A few blocks from my house sits a 1901 Oldsmobile runabout. It is languishing in a garage and has been for more than 30 years. A friend of mine is going to try and get us access to his uncles garage for a look. He has seen it many times, but not in the last 20 years. It is not something I would want to alter, but would like to have a look and take some photos
I did all the body and paint on a 1902 curved dash Olds a few years ago. Tiller steer, single cylinder chain drive car. The "horseless carriage".
Be sure it is real and not one of the poor reproductions with a Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine. You don't have to be any kind of expert to tell the two apart. Post photos if they allow photo taking.
I used to own a factory built replica a few years ago that was much better quality. They sent them to Olds dealers in 1951 as a Golden Anniversary promotion.
seen this happen. a local clown [really he does kid's parties] told me he bought one and wanted me to service it and get it running, i was all excited till i went to pick it up. fortunately he paid next to nothing. that said it was able to be registered and was a lot of fun to clown around in. sorry
From the Sept. 60' Mechanix Illustrated: Arthur Godfrey and his "New" 1901 Olds- Article is about 3/4 replica's of 01' Olds & 01' Fords built by Rollsmobile Corp. of Ft. Lauderdale.Fla.- owned by Capt. Al Starts, Arthur Godfrey and Leo DeOrsey. An air-cooled Continentel AU85 engine gives it a 30 mph and 100 mpg. The 300 pound car is 72 inches long and rolls on 20 inch chrome plated wheels. There is also plans so you can build your own. So is it a "real" 01'- a repo for dealers in 51'- a repo from Rollsmobile in 61' or one built from the plans in Mec. Ill.? Hope it's the real deal for ya.
I had a replica that was made in 1957.. It was made by a company in Palm Springs, ca. It was a "Rollsmobile" Kind of cool..
The flywheel will be about 24 inches in diameter and 4 inches wide, that is a good first glance clue.
The Ft. Lauderdale production site is interesting. My Rollsmobile had a tag on the frame under the seat that said Palm Springs, Ca.
This one is part of the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum's collection. 1902 Oldsmobile "Curved Dash" Runabout dos-a-dos
Actually the whole mechanical system will look wierd ( and on the heavy side as 37kid says ) at a first glance.
Yeah, a real "One lunger" with an exposed con rod/crankshaft: bore and stroke of about 6". Saw one of the these about 60 years ago. It was setting in a lot, idling, the damn thing was literally jumping up and down (and sideways) from the effect of all that m*** flying around. Rear engine, setting crosswise in the ch***is. I was maybe ten years old. Coolest looking thing EVER. I believe Richard Boone drove one in "The Shootist". Bill
few places to look for plans http://www.horselesscarriagereplicas.com/oldscdo.html http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/cdoclub/Replia_Cars/replica.htm http://www.horselesscarriagereplicas.com/plans.html
A local collector had a "real" one and took me for a ride. Like another posted said, the thing jumped and bounced like crazy! He said it would run 22 mph "flat out" and proceeded to show me! I've never been so scared in all of my life, as I was trying to hang on to the seat rail and keep from getting bounced out of that thing! The same guy also owned a 1905 Schact, a Smith Motor-Wheel and a few other very early pieces. Sadly, he p***ed away a few years ago and the cars went to a big auction in another state. Jim
In spite of my previous answer, the 1901 Oldsmobile could have had an Old (motor Works) engine or a Leland & Faulconer (Machine Shop) or even a Dodge Brothers (Machine Shop) engine. The best one would have been the Leland & Faulconer. Leland went on tobecome the driving force at Cadillac and later founded Lincoln.
This is an entirely scratchbuilt car based on a curved dash Olds. Nothing really traditional about it, but the workmanship is pretty cool. VW power. The guy built a model like it, then built the car like the model years later.
Thanks Dale, I never knew there were 3 engine suppliers. Were they all the exact same design just built in 3 different shops? Will the parts interchange with all three?
It's not clear whether or not they were each unique or followed the original Olds design. We know that Leland reworked the Olds engine in his personal Oldsmobile but how closely he followed that pattern on the ones he manufactured is not known (by me). Given the precision for which Leland was known, It's likely that his parts would fit the others (if indeed the same design) but not the other way around.
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