn't need one. Supposing Switzerland was in step with other European countries, a driving licence probably wasn't required until about 1903. One of our readers must be able to shed some more light on the matter...

Words: Zack Stiling
 

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