Bob, different car and driver.............. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LATwSlHdiPY&feature=related .
Yikes! Wouldn't it be great if some of that Star Trek transparent aluminum became a reality? So all the vintage racers could have roll cages no one could see? Gary
I just stumbled across this little gem: Mickey Thompson’s Pontiac 2-cyl. It’s half a Pontiac Slant Four (or a quarter of a Pontiac 389 V8 if you will). I thought it would make a fascinating cyclecar engine. Anyone got a broken V8 block, a band saw, and some crazy fabrication skills? -Dave
Has anyone used golf cart front susp.? And use the golf cart rear end? I was thinking old shaft drive motorcycle engine hooked to the rear end? No reverse but who needs that? The rears are little Dana's?
That's mid-'20s; the look is rather reminiscent of the Burghley sports coachwork found on Austin Sevens at the time:
Interesting to see so many Austin 7s popping up. I always had thought the 7's place in automotive history being sort of the Model T of Europe: the car that moved the general public away from cycle cars. Not that I'm objecting, mind you, just observing. -Dave
Indeed. Sevens, however cool, are really outside the realm of cyclecars. So, strictly, are small Peugeots and the like, though it becomes harder and harder to make a rational distinction. I'd go as far as to say that there was a point when Amilcars ceased to be cyclecars and became simply small cars, and better ones than many of the volume-produced alternatives. In the case of "light" cyclecars (there was a definition in an historical publication a few pages back) it is easy enough; with "heavy" cyclecars the boundaries are a bit blurred.
I get the feeling theremust be a lot of overlap. Some of the GNs look like they'd be larger, heavier and more powerful than an early seven. Don't have the numbers to back it up though. Somtimes it seems as if there are certain characteristics that seperate them, rather than sizes and dimensions. I find in general that cyclecars are typically long and spindly, upright, have narrow bodies that are not built from steel pressings, and have air cooled engines. Chains and belts also rarely find their way into 'proper cars'. If you could sit in one in the rain and remain dry (including your elbows) then it's probably too big to be a cyclecar. Now this is very fluffy and none of you should read it! Much more important to keep the thread alive and well.
This car's been mentioned on the thread, but not for a while and only in passing. One of the most successful home built specials made, and still alive and kicking today. John Bolster's Bloody Mary: I make no apologies for the large pictures - well worth it and I'm on dial-up at the moment!
This image is a little big for the HAMB though: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2096/2825200127_37f80ab2d7_o.jpg About 4000px wide so look at in your own time!
The Jalopy Journal
