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

Looks like a Riley Blue Diamond on the door.

 

REFERENCE straight from Wikipedia. If it seems ambiguous, well, maybe I got caught up in that ambiguity. You can read it and take it two ways. They bought enough parts to build 25 but only built five? That could surely be the case.

The Moose Jaw Standard was a Canadian automobile manufactured in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1917.

Five local residents imported the parts to build 25 luxury cars from the United States; these were to be powered by Continental engines. Once each investor had a car, they gave up the concern when they realized that no one else was willing to buy.

 

Reported to be the only one alive, restored and/or running,

99 years old, a 1911 Mercury Truck




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1901 US Long Distance Stanhope
United States Long Distance Automobile Co.
Jersey City, NJ
1901-1903

 

1922 Star Depot Wagon
Durant Motors, Several Cities
1922 - 1928

 

Wll, havent had the pleasure to try it at that speeds, but it got overdrive yes, and cruised easy in 60 mph,with just rumble from the engine........

 

Published: 12:00AM GMT 06 Feb 2001



THE 1910 Brooke Swan Car was the brainchild of a wealthy British engineer, Robert Nicholl "Scotty" Matthewson, who lived at Swan Park, Calcutta, then the capital of British India. In 1909, Matthewson travelled to England to commission a truly eccentric motor car from the Brooke company of Lowestoft, Suffolk. Its wooden body was apparently built by Savage of Kings Lynn, Britain's most famous maker of steam-powered fairground rides. The swan's head and body, carved to create the effect of feathers, concealed the radiator and bonnet.
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Matthewson's car arrived in Calcutta in April 1910. It had amber eyes that glowed eerily in the dark, a multi-note Gabriel exhaust horn with a keyboard in the rear of the car so that Scotty could play chords and bugle calls, and a hot water spray in the swan's beak that enabled the chauffeur to clear a passage through Calcutta's crowded streets.
<!-- BEFORE ACI -->It was in the fashionable Maidan Park, where Calcutta's elite promenaded in their carriages and cars every afternoon, that Scotty displayed the Swan Car's most outrageous feature. A dump valve inside the car dropped splats of whitewash on to the road from the Swan's rear end - just to make it more lifelike

 

I remember seeing the octo-auto here, how about this one?

<CENTER>
Milton Reeves Driving His SextoAuto </CENTER>This Reeves Sexto-Auto is driven by M. O. Reeves. Along for the ride is his son Paul Reeves in front seat and his wife and friends in the two rear seats.

<CENTER>
1911 Reeves Octoauto </CENTER>In 1912 he removed one of the front axles from the OctoAuto and renamed this American Automobile the SextoAuto. He then built a second SextoAuto based on the popular Stutz. A price of $4,500.00 was the asking price of the Stutz SextoAuto car. However, only one was ever made.

 

Here's one that has to be rare to EXTINCT: Majestic, made in New York City only in 1917, according to auto historian Fred Colvin. Not to be confused with a car of the same name made 1925-27 specifically for the taxi trade.

Riding on a 125-inch wheelbase, the Majestic Model M wasn't a small car by any means. Power came from a Herschell-Spillman V-8, just shy of 332-CID with one Ball carburetor. The H-S would have been low-revving but torquey at 3.25-inch bore by a pretty hefty five-inch stroke.

This is all I could find on this rare bird (no sleight intended to SWI's swan! Nyuk, nyuk!). I've observed that some pretty thorough lists DO NOT even show the Majestic of 1917. Leads one to think they may have closed doors quickly!!! (Sort of like Barbarino)

 

For 1928, truck builders Service Relay Motors Corporation of Lima, Ohio, branched out to try their hand at auto-making. They built seven Worldmobile large, six-passenger sedans with 271-CID Lycoming straight eights.

This shred of info is all the evidence I could find that the Worldmobile actually existed, with the exception of a first-hand account by HAMBer 37Kid who said he saw what Harrah's claimed was the ONLY survivor. That was just before Harrah's sold off so many cars. Where it went . . . WHO KNOWS??? If someone could/can come up with a photo of this car, American-Automobiles.com is desperately seeking such an image.

 

1939 Super Sonic, one-of-a-kind prototype, currently
on loan by owner Robert Demars for display at the
Automobile Driving Museum, el Segundo, CA. ANY-
BODY know any background on this futuristic car???

 

That car has been in his ad in hemmings for as long as I can remember. At some point I recall he was looking for a partner in the restoration. The website seems to be down but this was on there:

Built in 1938 to break the Landspeed Record.
Built in the Thorne Engineering Racing Shop in Burbank, California prior to WWII.

The streamlined Thorne Racer was intended by Joel Thorne (heir to Chase Manhattan Bank/Pullman Railroad Fortunes) as Americas Landspeed challenge to the headline making Mercedes 'Silver Arrow' & Auto Union Landspeed RaceCars. Designed and built by Thorne & Art Sparks, just before the U.S. entry into WWII.

Lou Fageol would buy and turn this race car into the fabulous Fageol 'SuperSonic'.

 

Ostentatienne Opera Sedan
The Ostentatienne Opera Sedan was offered at a F.O.B. price of $19,600 (1967), had a weight of 5,740 lb (2,600 kg), and sat on a 119 in (3.02 m) wheelbase. Prices have also been quoted at $25,600. [1] Tires for the vehicle were nitrogen filled 7.50&#8221;x20&#8221; (USA). The Ostentatienne was powered by an International Harvester truck engine. Entry into the car was from the rear; solid steel side rails (designed to protect passengers during a crash) prevented doors along the vehicles sides. The Ostentatienne could be ordered customized to suit its buyer&#8217;s wishes; Ming styled oriental rugs, refrigerators and sealed beam taillights were some of the options available. Production is estimated at three to four vehicles per year.
The Opera Sedan after sitting in storage for almost 20 years, was brought back to life in 2009. Bruce Mohs personal Opera Sedan was restored to its original condition by two Wisconsin High Schools. Freedom High School Automotive Program and the Freedom Auto Club (Freedom, WI)[2]. and Shawano High School automotive program known as "Hot Rod High" (Shawano, WI) [3] A personal friend of Mr. Mohs, Fred Beyer coordinated the restoration and displayed it at the 2009 Iola Car Show in Iola, WI. FHS students along with instructor Jay Abitz and associate Bob Abitz spent 16 weeks and over 400 hours repairing rust, fabricating panels, and restoring the paint and body. Retired teacher Fred Beyer and Mike Carnahan along with the "Hot Rod High Students performed all of the dis-assembly, mechanical repairs, detailing, and re-assembly. Paint and materials were supplied by PPG and 3M. Mechanical parts by various suppliers. The Opera Sedan was featured in the August 09' issue of Hot Rod Magazine, February 2010 issue of Kustoms and Hot Rods, and both Freedom and Shawano High School annual Car Shows. The restored sedan now resides in the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford, WI.[4]

 

Designed and built by Thorne & Art Sparks, just before the U.S. entry into WWII. Lou Fageol would buy and turn this race car into the fabulous Fageol 'SuperSonic'.



AJ, I'm glad you knew the origin of the car. Did any of
these fellas ever get the project to a point where they
could actually test the car on salt or sand? And any idea
about the mill & running gear? THANKS!!!

 

Any one know any thing about this one???? All I find is a picture, no info.

 

Re: Supersonic.

Note sure of the original powertrain.

In it's original incarnation:



EDIT: , in it's 1948 configuration. See this video for the whole story. In it's first configuration it has twin millers, but the engines and original chassis are gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlyaRNNSHDE

Here is the original land speed configuration:

 

Beetle with a sting in the tail (UPDATE: Factory Reject)
In 1939 Ferdinand Porsche designed an aerodynamic sports car based on his earlier sketches for the KdF-Wagen (the Beetle we all know). Called Type 64, three prototypes were made to take part in a long-distance race from Berlin to Rome. However, due to the outbreak of WW II the race was cancelled. One prototype was destroyed during the war and another was wrecked by American soldiers in May 1945. This one survived and by looking at it from the rear (wikimedia), it&#8217;s not difficult to see why this Type 64 is regarded by many as the first &#8216;real&#8217; Porsche. Known today as the "Ur-Porsche" or "Porsche Prototype" it will be on display at Retro Classics this coming weekend. The Porsche is not far from our &#8220;PreWar Plaza&#8221;. Do come and meet us! (photo courtesy Retro Classics).

Update by Michael Hortig: "This car was sold by Porsche to austrian race-driver (one-armed) Otto Mathe. At the end of the 80`s he wanted to give the car to Ferry Porsche as a present. He drove the car on a trailer to Stuttgart, but at the door he was told that Porsche don`t want spontaneous visits and the company has enough old junk...! Now the car is owened by a private collector in Austria."

 

SafariKar
The SafariKar was produced between 1972 and 1979, and was no less exotic than the Ostentatienne. SafariKars were aluminum bodied automobiles, the exterior of which were upholstered in Naugahyde (vinyl) stretched over foam padding. Doors for the vehicle opened outward from the body on linear rods, again for side impact protection. The vehicle had a retractable hard top system. Options for the SafariKar included a television, four-wheel drive, two-way radio and "butane furnace."

On an International Travelall platform. The rear section of the roof was hinged and could be flipped back. The rear deck was of similar design. The body consisted of cast Tenzalloy bulkheads and heavy gauge aluminum sheet with a polyurethane foam and Naugahyde covering. To clean the body "you merely wet, wipe and dry". No waxing, no polishing of the flat black finish

 

Wonder if there are any of these left?????

 

HAMBer RustyHood posted these cool pix of an oldie set
up for rail bed inspection on another thread, Old Railroad
Inspection Car Photo's,Do you have any? Since we've
shown cars set up for water, air and snow navigation, I
thought this would be fun for people to see. Good thread;
go take a peek!

 

ca. 1950 Rambler Convertible
Miss Marilyn Rich
Original Helicopter Girl
National Air Races Aug 7-8-9
NASH Dealers of Metro Detroit

 

Here's a nicely illustrative line drawing of the 1947 Gordon Diamond one-off prototype, conceived and built during WWII by Gordon Hanson and licensed in 1947. Except for (or because of?) wheel configuration, the Hanson car seems to fall right into that funky '30s class of cars that can't escape the label "experimental." That would include the Dymaxion, Aeromobile and the Scarab, plus at least a couple of others I can't think of right now. (If you ask me, the Hanson car here "borrows" heavily on body designs of all the aforementioned cars and, like the Scarab, it used a Ford V-8.) I mentioned this car a couple of months ago, but I had no image to show, okay?

But, the neat thing about this drawing is that it clearly shows the two wheels amidships and the "steering" wheels, fore and aft. Unfortunately, I couldn't find ANY info on how the experiment worked out -- meaning, how the son-of-a-bitch really HANDLED, which I guess was the point of the whole affair.

To address TOPIC, I wonder if this prototype is in some museum or private collection. OR, is it EXTINCT?

 

Metropolitan 'Astra-Gnome'
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The &#8216;Astra-Gnome&#8217; was exhibited at the 1956 International Auto Show in New York. Here's how it looked then ...[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Here's what it looks like now!
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Completely restored for the new millennium...[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Looking better than ever![/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Check out the space age cockpit![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]

From the The Metropolitan Pit Stop Museum
[/FONT][/FONT]

 

We've shown the Briggs & Stratton Flyer and other mini-cars
made in the early days for youngsters, but we haven't covered
THIS kooky little car: the Custer, made by the Custer Car
Specialty Co., Dayton, OH, beginning in 1920. These two OB-
VIOUSLY rare pix, dated 1922 and '24, respectively, were posted
by enthusiast Royal Feltner of Amesbury. MA, on the internet,
and I thank him for the blast from the past! Royal stated under
the pix that the company was in business through 1965, which
sounds wild.

ANYBODY know anything about the running gear or more about
the company???



Judging from the flowers and dapper hat, this young man must have
been on his way to a date with one of the Munchkin gals when exces-
sive speed got him into a bind! Below, lack of extras like turn signals
aren't dampening this young lady's joy ride!



[NOTE: There was also a Custer electric, begin-
ning in 1898. So, maybe the two are related?]

 

This old ad was on the PawNation website two days ago.
From the June '36 Popular Mechanix. I could not resist
putting something on here that should have been extinct
BEFORE it reached the marketing phase! LOL. Appears
to have died fast! Hear the animal-rightsists howling???

 

Okey-dokey, here's the only sketch of the 1899 Horsey-Horseless known. After reading before about this goofy vehicle, I read much more in depth today. And I feel we can file this under the NEVER-WUZ category of our thread -- extinct before even one was built.

That's right. I believe Tucker was well-intended, and I believe Tucker was tinkering with a convertible '48. BUT, the Horsey-Horseless was a tongue-in-cheek satire on the contention between the traditional horse and what many in the 1890s saw as the "upstart" automobile, running around loud and largely unregulated by municipalities, scaring the you-know-what out of horses.

The "inventor" and author of the drawing, it's generally contended, was one Uriah Smith of Battle Creek, MI. Though Smith had several U.S. patents on record, even commentators on a Snopes site found no Horsey-Horseless patent. Leads one to doubt Smith was serious about actually building one of the goofy "hybrids"! LOL

Smith, a Seventh Day Adventist, was fond of poking fun at society and was well known for satirical writings. Further undermining the plausibility of the "car" is the supposed shtick that went with the picture. With the annoying auto "disguised" by the faux horse head -- the theory goes -- a noisy, smelly car could slip by a horse before it had the chance to get spooked (!).

This scenario looses credibility when you stop and realize that Hyram Maxim didn't invent the first gun silencers and auto mufflers until early in the 20th Century, folks. Fool a horse? A noisy car with a horse head hanging on the front -- hello? Okay, I also know I am not the only person on the HAMB who has worked with horses. Who the hell thinks that any horse would be dumb enough to be fooled for a second? A horse wouldn't even be delayed by wait&see doubts; if a horse is suspicious of something, its survival instinct tells it to put some distance between itself and a possible threat (same with wild life, such as deer).

On the other hand, like Saturday Night Live, I think Smith's satirical drawing was good natured, clean fun, NOT meant to fool anybody for long! But, then, it's apparently done so for 111 years! I guess ol' Uriah Smith has had a LONG last laugh!

 

Though I always roll my eyes and go, "What were they thinking?"
I admit that I can't help but ogle any and all kooky offbeat mon-
strosity that ever passed for an attempted automobile! How
'bout you?

The 3,000-pound beast above is such a critter: The 1913
Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo an apparently well-intended
experiment by James Scripps-Booth, a newspaper heir with more
money than taste. The Bi-Autogo sported a V-8 before V-8s
were common. And on something that's a motorcycle-car cross?
As such, it was THE first V-8 vehicle made in Detroit. Though at
speed it operated rather like a motorcycle, the Bi-Autogo rider
had available outrigger wheels that could be deployed to keep
the crate from keeling over at low speed. Note that the pilot rode
in the rear and had a steering wheel rather than handle bars.

Well, at least the Bi-Autogo will be remembered, as James
Scripps-Booth grabbed an early entry on TIME magazine's list
of the 50 WORST cars of all time. Sincere appreciation is ex-
pressed to TIME for the above image of the Bi-Autogo.

 

We are all thoroughly familiar with the auto name Packard. But in the back of my mind the lesser make, Pickard, has been bouncing around a long time, so I finally made time to try and look it up! It was kind of tough, but I finally came up with a photo, though little in the way of facts.

But here are the basics: In 1908 the Pickard brothers, Emil, Ben and Alfred, of Brockton, MA, founded the company and built cars from 1909 to 1912.


1910 Pickard touring car, thanks to the internet site
of auto enthusiast Royal Feltner of Amesbury, MA.

Hudson, a company that would become one of the nation's largest automakers, was also launched that year, though to a tad more fanfare. Other events of 1909 garnered a little more public attention than new-car launches -- but cars were ALWAYS in the news! Astronomers discovered what would be named the planet Pluto, Commander Peary was first to reach the North Pole, and President Taft announced construction of a defensive naval base in the Hawaiian Territory (the Japanese had just thumped Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, so Japan was now considered a potent naval threat.

The Sears-Roebuck Catalog started selling cars mail-order, the first electric car horns were offered, and incandescent electric lights began replacing carbide headlamps on cars. Driving a Maxwell-Briscoe, plucky Alice Ramsey became the first woman to drive across the U.S., and horse-related incidents killed nearly 4,000 Americans -- far more than auto accidents. The Taft couple rode to the presidential inaugural ball in a White Steamer, and near Detroit, the first mile of concrete pavement was laid.

Nearly 300 auto makes were manufactured during 1909 in nearly half of the U.S. states, and nearly half were made in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. In the year, about 125,000 cars, trucks and buses were made. Nearly three of four autos built were four-cylinder, the rest being six-cylinder.

 

Doubles as a bumper should someone try to sideswipe them and dog piss won't rust out the running boards, right?