So does anyone know of the fate of the seagrave car that was to be built in the early 60's? Granted I know that they never built a full blown production car, but I wondered if the original prototype may exist. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The Seagrave Car – Who Put Out The Fire? Car Life: June, 1961 A few months ago, a small paragraph in the Wall Street Journal caught the eye of a few auto editors and left us, at least, with our mouths wide open in astonishment. The famous old fire-fighting equipment firm of Seagrave (Columbus, Ohio) was announcing a high-quality, low-production compact car. How they expected to make a profit on a selling price of $3000 and a production of 25,000 per year was not explained; obviously the car would have to be assembled from purchased components, and 100 cars per day is not a very economical rate of production. No details of the Seagrave were available, so Car Life editors assumed the roles of Sherlock and Dr. Watson with some success. It seems that Seagrave purchased the design for a new car from a now-defuct firm called the Detroit National Automobile Company. As it turns out, no drawings exist but one sample car was built and is now resting quietly in a plastics firm’s garage in Fraser, Michigan. With a wheelbase of 93.5 inches, the car is far short of being a compact; it is actually very similar in size to American Motors’ Metropolitan – a small car with the body molded completely in fiberglass. It is very nice looking and the scale effect is excellent, thanks to 5.50 inch tires mounted on 12 inch wheels.
Imagine that car with a v8.... it would be a good challenger to the vette I bet. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
A lot of small Japanese cars had 12" wheels well into the '80s. The Nissan B120/B140 pickup was produced here until 2008, and entry-level models had 12" wheels to the end. I also seem to recall a few small European cars of the '60s running on 12" wheels, e.g. Vauxhall Viva, Opel Kadett. An early attempt at a run-flat tyre was available in 12" on the Mini, instead of the usual 10", in the mid-'70s. These days, of course, we have things like the 60-series 13" tyres developed for later (original) Minis, including the more substantial sizes for aftermarket applications - not to mention the little low-profile 15" tyres meant for the Smart.
Lots of small cars had 12" wheels in the sixties and seventies. Austin, Toyota, Renault, Fiat and many others. They were a standard size on European cars. Larger cars like Falcon, Valiant, Corvair and even Mercedes Benz had 13" wheels. This came to an end with the introduction of disc brakes. All cars had to go 1" larger to make room for them.
It's cool,it's different but it looks like something that would have be designed behind the iron curtain back in the 60's. IMHO,I believe it would have been a huge flop had it been mass produced. HRP
It depends on how much room there is under the hood. All these attempts at small cars tended to be woefully underpowered, and thus failed to capitalize on the big-engine-in-light-car idea. These would-be manufacturers had a way of misreading their market completely. About 100-110bhp would have been enough to ensure nasty surprises (Alfa-Romeo twin-cam?). Anything more could certainly have cultivated a reputation among those in the know, especially if the next step was a relatively easy SBC etc. swap. I'm afraid I can't identify what the 65hp Continental four was likely to have been (surely not an aero engine?) The predominant Continental automotive engine in production at the time was the flathead six used in Checker cabs.
I think make it a convertible, remove the faux continental spare, and it would look pretty good. Add a V8, and it would be a corvette competitor. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
custom windshield or is it molded to take advantage of a common factory production windshield? that wrap around would be a mother to find or make I think
Leon, This may be hard to believe, but I just found one of these cars this spring in a barn in nothern Michigan. I did not even know what I was buying when I found it. From what I have been able to find out, there are 2 cars that currently exist - the one with the red top, which is pictured in this forum, and the one that I have, which has a blue top. I will attempt to attach a photo of the car that I have. By the way - I am told the front windshield was sourced from a T-Bird. The entire body is fiberglass. It appears that the mechanical parts of the car were sourced - Engine is a Continental 4 cyl, 3-speed Warner trans, Dana rear axle, and Wagner brakes. I do not know much else right now. I believe the car that I have is the one in the black & white photos - mine is complete right down to the hubcaps....
Restore that one, not sure on value, but it's a piece of History and that gives it value. It's also one of only 2 examples around, and should be brought to where it was when it was a concept car for shows. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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