History We ALL Love a DARE! PIX of TRULY Extinct Makes?

JCSparks, gosh THANKS for bring up the RARE Carroll! Only 200 made? For a ton of reasons, that would indicate extreme rarity, for sure. Aluminum, 55 hp, $4 grand price tag when doctors made only 2-3 grand a year! Yike!

Shame, too, since this was ONE STYLISH CAR in the early '20s !!!!!!! And aluminum to make the car go faster? COOL!

JC, ANY idea if ANY specimens of this good-looking car survived???

 

1901 Toledo Model A Stanhope Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum has one.


In May of 1900, Toledoans' were disappointed to learn that the Lozier Motor Company, a maker of bicycles and marine motors, was leaving Toledo and moving to New York state. After several months of negotiations, the American Bicycle Company (ABC), one of the many companies owned by the Hartford, Connecticut industrialist, Albert Pope, purchased the Lozier factory lock, stock and barrel. Pope was just beginning to diversify into the infant automotive industry and began gobbling up auto patents and properties. In addition to the Lozier properties, Pope purchased an electric automobile plant in Massachusetts. ABC wasted no time in tooling up its Toledo plant and sometime before December of 1900, it built a 925 pound, two seat, steam carriage. Reflecting the industrial base of the city and company that built it, the steamer incorporated many features of the bicycle. (Over the previous decade, Toledo had been one of the largest producers of bicycle and bicycle parts in the nation.) Toledo steamers sported bicycle spoke wheels and bicycle tube frames, making them easy to spot from a distance in a faded photograph. By February of 1901, ABC was advertising its little steamer for sale around the country.

 

HJ, THAT is a beautiful machine, for 1901! WHY did they name it Stanhope? I missed something there.

 

When they ran this story in the paper it had a picture of the guy that wrote the story standing in front of one, He did a deal about local auto makers from the past. It took place in Vermilion, near Lorain. So I'm sure there is at least 1 left.
His name is Robert Kayle and the web sit of the paper is www.chroniclet.com
they may be able to get in contact with him. JC

 

Here is a truly unique and "one off" vehicle.
I remembered reading about this years ago, and took me awhile to find the reference.

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/gyrocars/schilovs.htm

Not extinct though............
at one time they actually buried the one and only, but later dug it up.

Others have tried with gyroscopic vehicles too, one in 1967!

 

From the Free Dictionary

stanhope [ˈstænəp]
n (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) a light one-seater carriage with two or four wheels

 

Holy equilibrium Batman!!

 

Swi66, now THAT is the strangest damn car I ever saw!!!

And I thought all those amphious cars and fly cars (not to mention Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion) were strange! Gyroscopic, 2-wheel car??? WOW

 

And, though Russian-designed & Brit-built, it IS EXTINCT. The article states that, in 1948, some jerks cut it up for scrap!

 

I'm having way too much fun with this thread!

Here is an unusual Corvair prototype.

http://www.motortopia.com/videos/view/p/cars/t/garage/vi/3017/i/gm_military_prototype_agl4

 

And another gyroscope car.
http://cobbsblog.com/gyro/gyro-x-menu.html

 

Adolf Hitler Mercedes-Benz G4 w-131

More infor here

 

I'm into Volkswagens and the Holy Grail of Volkswagens was recently found in Lithuania.

Believe they have narrowed it down as beetle # 6 of the first ones. Model W38 I believe. Interesting read if you are into beetles.


It was modified a bit, but currently being restored to its former glory.

Too much infor to post so Here's a link so you can read up on it.








Nice Photo Op
Us volkswagen folks are crazy I tell ya!

 

Swi66 wrote: "I'm having way too much fun with this thread."

Jimi: Gosh, I really couldn't TELL!!! LOL

 

Hey, Swi, Hitler's car looks downright MEAN, just right for a dictator bent on world conquest!!!

Any details on Hermann Goehring's staff car? I seem to recall it was a custom-made STEAM-powered car, made for him in and by the U.S. !!!

 

Lignum Vitae, the VW Beetle has to be the car most chopped up, altered, adapted, supercharged, etc., etc., in the history of the world -- probably more than the Ford Deuce!!!

Love the split-window originals! The shot in the church??? Hello?

 

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=727><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=401><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD width=185>[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif]There is one of these in the Buffalo Transportation Museum............not extinct, but fairly rare now.[/FONT]
Endorsed by Bob Hope, forerunner of the golf cart, people drove them on the road.
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif]1947 Motorette [/FONT]
</TD><TD></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD height=16 colSpan=3></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD></TD><TD width=351 colSpan=2>[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Introduced in 1947 the Motorette was manufactured by the Motorette Corp. of Buffalo, New York. (USA). The vehicles were primarily designed for use in a mile long aircraft plant but due to their practicality found many other useful roles. It is powered by a one-cylinder 4.1hp air-cooled engine that drives a single wheel that when fully laden will propel the vehicle at 39mph (though it does not have a speedometer) at up to 60 mpg. The body of the Motorette was all aluminum with a channel construction "X" frame chassis and steering is done by what can only be described as oval handlebars. A windscreen was an optional extra.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The Motorette came in a number of forms that included the Model 20 that was an all round vehicle that was a 2 seater with 6 cubic feet of luggage space and the Model 30 that was also a 2 seater with its luggage capacity increased to 10 cubic weight.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Famous owners of the Motorette include the American comedian Bob Hope who wanted "an extra "get-about car" where no car could go. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Production of the Motorette is thought to have ceased in the early 1950s.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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MI tests the new Motorette
MECHANICAL rollor skates might be one way of describing them. Where-ever you went in southern Florida this year, the but-but-but of the Motorette was constant. When I saw the hundreds of little gas-powered bugs up every alley, street and path, I knew I had a “must” story. This was a Motorette year in Florida—and for good reason.
These little cars, a happy cross between a motorcycle and your kid’s tricycle, were primarily designed for use in mile-long aircraft plant, but they now spell fun with a lot of the practical on the side. They can seat two comfortably and carry enough baggage for a week-end. When I arrived at the Palm Beach headquarters of the Motorette, who should I find owning and running the salon but Fred Koch, an old pal and ex-neighbor from South Hampton, Long Island. He immediately viewed me with suspicion. “No, you don’t,” he said. “You can’t test any of these because they won’t do over 500 and they don’t ride as well as Aunt Minnie’s Rolls.” I bought him lunch and convinced him I was on a gentle research mission, however, and the test was mine.
At this point some background information might be in order. The Motorette is manufactured by the Motorette Corp. of Buffalo, New York—which undoubt- edly means as little to you as it did to me. It consists of a group of old Curtis-Wright engineers and employees at the Buffalo plant. Together, while the war was in progress they planned the making of a small practical car of a thousand uses. When the war ended they took over a factory and the present Motorette is the result.
The Motorette is extremely simple and pure in construction. Its power plant, easily reached by raising the rear hood, is a one-cylinder one-wheel-drive affair, air cooled and rated at 4.1 hp. It drives the rear left wheel by sprocket and chain at a ratio of 5.45 to 1. The steering mechanism is a cross between a conventional steering wheel and handle bars, and directly turns the single front wheel. The entire car weighs only 380 pounds and the over-all length is 90 inches on a 60-inch wheelbase. The tire size is 4.00×8 and the carrying capacity is rated at 6 cubic feet. This last figure still remains a mystery to me. For Fred Koch is six feet tall and weighs 250 pounds plus; I happen to be six feet two and weigh 250; and, believe it or not, on my initial ride I took Koch along. This means that two guys weighing more than 500 pounds together went driving in a supposedly two-passenger car which only weighs 380 pounds. Don’t tell me they are not sturdy. Of course, we were a bit on the jammed-in side, but we did it.
On my test run I went alone. In all, I drove the Motorette over 50 miles. At one point I made a speed test. I had my own car follow, for two reasons: first, the Motorette hasn’t a speedometer and second, I wanted a witness in case I landed in a coconut tree. The most I could get out of the little car was 39 mph, but brother, I felt as if I were doing 600 at least!
Perhaps the most interesting mechanical feature is the so-called Mercury clutch, which is an automatic coupling requiring no clutch. When I asked Koch how you went into reverse, he replied, “Very simple”—whereupon he stuck his foot out the side of the car and pushed backwards as if he were in a scooter. This may sound silly but that’s the way to back them. It makes a lot of sense in a vehicle so light, for it keeps complication and excess weight to a minimum. You are always in high or low gear, whichever you prefer, as there is only one.
The Mercury clutch consists of a metal drum which may be engaged by a series of segmented friction shoes. When the engine is running at idling speeds, springs keep the friction shoes from engaging, thus avoiding a low-speed creeping tendency. The control portion of the clutch consists of a narrow annular chamber containing a small amount of metallic mercury, hermetically sealed in a neoprene gland. As this control member is revolved by the engine shaft, centrifugal force causes the heavy mercury to generate hydraulic pressure, which is applied to bring the clutch into engagement after the force of the disengaging springs is overcome. Since centrifugal force increases as the square of the speed, the pressure in the clutch increases as the motor is speeded up. Increase in pressure is smooth and uniform. The pick-up sensation is exactly the same as that experienced when driving standard cars equipped with fluid drive. The acceleration is positive, and as much as one could wish for in a vehicle so small.
Doubtless, many of you Readers could make similar cars in your own workshops, but then the Motorette is delivered fully guaranteed for only $495 in Palm Beach with push-button self-starter, six-volt battery, lights and horn. The mechanical brakes are excellent.
I feel the Motorette has a thousand uses in all parts of the country where an extra car is needed for work, play, or getting to the store. It is not a machine that you would choose to cross the country in, but it would prove handy for getting to the club or movies the night Junior was using the family car to take little Miss Glamor to the school dance. Incidentally, it wouldn’t be a bad bus for Junior to start out in. Top speed is comparatively low and he might be less hurt if he wrapped it around a telegraph pole when driving wide open. There is a lot to say for the Motorette—and naturally, some things to say against it. For example, you’d be in a bad fix in a cloudburst without a top, and, though the riding qualities are passable, you might get a bit blued on the bottom side if you traveled on rough roads for any distance.
Frankly, I’m sold on them as they are. They will never take the place of a regular car, but as a specialty I feel they’re tops. One man with a cruiser rigged hook-holes fore and aft so that he could swing his Motorette aboard by the davits and thus have immediate transportation wherever he chose to dock. Lily Pons, the Metropolitan opera star and her husband Andre Kostelanetz, famous conductor, were looking them over the day I was testing and wanted to take one to France with them. And so it goes. Every owner I questioned was full of enthusiasm for the little three-wheeled beetles, and so am I.
​

</TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=326><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD height=44 width=25></TD><TD width=1></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD height=213 colSpan=2></TD><TD width=300></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD height=1 colSpan=3></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD></TD><TD width=301 colSpan=2>[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The 1947 Motorette (Model 20). [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][SIZE=-2](My thanks to Alden Jewell for sending me this picture)[/SIZE][/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD height=3 colSpan=3></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD height=180 colSpan=2></TD><TD width=300></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD height=2 colSpan=3></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top align=left><TD></TD><TD width=301 colSpan=2>[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The Motorette Chassis. [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif][SIZE=-2](My thanks to Alden Jewell for sending me this picture)[/SIZE][/FONT]



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Swi, I didn't see the PRICE of this crazy little "car." The amazing this is that you could get 39 mph out of it!

BTW, how many Buffalo makes does this make now? Have we already touched on the Playboy -- the "traactible" that predated Ford's by a decade???

 

I have a bit of interest in this manufacturer being we share the same last name and my father was from southern Italy;


<TABLE id=table4 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=468 border=1><TBODY><TR><TD width=100>BARBARINO</TD><TD width=80>(1923-1925)</TD><TD width=288>Barbarino Motor Car Corp.. N.Y.C. and PortJefferson, N.Y.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Barbarino (b.1886-d.1960) was a well-known racecar mechanic and driver who had worked with the Chevrolet Brothers racing team during the 1919 and 1920 Indianapolis 500.

Barbarino was the designated relief mechanic/driver in the 1919 race for the Frontenac team who fielded four drivers, Louis & Gaston Chevrolet, Joe Boyer and R. Mulford.

During lap 103 Louis Chevrolet's Frontenac lost a wheel in front of the grandstand and was able to return the broken car to the pits. After a 30 minute repair the car returned to the race with Barbarino at the wheel. In the meantime Joe Boyer’s entry had been sideline and he took over from Barbarino finishing the race 7th overall.

Barbarino was Louis Chevrolet’s designated relief driver in the 1920 race. The pair piloted the Frontenac-based ‘Monroe Special’ placing 18th after a broken steering knuckle on lap 94 put the car out of contention.

Following his brief racing career, Barbarino returned to New York where in 1923 he headed a group of investors who purchased the assets of the Richelieu Motor Co. reorganizing it as the Advance Motors Corp., of Stamford, Connecticut. Barbarino hoped to produce a high quality vehicle and set about designing a LeRoi-engined 4-cylinder equipped with four-wheel brakes mated to a 110-in chassis fronted by a Bugatti-inspired nickel-plated radiator shell.

Legal problems developed and the firm was reorganized as the Barbarino Motor Car Corporation, Port Jefferson, New York, in 1924. Barbarino fought with his new partners and left the firm shortly before production began. In January of 1925 the Barbarino made it debut at the Commodore Hotel’s Ballroom. On display was a 4-cylinder stripped chassis, a phaeton and a sedan with a cabriolet-type rear quarter panel. All coachwork was to order and the bodies on display were built by the Chupurdy Auto Coach Works, 221 West 53rd St., New York, New York.

Chupurdy is thought to have built the bodies for all 9 or 10 Barbarinos that are known to have been produced before the firm entered into receivership at the end of 1925. By that time Salvatore Barbarino had returned to his home in Flatbush, Brooklyn where he found work as brick-layer. He later operated his own auto repair shop and worked for a number of years as a longshoreman.


I thought this was pretty interesting. I have been trying to locate at least one pic of his cars. No luck yet.



BloodyKnuckles

 

BloodyKnuckles: Above is a picture of a ReVere, made in Logansport, IN.
Only 5 of these are known today. I mention this BECAUSE it is contended
by some that a ReVere company officer named Newton VanZandt spirited
some Reveres out of the factory at night and shipped them by rail to NYC,
had them re-badged under his own "new" company name, selling them as
Richelieu automobiles. See post #390, man!

Your post seems to indicate that your ancestor bought VanZandt's holdings
and built 9-10 cars as Barbarino cars! That he ran into legal problems might
not be hard to understand at all, if he had entered a transaction with Van-
Zandt (?). Basically, all I can DO is speculate here . . . BUT the pieces of
the puzzle seem to add up.

Again, I can only guess, but the Barbarino MAY have borne a resemblence to
the ReVere shown above. And, YES, if ANY Barbarino car still exists, it's GOT
to be rarer than rare! EXTINCT? May well BE!!!

 

The Playboy?
Not even close to being extinct.
I was standing right next to one yesterday in the Buffalo Transportation Museum. There is also at least one or 2 in private hands locally, and one in the Northeast Auto Museum in Norwich NY. The ford Museum has one as well.
It's name will live forever as the Playboy automobile was where Hugh Heffner got the name for the Playboy Magazine. Playboy Magazine was almost titled "Stag". But turned out there was already a magazine by tyhat name.

And yes, it had a retractable hardtop.
From Wikipidia:
Playboy Motor Car Corporation was a Buffalo, New York-based automobile company, established in 1947. The company only produced 97 cars before going bankrupt in 1951.
The Playboy had a 40 hp (30 kW) Continental<SUP id=cite_ref-0 class=reference>[1]</SUP> four-cylinder sidevalve<SUP id=cite_ref-1 class=reference>[2]</SUP> engine driving a three-speed manual transmission. It would get 35 mpg<SUB><SMALL>-US</SMALL></SUB> (6.7 L/100 km; 42 mpg<SUB><SMALL>-imp</SMALL></SUB>). It would accelerate from 0-30 mph (48 km/h) in six seconds, and 0-50 mph (80 km/h) in 17 seconds. Advertised top speed was 75 mph (121 km/h).<SUP id=cite_ref-Flory.2C_p.1013_2-0 class=reference>[3]</SUP>
With a 90-inch (2,300 mm) wheelbase<SUP id=cite_ref-Flory.2C_p.1012_3-0 class=reference>[4]</SUP> (10" {250 mm} less than the Rambler American), the Playboy measured 156 inches (4,000 mm) overall,<SUP id=cite_ref-Flory.2C_p.1012_3-1 class=reference>[4]</SUP> and was priced at just US$985.<SUP id=cite_ref-Flory.2C_p.1012_3-2 class=reference>[4]</SUP> It ran on 12 in (30 cm) rims, and weighed 1,900 lb (860 kg).It was offered as a three-passenger convertible with a folding steel top.<SUP id=cite_ref-Flory.2C_p.1012_3-3 class=reference>[4]</SUP> (A station wagon was planned, but never built.)<SUP id=cite_ref-Flory.2C_p.1012_3-4 class=reference>[4]</SUP>
Undercapitalized, Playboy could not compete with better-financed companies offering more conventional cars.<SUP id=cite_ref-Flory.2C_p.1013_2-1 class=reference>[3]</SUP>

This company, indirectly, was the source for the name of Playboy magazine. The name was suggested to Hugh Hefner by his close friend, co-founder and eventual executive vice-president Eldon Sellers, whose mother had worked as a secretary for the automobile company's Chicago sales office before it went bankrupt.

 

HJ & Swi: BloodKnuckles got me really interested in what were "apparently" derivatives of the ultra-rare ReVere, namely the Richelieu and the Barbarino*, both produced in NYC. Do YOU guys have any knowledge at all (or even a photo?) of either of these obscure makes?

[Note: I mean, of course, any facts not previously presented by BloodyKnuckles.]

 

No, those I have no handy info on.
I'm still looking for my book on NY auto makes, had one on trucks, and had one on cars.

I have so much stuff, I can never find things when I need them.

 

Spent Saturday at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum.
The Corvair Preservation Foundation was unveiling their new display there.
This includes the Canadair Motor that I helped restore, and also a cut-away motor, a 1960 motor, and the experimental Chevrolet Modular motor.


This motor was intended to become the "corporate" motor for GM. It would be available as a 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 cylynder motor. They even experimented with a front wheel drive 10 cylinder version in a 62 Impala. Based on the Corvair concept, it would be expandable to various sives and the cylinder head unit would be all one assembley, unlike the normal Corvair design.
At that time, Buick, Olds, Pontiac were aghast as they all had their own "unique' motors. But as we all know now, GM has "corporate motors" throughout the line.

It did have some issues, but R&D was cancelled. The unit pictured here is one of 2 known to exist. This one was actually in someones dune buggy for awhile. Amazing how things sneak out the door at GM.

This is a picture of a picture of the 10 cylinder version.

More pictures of the days events at the Museum can be found here.
I intend to post some more info on the various displays as time allows.
http://rides.webshots.com/album/575541881OuyGxz?start=0

http://rides.webshots.com/album/575541881OuyGxz

 

the Buffalo Transportation Museum's 1948 Playboy!

And their Motorette!

 

Man, That's cool. I have been searching all day for any other info but all I could come up with is what I already posted. I'll post up whatever else I find.

Wouldn't it be great if a family member leaves to me a "Barbarino" in their will???



BloodyKnuckles

 

Nine Fleetwood-bodied cars appeared at the 1921-22 New York Salon, two - a square-cornered brougham and a seven passenger sedan-limousine - at the Isotta-Fraschini stand, one - a landaulet - at Fiat&#8217;s, and the remaining at the Fleetwood booth which included Duesenberg, Lafayette, Lincoln, Packard, Pierce-Arrow, and Richelieu chassis. The Richelieu was a limited-production Duesenberg-engined luxury chassis built by former Duesenberg executives in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The 1922-23 catalog showed a stylish roadster, sedan and touring whose bodies were all built by Fleetwood. Unfortunately, only a handful were built, and the firm didn&#8217;t survive 1923. Fleetwood and Derham built the bodies for the 500-800 air-cooled Fox cars that were made in Philadelphia between 1921 & 1923. The prototype for the stillborn Frankford automobile that was also built in Philadelphia during 1922 also featured a Fleetwood body.

 

Do experimental prototypes count? Convair (not to be confused with Corvair) made two of these cars, but they never put them into production. Both are now gone, along with the bolt-on airplane attachment, which I believe they only made one of.

 

And you say not to be confused with Corvair!
Especially seeing as there was at least one flying Corvair called "The Roadable Corvair"
check out the link here!
http://www.roadabletimes.com/roadables-modular_coRvair.html


<CENTER></CENTER><CENTER> </CENTER><CENTER> </CENTER><CENTER>And the Corvair engine itself is commonly used in experimental aircraft!</CENTER><CENTER> </CENTER><CENTER>[FONT=arial,sans-serif][/FONT]
</CENTER>

 

Another picture of a car from the Buffalo Transportation Museum.



The Lad's Car was an American automobile built between 1912 and 1914. A 3 hp air cooled, single-seater with belt drive, it was made by the Niagara Motor Co. of Niagara Falls, New York, and was advertised as "more a real working toy than a go-anywhere motor car".
The car was also available in a kit version with a claim to be America's first kit car.