A central headlight to improve vision around corners!
The car also had a central headlight that turned with the steering-wheel to improve vision around curves (an idea that was later “copied” in the 1960s Citroen SM). Also, when there was a wheel puncture, the driver would stop, push a button and the relevant wheel would be jacked up automatically. To re-inflate the wheel one of the spark plugs was removed and replace with a special plug with a valve so that the compression of the engine would inflate the tire. These are just a few of the more than 20 innovations incorporated into the extraordinary automobile.
As the car was not supposed to exceed 80 km/h, and Clarin Mustad wanted to drive faster, he built a six-cylinder engine with 120 hp a few years later, which had a top speed of over 120 km/h downhill. Clarin noticed that the car went faster on rainy days, and he correctly concluded that the combustion was improved by humidity (the car ran on very low-octane fuel, about 60 oct.). So he devised an air-humidifier for the carburetor. This comprised a small water-tank with a normal kerosene lamp-wick that was stretched across the air-intake. He then managed to do over 120 km/h even on sunny day.
Norway’s first hitchhikers
The car was just right for his large family, it was an 11-seater. A side effect of this fact was the appearance of Norway’s firs “hitchhikers”. Every morning as Mr. Mustad drove the 15 km from his residence to the office he would encounter a group of nine people standing at the bottom of a hill waiting for a ride into Oslo in his large and comfortable car. He could never say no, so they had the best transport in town, all for free. Often Mr. Mustad would tell them that they should not depend on him for transport, for if he were sick they would
commit the unforgivable sin of being late for work. They would invariably reply that they didn’t worry because Mr. Mustad, being so concerned, would certainly send his driver to take them into Oslo.
This situation irritated him to such an extent that he developed a completely new car just to teach them a lesson. This car became known as the “Egoist”, it was single-seater with the gear-shift between the legs and just enough room behind the seat for a slim briefcase. One early morning he had his driver take all his children, nursemaids, wife and various other family members to the bottom of the infamous hill where they hid behind some bushes. At precisely the same time as every day, Mr. Mustad appeared driving his wonderful new contraption. He politely waved at the long-faced hitchhikers who from that day on used public transport to town.
One of the six-wheelers was used for ambulance service in Norway throughout the Second World War. It is now exhibited in the Norwegian Technical Museum in Lillehammer beside the “Egoist”. The other six-wheeler is in the Swedish Technical Museum in Gothenburg.
Clarin Mustad’s son Clarin jr., one of the 5th Generation owners, inherited his fathers fascination with cars, but more on the aesthetic side. Of the designs he made, some were actually produced; others remained on the drawing-board.
The Mustad fascination with automobiles continued with Clarin junior’s son Christian, the sixth generation owner. He worked with the current head of a major European car manufacturer when they did their final Diploma Project at the ETH in Zurich.
Pictures:
< the famous Mustad 6-wheeler
> Clarin Mustad with the 'Egoist' a single-seater car
