Circa 1917 Steel spring tires. What is the car?

[Carsnz123]

This pic turned up on my Facebook feed. Apparently it was taken some time in 1917 in Germany. It was a novel approach to solving the rubber shortage after WW1. So what is the car they're mounted on?

 

[Vintman]

I think this is a cca 1916 Protos.

 

Vintman

 

[Leif Holmberg]

Here is the Protos car.

https://www.google.se/search?q=1916+protos+car&tbm=isch&imgil=ZUMSeMsC2J1lpM%3A%3BW0LPfAHjHwSL2M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fsvammelsurium.blogg.se%252F2011%252Fmarch%252Ffjaderdacket.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=ZUMSeMsC2J1lpM%3A%2CW0LPfAHjHwSL2M%2C_&usg=__zlgMp3-KLQpf-I9BWCmXoTPyLJ0%3D&biw=1536&bih=760&dpr=1.25&ved=0ahUKEwil7Yzt9snVAhVIfxoKHRS9C5YQyjcIPA&ei=6eGKWeXUFsj-aZT6rrAJ#imgrc=ZUMSeMsC2J1lpM:

Leif in Sweden

[Larry Schramm]

From this website: http://svammelsurium.blogg.se/2011/march/fjaderdacket.html

 

"Tires were not particularly reliable before, trucks drove on massive tires for a long time, simply unable to make enough strong air-filled tires. In the early years of carism, tires were fragile and punctures were common, and tire changes were difficult as they were often nailed to the rim. While there were alternatives, if you had to avoid the most accident, there were those wheels that had a pair of spiral springs instead of rubber rings. These strange tires sit on a German Protos from 1916, which in all probability is a kind of military vehicle for the army and accessibility was vital."

 

Edited August 9, 2017 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)