In our research for the photo of the eight-wheeled bus and stakebed that David Greenlees brought up last week, we ran across another eight-wheeler we know almost nothing about. What we do know is that Liborio E. Rivas of Santa Rita, New Mexico, dreamed up his eight-wheeled automobile in the early 1920s and patented it in April 1925 (U.S. Patent 1,534,810). His goal with his eight-wheeler was not to distribute weight among another two axles and four wheels or to provide for a better ride, as is the case with most eight-wheeled contraptions, but to make stopping for flat tires a thing of the past. Thus, Rivas’s plan was to not only add the extra axles and wheels, but to also install a device that allowed any one wheel with a blown tire to be raised, allowing the automobile to continue on its merry way without the nuisance of a flat tire.
Unfortunately, we know little else about Rivas. The only other patent of his that we see is for a key holder (U.S. Patent 1,718,433), and his name doesn’t appear to be referenced elsewhere. As for the eight-wheeler itself, it appears never to have gotten off the drawing board: The only New Mexican automobile company we see a listing for is the Cannon Ball of Texico, which never entered production.
However, Rivas… Reeves… Milton O. Reeves… coincidence?