Let's Talk Cyclecars

Bluto, it's unfortunately too "Seattle". Getting more crowded and expensive. Looking to relocate someday but not sure where.

Anyway, since this is about cycle cars, here is my work-in-progress cyclecar dash. Please excuse the tape bits.


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I FOUND THIS TO EXPLAIN THE OX-5'S PROBLEMS. DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS ARE NOT ALWAYS FOUWARD AS WE ALL KNOW..... OX-5 IS LARGER AND MUCH HEAVIER THAN THE LITTLE ENGINE I HAD. NOT THAT MY LITTLE ENGINE WAS REALLY ANY BETTER... MY GUESS IS NONE OF THESE IS REALLY SUITED TO AUTOMOTIVE USE... UNLESS THEY WERE AQUIRED CHEAPLY.... AND POST WAR THEY WERE. BUT SO WE'RE SO MANY AIRCRAFT ENGINES. INCLUDING HISSO V-8'S A FAR MORE RELIABLE LUMP.

NONE...NONE! OF THESE WOULD EVER BE CONSIDERED AS CYCLE CARS AS THEY ARE NOT SMALL, LIGHT.
I MUST ADMIT I AM DRAWN TO THESE AS "WONDERFUL LOUD AND FLAMING EXHAUST"
I HAD, FOR A TIME, CONSIDERED A RANGER ENGINE. THESE WERE FITTED TO PT-19 TRAINERS. AFTER WWII THESE WERE SOLD SURPLUS AND FITTED TO WHAT MOST HERE WOULD CALL "SPRINTCARS". AS A BOY I REMEMBER THE SOUND AND FLAME AT ASCOT IN SO. CAL. THESE WERE MORE "AUTOMOBILE FRIENDLY" AND STILL WEIRD AND RARE ENOUGH TO FIT INTO A CAR AND LOOK OLD.

I HAD A FRIEND THAT OWNED AN AIRCRAFT JUNK YARD CLOSE TO ME. HE WAS SELLING HIS LAND AND CLOSING. TYPICAL FOR ME I RAN OVER AND BROUGHT A RANGER. NOT ONLY COMPLETE BUT NOT LOCK-UD UP EITHER. IT WAS STILL IN THE FRONT PART OF A FAIRCHILD PT-19
STUPID ME I COULDN'T PASS THIS UP..... AND HERE IT IS IN THE BACK OF MY 1939 GMC SHOP TRUCK.
IT WAS SO GOOD THAT I DROVE THE TRUCK AROUND LIKE THIS FOR SOME WEEKS...BUT AGAIN LEASE EXCUSE ME THAT NONE OF THIS IS "CYCLE CAR" IT IS JUST THAT IT IS FROZEN HERE AND TOO DANGEROUS O GO OUT FOR A WALK, WITHOUT A LOT OF SKATING AND FALLING!

SO HAVE A LOOK AT SUNNY DAYS LONG AGO IN A PLACE FAR AWAY....



YES, THAT BIG PIPE IS THE EXHAUST!!
IT EVEN HAD A STARTER

YES, I WAS THE "POSTER BOY" FOR YOUNG AND STUPID!!

 

What really attracted me to the Curtiss and JAP motors was the exposed rockers. Really adds to the mechanical drama to have those clicking away especially in such a sparse vehicle. Hats off to those owners that can keep them running and racing.


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I AGREE WATCHING ALL THIS STUFF IN ACTION IS A LOT OF FUN.

BUT EXPOSED TO THE WORLD AND WITHOUT PROPER OIL SUPPLY ITEMS JUST DON'T LAST VERY LONG.

MOST OF THE BIKE ENGINES KIND OF DO A BETTER JOB THAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES BUT DON'T HAVE THE SAME CACHE.

WHEN I THINK CYCLECAR I ALWAYS THINK OF A LITTLE ALMOST HOMEMADE VEHICAL WITH A SMALL ENGINE STRUGGLING TO ACT LIKE A CAR... NOT A HUGE AREO-ENGINES BREAST..... JUST MY US$.02

 

Yes, those are really under the classification of aero engined racers. Fun to watch especially with the solid rear axle.

The early cars are great fun to see running. I was watching the Blitzen Benz being fired up at Monterey. Giant cylinders. And those huge displacement Fiats!

I'm putting a large 2 liter V-twin in mine.


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I STILL HAVE A 1914 DE DION 4 CYLINDER ENGINE AND GEARBOX HERE.
56X196....

 

I was building a 4 cylinder boat tail roadster some years ago and did a thread about it here. Don't know if it still exists.


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Cyclecar?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=182808885785885&set=g.124172104555&type=1&ifg=1

 

Strong girl in a Benjamin
http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2017/02/24/gestapo-hitler-book-anne-sebba

 

The fishlike car is fantastic. There is a credit to a Facebook page-Paul Jaray. Jaray was an vehicle aerodynamicist but that doesn't look like his typical designs. Any more info on that? Looks like it may be pedal powered- no obvious signs of a motor under there.


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The woman driving the Benjamin is Violette Morris. I remember reading a story about her in Jalopnik, I think. A notorious spy in France. Quite the story. Google it.


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ROLF
THAT LITTLE POINTED ENDED THING IS WONDERFUL. SO MANY INVENTORS TRIED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF GETTING FROM ONE PLACE TO THE NEXT.... IT IS GREAT TO SEE SUCH EXCCENTRIC SOLUTIONS ...THANK YOU FOR POSTING THAT PHOTO.

 

I bet it corners about as well as a Robin!!

 

Three wheeler can hurt you
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/f...0-cards/?page=34&tab=comments#comment-1992618

 

That's a Scott "Sociable", at least it would be in civilian life. The English government wanted to try one out as a gun carrier. 500, or 600cc (Scott made both size engines) two stroke, watercooled.. Mechanicals based on the Scott motorcycle, the chassis is totally made up of only three different lengths of tubing , supposedly making repairs easy. The Scott motorcycles still have a large following in the antique bike world, some guys even race them in fitting events. A father and now his son, named Moss have developed, and made stronger crank and flywheel assemblys, and now are getting up to 40 HP (when all the planets are in the correct position), ---pretty decent, for a pre-WW1 design, and with the bikes good handling they are still competitive. The Sociable, AKA Gun carrier was a stunning flop however.

Herb

 

HERB

FUNNY THING IS FIRST THING I THOUGHT WAS "WATA-MOTA" WHEN I SAW THE LITTLE TWO-STROKE. I HAD ONE FOR A VERY LONG TIME.

ERIK

THERE IS A BARE BODYLESS BUT COMPLETE FROMO IN THE UK. I HAD THOUGHT OF IT BUT I MUST STOP ALL THIS CRAZYNESS SOMEDAY.

 

I love the Framo.

 

ELVIS IS A GOOD GUY HAVE A LOOK AT HIS 3-WHEELED SITE

http://www.3wheelers.com/enter.html

 

There was a Scott motorcycle at the classic car show we attended last weekend. Water-cooled two-stroke engines at then-strange angles of inclination were a Scott peculiarity. I love the way some early manufacturers were rather hidebound about their particular eccentricities, like Franklin had been about air cooling and wooden chassis frames. Manufacturers have subsequently become eccentric about their particular hideboundnesses, which is immeasurably worse.

 

That is a road registered one man submarine (No joke)

 

The family is smart to keep their distance.

Looks like the Framo pictured above may have a fabric, Weymann style, body?


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ERIK

A LOT OF THE GERMAN BODIES ARE STEEL REINFORCED WOOD WITH A STEEL SKIN, SORTTA, AND THE PADDED FAUX LEATHER FABRIC.
NOT EXACTLY WEYMANN BUT CLOSE.

MY BMW 315/1 WIENBERGER SPECIAL ROADSTER IS LIKE THAT.



THIS IS A PHOTO OF MY ONE-OFF CAR. IT'S BEEN VERY AIRBRUSHED TO GIVE IT THE SHINE.
IN BMWS THE LONGER HEADLAMPS ARE CONSIDERED MORE SPORTY ALSO THIS IS A LOW CHASSIS CAR ... NOTE THE LAMPS ARE ABOVE THE BODY LINE

 

JIM--SITE CLOSED

 

HI HERB

TRY THIS:

http://www.3wheelers.com

 

Here's a Harding of Bath invalid chair we rescued last week. Was less engine (Villiers 150cc) but we have nearly finished fitting a 20's Enfield 225cc 4 stroke engine. Nearly a cycle car ? Should be fun to drive.

 

I like the part where he tries to put the little fan on the roof and he's forbidden... "no extra accessories".

 

Fabric covering would be tough with that large compound curve rear but it does look like it in this shot too.

 

Fred. Doesn't look too bad with that seam down the center. A little stretch of the fabric helps a lot. Beautiful job. Reminds me a little of the MG aero coupes with the sliding sunroof.


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