Car suspension wasn’t always as efficient as it is today, and as bad as you think roads are nowadays, they used to be much worse back in the early 1900s. But even then, people were coming up with ingenious, unconventional ways of making car rides more comfortable for passengers. The eight-wheel Octoauto was one such bizarre innovation.
The Reeves Overland Octoauto is one of the most unusual automobiles ever made. Created by American inventor Milton Reeves in 1911, it sought to solve a very big problem of the times – ride comfort. Early cars just weren’t comfortable to ride in, and the poor suspension also took a heavy toll on tires.
To create the Octoauto, Reeves took inspiration from train design. If carriages had multiple bogies to help distribute the load and smooth the ride, why couldn’t the same effect be obtained by increasing the number of wheels on a car?
The Octoauto’s key feature was its four-axle, eight-wheel design. The front had two steerable axles, and the rear had two more, with only the first rear axle being driven. The rearmost axle also had a steering axle.
Milton Reeves believes that a more even weight distribution would reduce shock loads on the wheels and suspension, resulting in a smoother ride and slower tire wear. The advertising for the Octoauto billed the car as “the smoothest-riding car in the world”.
Unveiled at the first-ever Indianapolis 500 in 1922, the Reeves Overland Octoauto was a huge sensation, drawing about as much attention as the race cars. The four-seater’s unusual design and bold claims about unrivalled comfort made people curious, but that curiosity didn’t translate into sales.
The Octoauto was too daring even for the early automobile era, and the fact that it cost $3,200 (about as much as four Ford Model Ts or two Cadillac Model 30s) didn’t really help. The multi-axle setup also made handling difficult, and despite Reeves’ attempt to fix that by launching the six-wheeled Sextoauto, people just had cheaper options.
Today, the Reeves Octoauto is remembered as one of the boldest, most bizarre automobiles in history.
