Cyklon was a German make of car produced from 1902 to 1931. It was primarily noted for its unique three-wheeled design.

Three-wheelers

The three-wheeled Cyklon Cyklonette was made for 1902. It was a three-wheeler with a single wheel in the front to steer, and to provide propulsion from a 450 cc one-cylinder engine

Single cylinder engine

A single-cylinder engine is a basic piston engine configuration of an internal combustion engine. It is often seen on motorcycles, auto rickshaws, motor scooters, mopeds, dirt bikes, go-karts, radio-controlled models and has many uses in portable tools and garden machinery...

 mounted directly above it. This made the Cyklonette one of the earliest front-wheel drive cars. Power was 3.5 bhp in the first models. Later models were equipped with a 1.3 L two-cylinder engine

Straight-two

A straight-two engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine that has its cylinders arranged side by side....

 producing 6 bhp, though some had a straight-four

Straight-4

The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....

. The Cyklonette was available until 1923, well after three-wheelers had vanished from the mainstream.

Four-wheelers

The Cyklon Schebera was available for 1920 and sported a 1.2 L straight-four

Straight-4

The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 and was front-engined with rear-wheel drive. The updated Cyklon 9/40 was released in 1926, with a six-cylinder engine

Straight-6

The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is a six-cylinder internal combustion engine with all six cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase...

displacing 2.3 L. All Cyklon models were hit hard by the Great Depression. Sales were sluggish in the final years, and the company went out of business in 1931.

External links

• Motorbase entry on Cyklon