When Do We Start Selling Part 2

For three days, the twenty Model Ones sat silent in the yard of Machine Works Number Three, their green bonnets gathering a light dusting of gray coal ash from the western chimneys.

Inside the experimental annex, the air smelled of scorched cast iron, turned steel, and burned oil.

Ernest and Hollen attacked the braking assembly with ruthless focus. The thin, pressed-steel drums from Prototype Two were hauled to the scrap bin. In their place, Hollen cast heavy, finned iron drums with deep radial cooling ribs that doubled the surface area exposed to the air.

Ernest altered the geometry of the linkages, moving twenty percent more braking authority to the front hubs.

"Careful, lad," Hollen warned, watching Ernest sketch the revised bellcranks on the slate. "Too much bite on the front wheels and you'll lock the steering in a turn. A man can't steer a sliding tire."