Friday 10th February 1905

The Crystal Palace Motor Show opened to the public:
“Amongst pleasure vehicles the greatest attraction of the Show is provided by the Dutch-built Spyker cars, one of which, with a four-cylinder engine, has all four wheels driven by central shafts and gearing. The chief advantage claimed for this system is the prevention of side-slip. The vertical engine is placed in the usual position under a bonnet in the fore part of the vehicle, and transmits power through a clutch and shaft to the change gear box. From this again a shaft runs in each direction to differential gears on both axles, while a third set of differential gearing is necessitated in the gear box to balance the two shafts. Although motorists may be disposed to make very considerable sacrifices in the design of motor mechanism to obviate the dreaded sideslip, it is questionable whether the means adopted by our Dutch friends will prove the ultimate solution of the problem. Too much praise can scarcely be given to the quality of the workmanship put into the Spyker cars. The engines are provided with two systems of ignition, magneto and high-tension coils. The crank shaft runs on ball bearings, and brakes are provided on the hubs of all four road wheels.” [The Engineer magazine].