History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

How about a one wheeled vehicle?

I couldn't resist!
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/786-15/Archive-Films



Dynasphere

The Dynasphere, an electrically-driven wheel capable of speeds of up to 30mph, being tested on the beach at Weston Super Mare by Mr J. A. Purves of Taunton, who invented the machine with his son.

 

The Hungerford Rocket car (aka "Shirley Lois: Moon Girl") was built on a 1921 Chevrolet Chassis in 1929. It had a conventional power train as well as a rocket propulsion system. Only one of the jet nozzles was functional. The others were for appearance. The original Chevy engine ran until it reached 50 mph. The driver then cut in the gasoline powered, forced air rocket engine. The car body was made out of linoleum and cardboard allowing passengers to kick their way out if there was an accident. The car went 70 mph and shot out a 20 foot flame while getting 2 miles per gallon.

 

Car-nation, like the Cardon a cycle car

A late friend of mine restored one about 20 years ago, a touring car, a 1913, one of only 5 or 6 left, won a AACA first place. Had to have all the fenders and the radiator made from scratch... cool radiator though.

 

Here are some pictures of a 1925 Davis 3 Door Sedan. The one in the color pictures is the one in the Richmond Museum. The logo on the radiator doesn't belong there.

 

HJ, if I understood your question in Post #481, I read a few months ago that Caddy beat King (Charles Brady King) to the V-8 punch. But King promoted HIS V-8 as "America's afforable" V-8.

Now, I'm sure there were experimental V-8s, but to the best of my knowledge Caddy & King had the first PRODUCTION V-8s. Do correct me if I am wrong.

 

Swi, 20-foot FLAME? Wonder how the EPA would feel about THAT!!!!

 

SunRoofCord, survival rates for cars post-WWI to the early '20s was not good. So, from your post, it sounds as though, maybe SIX Davis cars survived from this period?

Idea of size of company, how MANY Davis' made, etc.?

And, I have to ASK: WHY only three doors?

 

Swi: ya GOTTA love the look on the face of this cat driving the one-wheeler!!!
Is that a mad-scientist look, or what? LOL

 

Actually, we believe there is possibly a dozen early Davis Cars that still exist. It's what you called a manufactured car where parts were bought from several different companies to build the car. A very common practice in the teens and '20s. I will have to do some more research to answer your questions. I know that Cars And Parts magazine did an extensive article on the early Davis cars years ago but it will take some digging to find it. Meanwhile, here's a not very good picture of the Davis Factory and one of a 1923 Davis Touring car as well.

 

HJ: RE Post #482:

Short version: Walter Hay & Emerson Hotchkiss of New Haven
Connecticut dabbled in the horseless carriage field, very briefly.
Only one Hay & Hotchkiss motor car was built before the two
entrepreneurs returned to what they knew: carriage building.
Reportedly, the engine was an original gasoline design, BUT it
did not function well.

Being that there was only ONE made, the Fountainhead
Museum is apparently VERY excited to get this 1898 stan-
hope phaeton!!! More good reading on the 'net! Randall
Beach of the New Haven Register wrote an interesting
article before the car was shipped off to Alaska. The photo
below accompanied the Register's article.

 

Go back to my original post.
There is actually a short video of it in motion.

 

How about a 1905 Banker built by A.C. Banker Co. of Chicago. Courtesy of Cars And Parts Magazine August 1969

 

Marmom built one experimental air-cooled OHC V-8.

See the following excerp from CanadianDriver March 16, 2000 by Bill Vance


Nordyke and Marmon was formed in Richmond, Indiana, in 1851, soon moving to Indianapolis where it became prominent manufacturing flour milling machinery.
Late in the 19th century a Marmon scion, Howard Marmon, graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of California in Berkeley. He was brilliant, and became Marmon’s chief engineer in 1902 at age 23. His older brother Walter, also an engineer, managed the business.
Although flour machinery was profitable, Howard was more interested in the emerging automobile. He built his first car in 1902 with an air-cooled V-twin engine, pressure lubrication and overhead valves.
Howard’s second car in 1903 had an air-cooled V-4. By 1904 the company was in the automobile business, selling six cars, most of them to friends. Production increased to 25 cars in 1905, and Howard began trying different engine configurations. After an experimental V-6, and a V-8, he settled on conventional water cooled, inline designs.

 

According to Wikipedia you are right.

King Motor Car Company

In December 1914, a V8 was introduced in the King, a scant two months after Cadillac announced its own V8-powered car. Starting in 1916, all Kings were 8-cylinder models. Production declined from a peak of 3000 in 1916 to a company low of 240 in 1923. During the more healthy years, the company exported cars to Europe, Australia, South America, South Africa, and Russia.<SUP id=cite_ref-Kimes.2C_p.807_2-2 class=reference>[3]</SUP> Early 4-cylinder cars sold for $1350 in basic form, and for $1565 when fully equipped with windshield, hood, and gas lamps. By 1914, even the V8-powered car was only $1350, and was advertised as the "World's First Popular-Priced V8".<SUP id=cite_ref-4 class=reference>[5]</SUP> By 1923, prices were $1795–$2550.

 

And think there was only one?
Go to this site for even more info!
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/motorwhl/motorwhl3.htm#nils

Anyone want to try driving one?

Wonder why they didn't catch on.

Sure save on tire buying!

That's it, buried due to a conspiracy of the tire companies!

 

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD>[FONT=arial,helvetica]The Vereycken Diwheel: 1947
Driving this diwheel is clearly no laughing matter. <!--CuriousMomentsp179 -->
For some time this machine has been unidentified. Now, thanks to research done by Stephen Ransom, it can be revealed that it was patented in Belgium in 1947 by Edouard Vereycken, who gave an address in Brussels. The patent number is 473,555 and is titled “Véhicule à deux roues solidaires l’une de l’
[/FONT]

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

Swi66 wrote: Wonder why they didn't catch on. Sure save on tire buying!
That's it, buried due to a conspiracy of the tire companies!



LOL! You're killin' me here!
(Also, is that 2 guys drag racing their "Big Wheels"?)<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
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OR, is it the ol' BIG-block VS. SMALL-block
grudge race???<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
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An extremely low-production but CLASSY hand-built car that's DEFUNCT, not quite EXTINCT, is the Edwards America personal sports car made with the brain and auspices of SanFrancisco racer Sterling Edwards. Edwards did two experimental cars, 1949 and 1951, following with six production models, late-1953 to 1955.

He modified components as production proceeded, most notably the ENGINES! The '49 exp. used a flatty Ford V8, and the '51 used a Chrysler Firepower 331 Hemi. Both those cars were on tube frames. The '53 to '55 cars used Olds Rocket 303, Lincoln 317 & Caddy 331. GM Hydrmatic was the trans, and Edwards at least TRIED to hold down costs by clverly using existing Detroit parts, e.g., stock Mercury tail lights.

With a fiberglass body on a Henry J frame, Edwards' V8s won him the power-to-wreight race, for sure. A writer for Hemmings Motor News rightly compared the rather understated yet elegant body lines of the America to those of Virgil Exner's early-'50s Ghia show cars! But, he could never meet his sticker goal of $5,000 -- a lot of money in the early '50s, even for an elite personal car! And the actual nearly $8,000 price soon force Edwards to give up his expensive car-building hobby and turn to more realistic pursuits. Given the cars' cost, one might ASSUME that the later Edwards at least STARTED out in private hands, and osme probably passed into museum collections. BUT, WHAT ABOUT THE 2 EXPERIMENTAL cars!!!

HAMBers, I have two requests: (1) I have no photo of the Edwards America sports cars, and (2) does ANYONE know if the experimental cars of '49 and '51 survived?

OR, are they officially EXTINCT???

 

1955 Edwards America Sports Coupe

Here's a link to one for sale:
http://www.prewarcar.com/pre1966/show_postwar_car.asp?car_id=209987104

All kinds of pictures here:
http://www.hymanltd.com/search/Details.asp?stockno=3996&recordCount=16



Here is an excerpt that states the first chassis is being resored.
Today, a number of the cars have resurfaced and are undergoing restoration by their owners. Bob Whitmer, Edwards close friend and former employee during the construction of the cars, maintains all of the molds with the exception front lower valance panel. Recently he produced a door for the first chassis which has been under a professional restoration. Whitmer maintains that the only exception to originality in this restoration been the adoption of updated wiring.
Great article on the history here:
http://www.96trees.com/edwards/edwards.html

 

Come on, you know as well as I do, anytime two people with two vehicles get together, there's gotta be a race!

 

Swi, thanks for the pics of the Edwards. Bodywork looked NICER than the Muntz, sort of like a lower-slung Bentley, if you ask me!

 

I think the are getting ready to do donuts or have a burnout contest.

 

Myself, I'm getting really TIREd of these silly puns! So, let's TREAD a little easier on the quips, okay, fellas???

 

L.L. Allen made no more than 40 Ben Hur automobiles, in Willoughby, Ohio. Production only ran from 1917 to spring 1918 when the company went into reveivership.

And SO, the Ben Hur would have been a sort of ORPHAN car from its inception. Anyone KNOW if EVEN ONE got saved & preserved?

 

See post #484?

 

HJ, you had me worried I'd been asleep at the wheel, UNTIL I reviewed Post #484!!! You dog! LOL

The old horsepower schtick, eh? Nyuk, nyuk!

2 BARREL

High Performance 4 BARREL

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Seems like if you hit the brakes on the big wheels, you would get quite a ride, like a loope de loop.

 

Ol'Chevy, that reminds me of WHY I was afraid of the Faris Wheel when I was 6 years old!!!

 

One might think that the Great Depression would have dictated automotive conventionality in an economy which killed off high-price auto makes left and right. True, most companies surviving the market crash of '29 got by during the lean '30s building primarily "bread-and-butter" models. But surprisingly, tight times far from stifled engineering and artistic creativity!

Paul Lewis was a self-made man who -- like Ferdinand Porche and Buckminster Fuller -- dreamed of mass producing a "people's car," affordable to the common Joe and Jane! He developed plans for his Airomobile beginning in 1934 (about the time Fuller was working on his futuristic Dymaxion car and Stout, his Scarab). Lewis engaged two dedicated former engineers from the defunct Franklin company of Syracuse, along with the artistic talents of John Tzarda who was on his way to fame for designing the door-busting new Lincoln Zephyr. By 1937, Lewis had a working prototype Airomobile to take on what would prove to be successful promotional tours, selling stock everywhere he went nationally.

Unlike Fuller's Dymaxion, Lewis' car was actually very, very stable, despite early public doubts about a car with only one, trailing rear wheel and two flat rear fins that made the car appear, from above, like something between a fish and a bird! By 1938, Lewis and backers had further streamlined the prototype, including integrating previously obtrusive headlamps into the front fenders. But, the mini-recession of '38, coupled with meddling from a suspicious SEC (shades of Tucker's later troubles!), combined to dry up financial backing Lewis needed for tooling and materials to bring the Airomobile to the masses.
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As can be seen from this tiny photo of the refined 1938 Airomobile, the front end quite resembles a Volkswagen Beetle. (Put your thumb over the rear & SEE!) Indeed, many -- including Lewis -- later accused Porche of stealing design and engine cues from Lewis (as well as those of the aerodynamic, foreign-made Tatra) to comply with Adolph Hitler's demands for a rushed-up "People's Car" in Germany. Importantly, decades-later, positive road tests of the still-surviving ONE Airomobile seem to serve as an endorsement of its quality, performance and reliability -- if not necessarily of its unorthodox design!

In conclusion: What defines SUCCESS in the auto world? Units produced? Sales and profits? Design innovation and technical progress? It might well be argued that Lewis' fish/bird-like Airomobile, as well as Stout's Art Deco Scarab (with its Art Deco mini-van appearance), were both successes, at the very least in terms of being working, viable cars. But Fuller's Dymaxion, also arguably, did not measure up, in that the project was essentially abandoned after a man was killed driving the vehicle, and public confidence resultantly evaporated.