Was an accelerator an original component of the internal combustion engine?

No and it still isn’t. Look up the definition.

@stanleybmanly Beat me to it !

humph

Throttle ? ? ?

Fret not TW. Throttle is valid. But how would you determine whether or not a throttle was an integral part of the “original” internal combustion engine? I mean is a carburetor with a throttle body necessary?

Are you people nitpicking whether or not the accelerator is a component of the engine?

Or are you truly unaware of the word?

Merriam Webster
Accelerator – a device (such as a pedal) for controlling the speed of a motor vehicle engine

Oxford English Dictionary
Accelerator – A device, usu. a foot pedal, for controlling the speed of a motor vehicle’s engine.
Example: 1900 W. W. Beaumont Motor Vehicles viii. 147 “The other governor control is known as the accelerator.”

Anyway, the oldest engine I recall seeing is a Wright brothers 1903 motor, and Google tells me it had no throttle, it always ran at full speed.

Yes. The first petrol driven engine was made by Daimler and Maybach in 1883 (the first internal combustion engine was arround 1860 but it ran on coal gas). The presence of a throttle made it useful in transport applications.

@Call Me Jay We’re not nitpicking one bit! I’m stating that an accelerator is NOT a component of an internal combustion engine and Tropical Willie obviously agrees.

Here is a non-accelerator (throttled internal combustion engine) Hit-and-miss engine; engine speed is controlled by the holding the exhaust valve open when the engine speed is above a set RPM.

Having a throttle or not would depend on the application. Does the engine need to run at a set speed or have variable speed? Set speed engines, such as stationary engines, may require (limiting speed) governors, throttled engines may not need a governor, unless the engine might destroy itself if ran too fast (variable speed governor.)