Machino brought me this little car today and I'd really like to know what the heck it is. It's got crosley hubcaps. It's got an 87" wheelbase but is only about 43" wide. It's too narrow to be a Crosley or King Midget I think. The frame is angle iron-ish with four wheel drum brakes. It's got a full coil spring suspension. The floors, hood, air scoop, grill, and dash are aluminum and the body is stamped steel panels and does not appear to be home made. The engine is missing but it does have a transmission with no markings that I have yet found. The previous owner suggested that it was perhaps a Singer (as in sewing machine. It came from Detroit and was last licensed in 1958. The speedometer only goes up to 60 and does not have any other markings. I find no tags on the car to this point. Any ideas? I don't care if you think its ugly. I just want to know what it is.
If the license plate came with the car, perhaps some research through the DMV would turn up something, as it had to have been registered as something. Just a thought.
I agree with Chad .... It looks Homemade , but from your description , it seems to be made by tools that most home-shops dont have . It sure looks a bit more complex than most homebuilt cars I have seen before. Nice find Klaz
I think youre onto something. Looks like a car from some kinda ride. Or a "Drivers Ed" car on the small street courses they had at schools back in the 50's to teach kids the rules of the road. I have an old movie on drivers ed. This car looks kinda like the ones they used. You know, they made painted streets and intersections and had kids walking across the crosswalks to simulate pedestrians and had teachers at each corner helping the drivers. Who knows!
gnarlytyler : Good lead ! Parade car ... that is probably what it is . We need to go Google this thing... Klaz
I've had a few microcars...fiats, berkeleys, etc... A chain driven motorcycle engine would be perfect for this. I really think it was Crosley powered before and the 60 MPH speedo makes me wonder. I don't think it was an amu*****t car because it had a full tuck and roll upholstery and is a bit too mechanical. I really do think it was driven on the street. I wonder if the Michigan plate from 1958 could still be traced.
Have you got any other pics of it? Are their any part number on any of the ch***is componets of other parts?
Dual headlites make it 58-60 for sure. 60 MPH speed-O scary, but cool. Has a ******, so not an amusment ride, maybe a trainer..........OLDBEET
The bumper looks like it was made to be used with other similar cars. Dual lights say '58-60. But I've never seen anything much like it. No serial numbers? What kind of speedo? Steering box? Brake cyls? Hyd brakes? Verrry interesting.
Im not sure- take a pic and details into the "dmv" if they laugh at it they're more likely to help you- kinda looks like a clown car I saw once as a kid - ive googled singer but havent found anything yet- still looking
CS9332 Michigan Plate from 1958. The master cylinder is a Delco unit and the transmission says GM8 with a 42 underneath it. That is all of the markings I have been able to find. The speedometer is mostly broken so I can only read the numbers for the speeds.
I contacted the Vintage Micro car club, here's the response. Don't know if I agree with them. "Its a homemade thing constructed of parts from other cars this was made back when people could look at a car and go "geez, I could make one of these.." and then they would try. or they would buy a King Midget kit from the back of Popular Mechanics. or if they could not afford that, they would build one of these from scratch. It is actually quite small and was probably intended as a kids car. and then later their kids would sell it on eBay (which is where the photo is from...)"
I was looking at the 1957 King Midget Model III and feel fairly confident this is just a very customized version of that. I think they s****ped the doors, windshield and bolt on fenders and made their own doors, grill, hood, trunklid, dash, and then added a custom interior. It appears that the car has been stretched in the drivers area by approximately 12 inches. I do believe this mystery might be solved. The workmanship was quite nice though. In looking, they couldn't just not put the protruding front fenders on it. They actually narrowed the ch***is to tuck the wheels under the the body itself. Then stretching the car makes it appear extra long with it's super narrow stance. Should be a hoot with a motorcycle engine. Looks like it only had 9HP from the factory and still hit 50MPH.
I've got to say that while researching this car, I'm amazed at the number of midget **** references there are on the internet. Anyway, thanks for the help guys and please let me know if someone has a better idea than me on this but I do think I'm right based on the rear quarters of the car.
I got it on Ebay months ago and then didn't have time to go get it. I stuck it in the cl***ifieds here once. Finally, Adam was able to help me out and get it down here. Here are some pix of the King Midget.
"On an all new American Hot Rod", Boyd and the crew tackle their latest project with a ...................................
I know it's not traditional, but a 1300 Hyabusa motor would be bad *** in that thing. i think it rules. Sorry i have no info for you
The King Midget club says this is not a king midget III. I guess it's game on again... Anybody else got any ideas?
Man, about all you can do with it is pick up a ****load of late '50's Popular Mechanics and Mechanix Illustrated and see if there's anything remotely like it in the adverti*****ts. I bet you'd find it there if it was a real car or kit and advertised. Maybe even get lucky and find an article on it. Any of you other guys have a pile of these you can poke through?
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