Think gas-electric hybrids are new? This high-end luxury car, competing in the Classic and Vintage Chassis class, offers a good look at an early gas-electric hybrid drive. A gas-powered inline-six drives a flywheel with six coils spinning inside an iron housing connected to the driveshaft. Relative motion between the flywheel and housing created a current that drove an electric motor. At highway speeds the flywheel and housing would effectively lock up for direct drive in this “car of a thousand speeds.” This Entz magnetic transmission was not cheap, and the car cost $5800, or three times the average annual income. 1921 was the last year of production.
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