Let's Talk Cyclecars

Sounds like you're makin great progress, Ade. Keep it up and I hope the engine lead plays out in a positive way this time. Christmas is right around the corner!

 

Hello guys

what an awsome thread... been reading it and not getting much work done .... some lovely pic gives me loads of ideas..

At the moment am having a look at building a Briggs & Stratton Flyer replica..

any ideas on that type of wood to use as the chasis (floor boards)??????






and found this pic on the web ... with no details .... but could be a blast to build or something close

 

Where are you based, LibertyV12?

 

Welcome to the HAMB cyclecare thread Liberty V12! They probably used ash for the frame of the little Red Bug.

BanjeauX Bob

 

Here are some pictures from Angus Mitchell in Australia.He knows Onelung too.

 

More from Angus...

 

1922 Amilcar. Michael image...

 

Hinstin.Michael image...

 

thanks for the info banjeaux bob ...

have also been told hickory is another very good wood to use ......

 

Here is our own onelung's 1909 Sizaire et Naudin.It was one of the fastest and most consistent on the Tour De Fleirieu 2012. Angus pics...

 

1925 Hotchkiss AM. Yes,I know it is a little larger than a cyclecar.It's a lovely car just the same.If you're struggling with this post scroll to the next one!Angus pic...

 

Don't be too apologetic re the "cyclecar" thing Bob ... I'm interested to see that the 1100cc Amilcars were competing in the cyclecar category, whereas I view them as "light cars" (voitures legeres).
The body work on that Hotchkiss was incredible ... made using Kauri timber, which is found in New Zealand and New South Wales/Queensland.
Not to be confused with Karri - an altogether different beast.

 

Lung,thanks for those beautiful shots of the Hotchkiss!Were the strips glued only ,or were they riveted as well?

 

You're asking more than I can answer ... sorry Bob

 

Years ago I was involved with a woman who made furniture. Those flush-plugged countersunk screw fixings are very much the sort of thing she might do.

 

#1 Tricycle Simo
#2 Tricycle Gillet
Marc pics...

 

Now that Simo I like! Along with the earlier posted airscrew propelled "thing"...
In passing, I've heard of a cyclecar which is somewhere here in Adelaide, Sth Oz. It was sighted in an establishment which does wicker furniture, etc. ....in the process of having a wicker body fitted. Never heard of the make before (that's not unusual for me) - "Beacon" ... listed in Georgano.
If I can get to see it I'll pass on the news.
Speaking of unheard-of car makes, at the recent National Veteran Rally in Queensland I was introduced to a Grout steam car.
One of the pleasures of veteran motoring is that seemingly no matter how long one's involvement, "new" names still continue to come up.

 

Fascinating info - I shall have a closer look at the Kerikeri car when next I am up that way. I was wondering how you find driving your sizaire with the sliding Pillar suspension. I understanding that the constant track change can be disconcerting.

 

That Simo looks like someone a molested David Bradley tractor. And I LIKE it.

 

Two points: as I suggested earlier, on anything other than a glass-smooth surface one would not think it had any suspension, front or rear (the unsprung weight involved there is about the same as the Sydney Harbour bridge).
Second - what track change? So far as I can see there isn't such.

 

Sliding-pillar arrangements with kingpin inclination will experience track changes: track will decrease under compression and increase under extension. The Sizaire's pillars seem close to vertical, however. There should be fair amount of scrub radius.

In roll the track would increase proportionally to the secant of the roll angle, which should be small with so stiff a spring rate, and moreover fairly gradual. That works on off-road VWs that have huge front-wheel travel, so I'd say it's not an issue.

 

"...The Sizaire's pillars seem close to vertical..."

They certainly are ... in both a lateral as well as a longitudinal sense. I think I'd need a micrometer to measure the change in track - or for that matter wheelbase, as there's stuff all camber as well.

And - "scrub radius" ...
If this was taken into account when the front end geometry was "designed" by M. Sizaire I'd be somewhat surprised, 'though I might well be selling him short.

 

Scrub radius: a front wheel will follow a circular path about a point on the ground when steered while the vehicle is standing still. "Scrub radius" is the radius of that circular path. It is zero when the kingpin axis goes through the middle of the tyre contact patch. While this would seem to be desirable geometrically it leaves one with zero steering feel, too: so one would want a little scrub radius. Too much scrub radius does become a problem under braking, though.

I doubt if M. Sizaire worried unduly about scrub radius, considering that the car had very narrow wheel assemblies no front brakes.

 

1926 Darmont Special. Vincent Vintage - Revival Montlhery pic...

 

Morgan burnout. Colin Musgrove pic.

 

Single cylinder Morgan.Colin Musgrove pic...

 

Well that sorts out my mind-set that all Morgan 3 wheelers were V-twins!

 

Lung,500 cc JAP engine.

BanjeauX Bob

 

This picture is from Joris Bergsma of www.prewarcar.com I have no idea what kind of car it is.It is fairly small.It has a boat tail.I like the top and wind up windows.

 

How about this barn find Bedelia that runs?! This is the same Bedelia that OneLung shared with us in posts nos. 3325,3326,and 3327.Gus pic...