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

Escellman sports car


It does resemble the eschelman, but none of the eschellman's I could find had a windshield..............

 

Comet microcar

 

SWI66 - No pix showing on the Eschellman's

 

With our previous coverage of steam cars, thought you guys might find this interesting

http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/304/1/howard.pdf

CHAPTER SEVEN
The Hughes Steamer

Like most young men, Howard Hughes was fascinated with automobiles. Unlike most other young men, he could afford to indulge his whims. And he did.

When I first joined Howard, he was the owner of four remarkable driving machines. When he went to New York on his honeymoon, he bought two Rolls Royces, his and hers. His was a phaeton, hers a limousine. Both were shipped out to California by train.

Earlier, in Houston, he had become fascinated with steam cars. He enjoyed racing the other blades on Houston streets, and he discovered that the steamer could best any other automobile in a drag race; the steamer had as much power from a standing start as it did at full speed.

So Howard bought two steamers—a Stanley and a Doble. He had both shipped to California. He also owned a Cadillac, but he left that in Houston.

Like some of today's ecologists, Howard in 1926 was convinced that the steamer was the car of the future. No matter that they required a long time to work up steam. Or that they needed a water refill every sixty or seventy miles. Howard was convinced that those drawbacks could be cured by sound engineering. And so he set himself the task of creating and manufacturing a revolutionary new automobile, the Hughes Steamer.

Where to start?

Howard decided to pilgrimage to that center of scientific knowledge, the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He went directly to the president himself, Dr. Robert Millikan, the famed physicist who had won the Nobel Prize a few years before.

"I want to build a steam car which will be practical enough for general use," Howard announced. "I need engineering help—men who understand the dynamics of steam and can supply them to a workable automobile."

Dr. Millikan considered the problem of the brash young Texan and referred him to a couple of recent Caltech graduates, Howard Lewis and Bruce Burns.

Howard contacted the two engineers, and they were willing to work for him, especially when he mentioned the handsome salaries he was willing to pay.

He outlined his challenge: "I want a steamer that will get underway in twenty seconds, starting from a dead stop. With the two steamers I've got, I have to wait two to five minutes to build up enough steam to make them move. Why, if I had a fire in my garage, I might not be able to get them out in time.

"Another thing—I want a steamer that will run from Los Angeles to San Francisco on one filling of water."

It was a large order—a steamer that would start operating almost as fast as a gasoline engine, and one that would travel four hundred miles without stopping for water. The two Caltech men seemed willing to tackle the task, and Howard installed them in a workshop on Romaine Street near the Sunset Strip.

Howard devoted himself to making movies and paid little heed to the two young engineers on Romaine. It was my chore to see that the Hughes Tool Company profits kept coming through to pay for both the steamer and Howard's movies.

Burns and Lewis started by buying a French car with a tubular frame and individual wheel suspension. They removed the motor, stripped the car down to the chassis, and used the shell on which to build the Hughes Steamer.

The whole venture seemed fallacious from the start, and I tried to tell Howard so.

"It's really sort of a hobby with me," he admitted.

"How many cars could you turn out a year?" I asked.

"I doubt if we could make more than twenty-five to fifty."

"How much would they cost?"

"Somewhere between twenty-five and thirty thousand."

"Who could afford to buy them at that cost?"

"Oh, I think some of my sportsmen friends would like to own them."

"And supposing they don't?"

"Well then," he said, "at least I'll have a dandy new car every year."

There was no arguing with that kind of logic. So I continued pouring more of the tool company profits into the steamer. This went on for three years, and the bill mounted to $550,000.

Howard rarely paid a visit to the Romaine workshop. I couldn't understand his lack of regard for this expensive project of his. Later I realized that Howard reacted in two divergent ways to projects he initiated. Either he ignored the work and let the creative people proceed unhindered, or else he injected himself into the operation to a maddening degree, often fouling up the works entirely. In this case, he ignored.

Meanwhile, Howard fell in love with another automobile. It was a Rolls Royce roadster which a Hollywood dealer had for sale. Howard insisted on buying it, not only as a runabout for himself; he thought the chassis would be ideal for the Hughes Steamer.

He had lost interest in the Rolls phaeton which he had purchased on his honeymoon, and sought to turn it in on the roadster. But dealer would not meet the price that Howard wanted, so the phaeton was placed in the dealer's lot on consignment—if a customer came up with Howard's price, a sale would be consummated.

Howard was happy, but I was suspicious. We had paid for the roadster, but the dealer failed to produce the bill of sale.

I visited the dealer's showroom, and he gave me an adroit stall. He failed to take me in, and I noticed on his desk some correspondence from a bank. After I left him, I went to the bank and explained my concern.

"I really shouldn't tell you this," the banker said, "but that dealer has a seven thousand dollar loan on that roadster."

Returning to the dealer, I confronted him with the information. He acquiesced, and Howard received unencumbered title to the roadster. But now the dealer had possession of the phaeton, and it was nowhere to be found.

It was my business to protect my boss's interests. I made some inquiries at garages around Los Angeles. Finally I located the phaeton—it was at the Pacific Mutual garage in downtown Los Angeles. I quickly sent a couple of mechanics to the garage to put a chain and padlock on the front spring so the car couldn't be driven away.

But when I arrived at the garage to claim the phaeton, it was gone. the dealer had arrived before me and had raised enough threats to convince the garage men to file the chain and let hem drive away.

I returned to my office and began contemplating my next move. A telephone call solved my problem.

"Do you represent Howard Hughes?" a voice asked.

"Yes."

"Well, I found a bunch of keys with his name on them."

I found out where he was and said, "Stay right where you are. I'll be there with a fifty dollar reward."

I sped to Hollywood Boulevard, claimed the keys, and paid the reward. Then I started driving in concentric circles, examining every garage and driveway until I located the phaeton. I put the key in the ignition and drove it away.
Another challenge mastered. Howard had his phaeton back from the crooked dealer. And he had possession of the roadster that was to be the base on which his Hughes Steamers were to achieve fame and prosperity.

Oh, yes, the steamer.

The two Caltech geniuses continued laboring away at the Romaine Street plant. Finally they issued the word: it's ready!

It was one of the few times that I saw Howard in a state of real anticipation. He and I went to the Romaine Street location and were ushered by Burns and Lewis into the presence of the completed automobile. It was truly handsome. But then, it should have been, considering the half-million dollars that went into its development.

The steamer was a five-passenger open-top touring car, low-slung and more attractive than the big Stanley Steamer. Howard circled the car with a quizzical expression, then interrogated the engineers on its performance.

"It will travel four hundred miles on one load of water and can start almost as fast as a gasoline car," he was assured.

"Amazing," he said. "How on earth did you manage that?"

They explained that it was a matter of water condensation. The body of the car was a network of radiators.

"You mean the entire body is composed of radiators, including the doors?" Howard asked.

Burns and Lewis nodded.

Howard thought for a moment. "Then supposing I'm driving along and some other car hits me broadside," he said. "What is the result?"

He failed to elicit a reply, and he continued with his logic: "I'd get scalded to death—right?"

"It's possible," one of the engineers admitted.

Without pondering further, he said, "Dismantle it, get some torches, and cut it up in pieces."

He walked out of the workshop, and I followed behind.

"Noah, you see to it that they cut it up into pieces," he said. "Small pieces."

 

Happens sometimes, don't know why, try this:
http://microcarmuseum.com/tourindex.html

several eschellman's here,
that's where I tried borrowing the pictures from.

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] 1925 Doble E22 - Ex Howard Hughes.

Seen here as found in John O'Donnels farm Long Beach, when Dean Spencer bought it.

Now owned by Barry Herbert.

[/FONT]

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]And seen here after a complete restoration.[/FONT]

 

Though the ad is small, it seems to show the "big" Eshelman version with a windshield and top of some construction. Eshelman also made a child's version, and an adult would be hard pressed to fit into one of those!

 

Man, SunRoofJim! There surely wasn't anything wrong in the appearance of the Dobles, was there? (I mean other than those awful canister headlamps!)

I only have one problem with the great Howard Hughes piece, though. And that is that it (directly and indirectly, deservedly and undeservedly) perpetuates the overblown (pardon unintended pun) notion that all steam cars were sort of "ticking time bombs," akin to driving around with a cocked gun to one's head. (Jay Leno's comedic take on the old notion on his website does nothing to dispel the in accuracies, either.)

The silly notion that explosion and death by scalding was not -- repeat NOT -- discouraged by makers of internal-combustion automobiles, either. The air of constant lethal threat attached to steam car operation really traced back to the EARLY days of steamboats, steam rail engines and early automotive efforts. (Notably, history records terrible explosions of steamboats particularly in the days of boiler-plate construction, and at least some of those incidents resulted from pushing boats past their limits in river racing.)

But it all flies in the face of LATER automotive steam plants. Stanley and Doble, in particular, refined and improved their set-ups (in the matter of blow-ups), including the boilers. Eventual steam plants for both makes withstood tests to ridiculously high PSI.

Adding to the oft-repeated popular misconceptions about steam were the ideas that that they required (1) LONG warm-up times, and (2) had to stop FREQUENTLY for more water. That was true of EARLY steam cars (and some makes that could never get the engineering right). But better makes attacked -- and OVERCAME -- these issues and, for later models, warm-up could require as little as a couple (2) of minutes. And makers engineered in water-recirculation equipment, so that a steam car could be driven virtually all day long without a water refill.

 

SWI, can we assume THIS is the little Comet developed after WWII?
The reason I ask is that there were several "Comet" makes down through
the decades, but THIS surely doesn't look like a '20s car, ya know?
As always, I always feel a VISUAL representation (no matter
HOW grainy!) adds a HUGE dimension to appreciating a car.
But I sure wish we could dig up some more material
and info on this Comet.

(For instance, doesn't everybody WONDER what
the hell is riding in the back there? LOL)



Comet, General Development Co. Ridgewood,
NY & Long Island, NY 1946-1948
​

 

Wow, another one I never, ever HEARD of! Looks crude, but as you say, JonSpinup, it was intended as a test bed. Your narrative here (much like Jim's write-up on Howard Hughes' interest in a practical steam car) clearly shows that many innovative minds in engineering and invention really looked to experimentation with the AUTOMOBILE as a venue for improving the human condition -- with varying degrees of success. (Fuller's abortive Dymaxion car would be one of the abject failures, IMO.) Welcome to this thread, Jon! Your posts will be a welcome addition, any time!!!

<TABLE height=570 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=553 border=0 usegridy showgridy gridy="16" usegridx showgridx gridx="16" cool><TBODY><TR height=16><TD width=464 height=16></TD><TD width=3 height=16></TD><TD width=35 height=16></TD></TR><TR height=48><TD width=1 height=48><SPACER height="48" width="1" type="block"></TD><TD width=35 height=48></TD><TD width=13 height=48></TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width=464 height=48 content csheight="32" xpos="48">

1938 Eliot Cricket III​

</TD><TD width=3 height=48></TD><TD width=35 height=48></TD></TR><TR height=272><TD width=1 height=272><SPACER height="272" width="1" type="block"></TD><TD width=35 height=272></TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width=480 colSpan=3 height=272 xpos="35"></TD><TD width=35 height=272></TD></TR><TR height=231><TD width=1 height=231><SPACER height="231" width="1" type="block"></TD><TD width=35 height=231></TD><TD vAlign=top align=left width=480 colSpan=3 height=231 content csheight="224" xpos="35">
Samuel Eliot, ASAE, was an automotive experimenter and visionary. The Cricket III incorporated many of his ahead-of-the-time ideas; torsion-bar suspension, stainless-steel body; one-piece frame, rear-mounted engine, aircraft type control column for steering and braking and no-glare, slotted headlights. Among his many patents was an engine which would run on any fuel. In 1933 he built Boston&#8217;s first parking garage. Specifications: This vehicle was a test bed so that the specifications varied widely.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

HJ, any indication at all whether EITHER of the Airways survived? GREAT job fiding this background, man!!!

<CENTER>
1950 Airway "VICINITY" Car </CENTER><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

1938 Longhorn Custom Roadster

Oliver Albert of Gonzalez, Texas, built this one-off custom roadster, known as the “Longhorn” over a period of approximately 14 years. Truly impressive in its overall dimensions, the Longhorn Roadster rides on a 120-inch wheelbase and measures 19 feet, four inches in length, yet has a total height of just three feet, 9 inches and weights a svelte 2,800 pounds.

All body panels were hand-formed from the parts of no fewer than 14 different makes of vehicles and an equally impressive engine, a 1941-vintage Lincoln V12, provides power.

Other features include a luggage trunk, a “Continental” spare tire kit and dual exhaust. The cockpit features custom pedals with pearl accents, a bench-type seat and a mix of Speedwell and Stewart-Warner instruments to monitor the Longhorn’s vital functions.

Riding on radically small 10-inch wheels, the Longhorn carries Texas license plates and was last road-registered in 1981, according to a registration sticker affixed to the windshield. As offered, the Longhorn includes a display board mounted with photos depicting its construction and of course, a set of steer horns is ready for mounting.

More Pics Here;

http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=FW10&CarID=r443

 

Nope.

 

SunRoofCord! AMAZING! Has to be one of THE most obscure ONE-OFFS ever built! AWESOME. And we can leave it to personal taste as to whether it's ugly or . . .

Did it survive???

 

A friend of mine researched this car and I believe he said they only made one. He took it far enough that he knows what landfill it is in and about where it is in the landfill.

 

That is he researched the Carroll car built in Strasburg

 

Wolfers, welcome to the HAMB and to this thread, friend!

Searched and I can't seem to find the "Carroll" car yu are referring to, THOUGH it SURELY is an interesting story. (A lot of one-offs disappear without a trace, ya know?) So, If you could clarify which car you refer to, it would sure help me. Thanks!

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=1 width=400 bgColor=#ffffff itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD itxtvisited="1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
These nice color photos are THANKS to Diseno-Art.com!


Rather resembling other experimental and prototypes of the mid-1930s (Airomobile, Scarab, Dymaxion, etc.), the McQuay-Norris Streamliner was a special-purpose vehicle built for promotional and research use by the St. Louis company which specialized in replacement auto parts. (Note that the rear-end treatment predates Paul Lewis' Airomobile fishtail by years!) Only six were built, in 1934.

Power and running gear were Ford V-8-based, and the interior was loaded with instrumentation for evaluating performance of auto components the company explored possibly to bring to the market. The wind-cheating body was of steel and aluminum over a wooden framework, and windows were of an early version of Plexiglass (only around since about 1931).

Interestingly, the McQuay-Norris Streamliner was not intended for mass production and public sale. So, since it performed all the purposes for which it was designed and built, it would have to be considered on of the "successes" among the tide of '30s experimentals and prototypes!

 

This just happened to be one of the things run across inadvertantly when I found the "pup" picture.
this was listed below it, so thought it worthy of a mention as I certainly never hear of it.
Extinct.....................until proven other wise, Yeah, I'd say so!
I have a lot of fun with this thread.
And learn so much,and enjoy the challenge.
but one thing leads to another..............

And you never know, what made only a prototype, made one, made four, or made 100 or a thousand with none surviving.
There for the grace of god could have gone any manufacturer.

For me, "What If",
What if Thomas and Pierce Arrow had survived and were today, bigger than GM, Chrysler or Ford.
Think about it.................

 

Thanks Jimi! I look forward to posting in the future the little knowledge I have. I saw the post topic and remebered this car from a recent trip to the museum. I recalled they had some rare vehicles so I thought I'd share. Glad I could pass on the random info. I'm Really here to learn from you guys and gain the knowledge. Happy building! Gabby aka JonsPinUp (yah, I'm a girl )

 

Hiya, Gabby! LOTS of HAMBers (and car-lovers in general) are GIRLS! My wife's always been a lead-foot AND always been ready to roll up her sleeves and get greasy when I need a hand on a car. And besides, can any guys picture the car scene without ladies, wives and girlfriends???

Again, WELCOME to this thread. For me one of the coolest things about this thread (the whole HAMB, in fact) is that everybody contributes info or a perspective, but -- I think -- everybody learns something!!! The only requirement is an open mind.

 

1902 Mobile, Dougherty Museum,
Boulder County, Colorado


Now HERE is a scarce car, and sorry this small pic from Dougherty is the only one I could find. The MOBILE was made only from 1900 through 1903, and, at least at first, it used technology licensed from the Stanley brother -- which, I suppose, means it was a steam runabout (?).

I have more questions than facts about this make, folks! Just who made it and where? Were they ALL steamers? Anybody out there have any more info or pix?

 

Yowee, this sometimes happens. Right when I get frustrated,
stuff shows up on a rare make! Here's a pretty decent color
shot of a 1900 Mobile runabout. So there are at least two
(one in the Dougherty Museum in Boulder, CO). BUT, now we
know at least WHERE they were built! This was on the fab site
maintained by oldie enthusiast Royal Feltner of Amesbury, MA.
If you haven't visited his site, do yourself a favor!
(www.earlyamericanautomobiles.com)


1900 Mobile Runabout
Milwaukee Automobile Co,
Milwaukee, WI

 

Okay, NOW the plot thickens. Another source says that Mobile was built in Tarrytown, NY, by the Mobile Company of America -- not in Milwaukee. HOWEVER, the Milwaukee Automobile Company (of Milwaukee -- duh) ALSO built a steamer during this very same period, and it was the Milwaukee. Could it be that these were essentially the same car, made in two regional markets? Anybody???

 

This one was on the link SWI mentioned a couple of days ago. Out of curiosity, I searched our thread, and it had NOT been covered -- out of all the TINY post-WWII cars we've kicked around! Made out of mainly spare airplane parts, it SURELY does look it!!! LOL

SCOOTMOBILE , The Norman Anderson Co.
Corunna, MI, 1946
Norman Anderson made a few of these three-wheel cars in '46, apparently looking for a market at $350 a pop. Though Anderson claimed 75 mpg and 40 mph top speed, buyers were not interested -- despite that old saw about car-starved Americans buying ANY new car when the war ended! Besides the plane-like looks, maybe the most arresting feature of the Scootmobile was its automatic tranny!
​

 

Hey, and since I'm on a SCOOT kick here, anybody know anything on THIS one? Is it even domestic??? (BTW, if the model were chunky, you couldn't see this tiny car!)



Thanks to flickr, the 1960 Scootacar De Luxe!

 

1959 Goggomobil Dart

The Goggomobil Dart was designed and built only in Australia by Buckle Motors on a chassis and running gear imported from Hans Glas of Dingolfing in Germany who designed and built Goggomobil Sedans, Coupes, Transporters (panel vans) and a prototype Cabriolet for Europe and export markets. The home models were powered by a 250cc twin cylinder two stroke motor but in <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:COUNTRY-REGION><ST1LACE>Australia</ST1LACE> </ST1:COUNTRY-REGION>either a 300cc or a 400cc engine was used.<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /><O> </O>
It is calculated that 1700 Goggomobils were made in <ST1:COUNTRY-REGION><ST1LACE>Australia</ST1LACE> </ST1:COUNTRY-REGION>at Buckle&#8217;s Punchbowl factory of which 700 were Darts. Fortunately the bodies were made from fibre glass which does not rust, consequently quite a few vehicles survived however the floor pan chassis did rust so complete vehicles in original condition are difficult to locate as all floor pans usually need major restoration.<O> </O>
This vehicle was located at <ST1LACE><ST1:CITY>Noosa Heads</ST1:CITY> , <ST1:STATE>Queensland</ST1:STATE> </ST1LACE>in a very sad and sorry state and took two years to restore back to the factory specifications. It has been recognised as the best Goggomobil Dart in <ST1:COUNTRY-REGION><ST1LACE>Australia</ST1LACE> </ST1:COUNTRY-REGION>.<O> </O>
<O></O>
<O>




</O>

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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<!-- start content -->
Goggomobil 400 S. Made in Spain under license.



Goggomobil Dart.


The Goggomobil was a microcar produced in the Bavarian town Dingolfing after World War II by Hans Glas.
There was a conventional looking four passenger two-door sedan and a very sleek sports coupé. The engine was an air cooled, two stroke, two cylinder unit originally of 250 cc and 15 hp (11 kW) but increased to 395 cc and 20 hp (15 kW). It had an electric pre-selective transmission built by Getrag and a manual clutch. The engine was behind the rear wheels. Suspension was independent all round using coil springs with swing axles.
219,531 sedans and 66,511 coupés were built from 1955 to 1969. Between 1957 and 1961 some 700 sports cars called Goggomobil Darts were produced by Buckle Motors Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia.<SUP id=cite_ref-0 class=reference>[1]</SUP>
Glas also produced the highly rated Goggomobil motor scooter.
The Glas Auto works at Dingolfing were subsequently taken over by BMW.

TS 300

The specifications of a 1957 Goggomobil TS 300 Coupe are:

• Configuration &#8212; Glas 2-stroke rear engine, 298 cc displacement
• Engine &#8212; 2 cylinder, 2 stroke, air-cooled, 58 x 56 mm. bore and stroke, 6.0:1 compression, 15 hp. at 5,000 rpm, 17.4 lb·ft (24 N·m) torque.
• Transmission &#8212; 4 speed plus reverse (with electric pre-selector as an available option).
• Top Speed &#8212; 85 km/h (53 mph)
• Tires &#8212; 4.80 x 10 inch.
• Weight &#8212; 420 kg (926 lb).
• Wheelbase &#8212; 71 in (1,800 mm) <SUP id=cite_ref-Motor1957_1-0 class=reference>[2]</SUP>
• Height - 49 in (1,200 mm) <SUP id=cite_ref-Motor1957_1-1 class=reference>[2]</SUP>
• Length - 114.5 in (2,910 mm) <SUP id=cite_ref-Motor1957_1-2 class=reference>[2]</SUP>
• Width - 53 in (1,300 mm) <SUP id=cite_ref-Motor1957_1-3 class=reference>[2]</SUP>

A coupé tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1957 had a top speed of 59.2 mph (95.3 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-50 mph (80 km/h) in 27.9 seconds. A fuel consumption of 50.5 miles per imperial gallon (5.59 l/100 km; 42.1 mpg<SUB><SMALL>-US</SMALL></SUB>) was recorded. The test car cost £625 including taxes of £209 on the UK market. <SUP id=cite_ref-Motor1957_1-4 class=reference>[2]</SUP>
TS 250


TS 250 Coupe.


The specifications of a 1958 Goggomobil TS 250 Coupe are:

• Configuration &#8212; Glas 2-stroke rear engine, 247 cc displacement
• Engine &#8212; 2 cylinder, 2 stroke, air-cooled, 13.6 hp. at 5,000 rpm
• Transmission &#8212; 4 speed plus reverse
• Top Speed &#8212; 75 km/h (47 mph)
• Tires &#8212; 4.40 x 10 inch
• Weight &#8212; 415 kg (915 lb)

 

Goggomobil turns 50