I stopped Sunday at the Northeast Auto Museum in Norwich, NY. they had a display of vehicles produced in NY State. In this group was this interesting little tandem cycle car. Air cooled twin, two speed trasmission and dual segmented belt drive. The last one is based on a Henderson 4 cylinder MC, and while not a cycle car definately not a cycle either. If your through the Norwich, NY area the museum is a worthwile stop.
Long time lurker here, sticking a nose in on this cyclecar thread. I've gotten and studied the booklet from TheOldBicycleShop and I think I'm about ready to start designing my own cyclecar using modern parts and materials (for the first one, no point scaring the state safety inspectors too badly; at least not right away). My state (Virginia, USA) allows for replicas of pre-1949 cars to be built by hobbyists, but a complete homebrew is not allowed. So I need to pick a year, make and model to copy for my vehicle to be street legal. After looking through all these great photos I'm thinking about a 1924 Amilcar CGS as the body style to copy (always did love the skiff back ends from that area) using a narrowed VW bug front suspension to make nice with the law. This puts me in the same category as a T-Bucket, just with a lot less weight and a lot more class. Can anyone out there help me with some Amilcar specs and more photos to work from? Side Note: Banjeaux Bob's avatar ROCKS! I use that pic as an example of 'all the car a real man needs on his daily commute'. Thanks already for this thread, can't wait to see what comes next. TheOldFox
Found this forum a couple days ago. Semi-regular poster on Banger and Four cylinder Chevy forums, but had no idea this one even existed. Couple shots of a Morgan look alike that I built over 40 years ago. It has gone through 4 or 5 owners, I heard a couple months ago from the latest one My two sons in the B&W shot are 45 and 49 years old now. Harley pan just to get it on the road (still in it) was going to build an 80" knuckle but never got around to it. Mercedes all synchro 4 speed. Tail rotor gearbox from a Sikorsky chopper to turn power 90*. Swing arm with coil over shocks rear, front suspension 170 Mercedes with the springs spaced farther apart. Fiat 500 steering, Harley VL brakes and wheels --aluminum body--rest homemade. BTW- see the rear bumper in the B&W shot --off a HD servi-car. One of the first times I had it out on the road I got it up on two wheels and ground the bottom corner on the RH side. Got it back down OK, but passenger and I didn't smell too pretty after that! Probably can scare up some other pix if anyone is interested. Herb
Gang, I got my new Automobile magazine yesterday (Dec 2011) and there was an article on a Morgan 3 wheeler in it. A 2012 model. Yep, a NEW model. I had no idea. What's up? The performance is impressive. Creature features almost nil. Gary
It's been mentioned on this thread: page back a bit. Here's a four-wheeled early Morgan from Bob Blackman's blog:
Bob, thanks for those skiff photos, they're enough to make me consider giving up women in favor of wood and steel. Thanks, that's sexy on the hoof right there. Looks like the fab shop might be turning toward building smokers (with hot rod style if I have anything to say about it), so the car may not begin construction until spring. I really do envy the UK guys who can still find the occasional bucket of cyclecar parts in estate and boot sales, modifying VW bug and bus parts feels like cheating somehow. Anyone know how to find the track (centre of tyre to centre of tyre) for those Amilcars? As long as I'm shrinking the beam I might as well get my dimensions accurate. (Yes, when I start the project a build thread will appear.)
If only I could work wood like that. *drool* I'm actually thinking a canvas body over wood, much like in WWI biplanes, only using proper fibreglas epoxy (left over from rebuilding the sailboat) instead of buyt-dope. But these skiffs are causing my eye to stray. Something about a real wood body (well crafted) makes the knees go wobbly. I see what you're saying about building the car around myself and getting the measurements from there. I have some basic guidelines that I'm trying to accomplish such as under 500kg dry weight, traction patch footprint within the boundaries of a 4x8 sheet, chain drive... I'd love to get 75mpg out of it at highway speeds. I just don't want to run afoul of the state definition of 'replica vehicle' by varying too much overall and figured that if I can reference off the original they'll be more inclined to consider it valid. I have been told that my first choice of the generic '1913 Cyclecar Roadster' was not a production car and can not be the basis for a replica as 'there is nothing to replicate', so for round two I'd prefer to go in loaded for bear with measurements and chassis specifications. The law seems to be geared toward people who buy everything through a manufacturer and then assemble it at home rather than those who build their own frames and/or bodies.
After many years of working on vintage tube and fabric aircraft, (having my A&P with IA) I would recommend using proper aircraft covering materials, "fabric and dope" will work much better than fiberglass and epoxy. There are many different types of covering materials available, http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/cs/index.html but they all have an amount of flexibility in them that helps in the life and function of the covering fabric and are far lighter than fiberglass and epoxy. If you follow the covering manuals for the fabric processes, be it Ceconite, Poly-Fiber, or any of the various systems and do it "by the book" it isn't that hard and the end results are very light and durable. Nitrate and butyrate dope are more flammable than the Poly-Fiber process, but they both work well and would be a nice way to have a very "vintage" body.
One of my sources, however one which I've found to give inaccurate information elsewhere, gives the Amilcar CG series' track as 1090mm (about 43") front and rear. Indeed, those laws does not take cognizance of the fact that the modern idea of "production" is a relatively new one, and that many early cars were made in small batches, almost like a few similar scratch constructions in succession. The concept of "type" becomes a lot woollier than some would like. I'm partial to Weymann-type fabric bodies myself. A fabric fixed-head coupé is planned for my Model A project. Open types are, however, not unknown, Vanden Plas being particularly associated with those. Here is a page on Weymann bodies, with a few patent drawings that show quite a bit of the construction detail:
Thanks: that's useful information. On the other hand, a lot of the resins currently in use in the building industry are much more elastic and tough than the old brittle varieties we all know. I'm thinking of translucent roof sheeting, for instance. The latest sort can recover from deformations that would have shattered earlier types many times over. My thinking had been around unbleached linen stretched like artist's canvas over a hardwood frame panelled in 1mm white card. The card might be given a coat of diluted gloss enamel to waterproof it. The canvas might likewise be soaked in a solution of white wood glue. The whole is subsequently coated with a resin. My concern had been that the resin would make for brittle panels, which would be much more easily penetrated than the card or linen would have been on their own, but it is looking as if using the right resin might solve that problem. Of course it helps that the project is about a suspension system that eliminates frame flex entirely, so the problem the Weymann bodies were developed to solve never actually arises in the first place.
The Old Fox, Welcome to the HAMB! You cdould find yourself an American made Cyclecar. This Trumbull Coupe is 45 minutes down the road from me.
She lives in Christchurch, NZ. I don't think she posted since the 'quake, I guess she has her work cut out. They're still in bad shape down there.
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