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

Flying cars, sheesh. Both Convair and Corvair look like they'd have made for one scary flight!!!

Seems to me, there was at at least another one or two flying cars, though I am not sure they ever got off the ground. More of a thing where they got some ink in the lay press, but the projects ultimately fizzled.

Now, OilSlinger, any idea where & when the Convair was designed & built? WHO was behind it? Was there a plan for marketing this thing, or was it just to "see" if it could be done???

It would be nice to have at least some basic background, since there's your picture AND it's, in fact, EXTINCT!!! Alright!

 

Swi, thanks for bringing up the Lad, made north of Buffalo. Correct me if I am wrong on details, but I think these little cars were popular for QUITE a number of years. Again, not really intended as ROAD cars, they were often used for transport around spacious estates by the well-to-do -- AND as toys for their children. I think the Lad was just one of SEVERAL makes of these little cars, and I seem to recall reading that there are collectors who fancy and restore them, correct?

YES! They were available in kit form, much predating the King Midgets.

 

This reminds me of the so-called "cycle cars" that for quite some time competed rather WELL for space in the U.S. car market. Often using lots of motorcycle components, they were a popular, lower-price alternative to regular automobiles -- that is until Henry Ford decided to pull the rug from under the cycle-car market by reducing the price of the Model T !!!! Cycle cars just "went away" from the auto scene. BUT, they had not been a mere flash in the pan. They were viable transportation for a good many years!

These were usually Spartan vehicles, and relatively few survived to be restored or altered in some way for later, because the parts were very often reused for other purposes.

I'll try and find a photo of one of these curious machines! (Unless someone else can find one first, that is.) Heck, if gas prices go too high, we might see a RETURN of things like cycle cars!

 

<TABLE border=0 width=424><TBODY><TR><TD height=336>

1901 Toledo Model A Stanhope​

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

 

<TABLE border=0 width=424><TBODY><TR><TD height=336>

1901 TriMoto Crescent 2-Seater​

​

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

[SIZE=-1]1900: the Trimoto are designed by John Lawson, sponsored by the American Bicycle Company and built by "Western Wheel Works" and sold "Crescent", the latter two being divisions of the ABC.[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]They have air-cooled[/SIZE] gasoline engines.

<NOBR>YPSILANTI AND THE AUTOMOBILE</NOBR>
<NOBR></NOBR>
<NOBR>In the year 1890, the year Joseph H. Thompson was born, and many</NOBR>
<NOBR>others of course, there were four recognized automobiles in the United</NOBR>
<NOBR>States. At that time, it seemed as though every bicycle shop was trying</NOBR>
<NOBR>to hitch some other power to the buggy and cart and get rid of the horse.</NOBR>
<NOBR>The vehicles were made by the carriage makers, but the power by small machine</NOBR>
<NOBR>shops. In 1885, a three-wheeled light weight vehicle with a single cylind&shy;</NOBR>
<NOBR>er engine was developed in Germany. Staebler & Son in Ann Arbor and O.E.</NOBR>
<NOBR>Thompson and Son were the largest bicycle dealers in Washtenaw County; Both</NOBR>
<NOBR>companies were approached about 1900 by a Chicago company, the makers of a</NOBR>
<NOBR>three-wheeler called the Trimoto. In 1901, this three-wheeler was demon&shy;</NOBR>
<NOBR>strated in the O.E. Thompson building—NE corner East Cross and River Street.</NOBR>
<NOBR>The single cylinder internal combustion engine was mounted on the front wheel.</NOBR>
<NOBR>The Thompsons did not think the few people who came to the demonstration were</NOBR>
<NOBR>very much impressed and they did not take on the dealership for the Trimoto.</NOBR>
<NOBR>The Staeblers in Ann Arbor did, and became the first automobile dealership</NOBR>
<NOBR>in Washtenaw County. The Trimoto weighed 500 pounds, had a 2 plus horse</NOBR>
<NOBR>power engine and listed at $425. The first Trimoto received for sale was</NOBR>
<NOBR>unsatisfactory and the dealership changed to the Toledo Steam car.</NOBR>

 

HJManiac, I think we should designate you a national treasure (or at least a HAMBland treasure!!! LOL Good job, man!

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=640 height=100><TBODY><TR><TD rowSpan=2></TD><TD>

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][SIZE=-2][/SIZE][/FONT] ​

</TD></TR><TR height=70><TD height=70 vAlign=center>

​

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CSOBJ><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=4 width=765><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top rowSpan=2 width=104><TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=100 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD>

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][SIZE=-2]click to enlarge[/SIZE][/FONT]​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>

​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>

​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>

​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>

​

</TD></TR><TR><TD>

​

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD><TD vAlign=top rowSpan=2 align=left>

<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width="100%"><TBODY><TR height=65><TD rowSpan=3 width=482></TD><TD height=65 vAlign=top align=left>[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][SIZE=-2]Tour Index[/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center></TD></TR><TR height=65><TD height=65></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=8></TD><TD>1960 McDonough Buckboard This is an example of the classic buckboard style of cyclecar that has been an American tradition since the earliest days.
Designed as a kit to be built at home, such vehicles could be bought through various mail-order catalogs or small ads in do-it-yourself magazines such as Popular Mechanics or Popular Science.
Young boys growing up on farms in the Midwest were a strong market for these homebuilts, and the wide open spaces with minimal traffic particularly suited these vehicles.
The most well-known make was the Briggs & Stratton Flyer. In 1918, B & S bought the rights to the Motor Wheel from the A.O. Smith Co., builders of the Smith Flyer - another buckboard.
The Motor Wheel was a self-contained powered fifth wheel that was attached to a vehicle, either a bicycle or four-wheeler. It was raised and lowered into contact with the road. Hundreds of examples were sold, at a price of $200 each.
In 1924 B & S sold the rights to the Automotive Electric Service Co. who continued to market the vehicle as the Auto Red Bug. They were available in the five-wheel gasoline version as well as a four-wheel electric version powered by a Dodge starter motor. They continued to be popular and were even exported to Europe where they were used as beachfront transport in fashionable resorts such as Deauville and LeTouquet.
This particular vehicle was sold through Sears, J.C. Whitney, and other mail-order catalogs as a kit.
Manufacturer: McDonough Power Equipment, U.S.A
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

As for the Lad car.
I'm sure some collect them, if they can find one.
It was my understanding very few survived.
I could be wrong about that though............

Getting back to the Motorettre I mentioned earlier.
The curator, Jim Sandoro, of the Buffalo Museum mentioned that they were actually raced up in nearby Canada. Can you imagine racing a 3 wheeled open vehicle like that?

 

1908 Firestone Columbus Runabout

Firestone Columbus -- 1909

[FONT=arial,] [FONT=arial,]Named for the Columbus Buggy president, Clinton Dewitt Firestone. The company refused to follow the style of other carmakers that made major styling changes on a yearly a basis. Columbus department heads would meet daily at 9.00 a.m. to suggest improvements. Those passed would be immediately brought into production. That this policy may not have been proven successful is indicated by the fact that Columbus Buggy went broke in 1913.

Its slogan was "The Car Complete" 500 were produced in 1909. [/FONT]
[/FONT]

 

Thanks for the kind words ! Now if I could only turn this talent into a money paying gig . I have been out of work for 1-1/2 years now with no prospects in site. Just one of the 15.6% over 50+ year old farts unemployed. (near 23% in Northeast Ohio). I even got laid off from my volunteer research/archivist job at the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum.

 

Swi, on Post #432, the pix didn't appear. Is it just me?

 

HJ, man, I feel your pain, seriously. I had a decent job as a writer/editor, until I turned 50. Then the lay of the land (read that, HR) seemed to take a drastic shift. My employer decided to axe some 30 of us whom they considered peripheral, all on the same day. Thereafter, my age and my pay previous grade played a key part in no one hiring me. I worked jobs for half of what I had once made. Now, no work even available. It is very frustrating when you're still confident in your skill set, yet employers want kids fresh out of school. I can surely understand why some people get very depressed, lose self-respect and sense of self-worth, get down on themselves, sometimes get into negative thought and behavioral patterns, etc.

 

jimi'shemi291 Lets cut the employment talk. This thread is to entertaining to get caught up with it. I DO NOT WANT THIS THREAD TO GETR CLOSED. There are other threads on the afore mentioned subject. Sorry to hear of your story as well. Let's get on to the cars!!

 

Yup, you are right! (Sure makes it hard to buy Hemi parts, though.) BACK TO BUSINESS!!! Lookin' for EXTINCT or NEAR-extinct makes.

 

Sometimes that happens....I don't know why.
I think it was full of links.
here's the link to the info
http://microcarmuseum.com/tour/buckboard.html

 

How about a Stephens? Never heard of them or seen one but a buddy has one. His last name is Stephens even...

 

Click here for more images of the Land Cruiser​

During Prohibition the brewing giant Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis, Missouri manufactured a series of outstanding promotional automobiles. From the 1920's through early 1930's, the Anheuser-Busch Vehicle Department produced eight inboard styled cruisers on automobile chassis. Four versions of the unusual automobiles were created. The original "Bevo Boat," named after A-B&#8217;s non alcoholic beer, the Budweiser, Budweiser II and lastly the Budweiser III. These cars were set up with the finest appointments available. Luxury all the way; detailed with leather upholstery, thick carpets, fine woods, and radio equipped. Step plates on either side allowed entry into the door-less vehicles. A large cannon adorned the bow as well as two operating cannons mounted on both rear fenders. An aft mounted flag staff along with anchors on the bow and the bumpers added a nautical feel to these once called "Land Cruisers." The peculiar vehicles roamed the country advertising Anheuser Busch products and would be seen at sporting events, automobile races and various public events. A-B also loaned the earliest land cruisers to the United States Government during World War I for recruiting purposes and to help promote the sales of war bonds.
Jimmy Carroll Jr., sales manager of the brewery division at Anheuser-Busch, purchased the car upon his retirement. Mr. Carroll moved to Arkansas along with the vehicle. Then in the late 1960&#8217;s classic car collector, James Pearson, who is widely known for his Cadillac collection, encountered this rugged looking land cruiser (image below). He towed the car back to Kansas City and added it to his collection. At the time, the Land Cruiser was sitting on a Cadillac V-12 Sport Phaeton chassis, complete with a V-12 engine.
In 1990 Fred and David WeberJr., the premier classic car collectors of St. Louis MO, acquired the automobile and began the extensive restoration. The Webers believed this vehicle was originally built on a Pierce-Arrow chassis. No one is sure who made the change to the Cadillac V-12 chassis or when it happened. During the restoration it was outfitted with a 1930 V-8 Cadillac chassis. Marc Ohm managed the restoration work on the Budweiser II with the help of six to eight craftsmen. In all, more than 2,000 man hours were necessary to finish the job.
Saint Louis 2004 Exposition directed by Greg R. Rhomberg recently acquired the Budweiser II Land Cruiser. It is believed that this is the only remaining Land Cruiser from the original fleet. The Land Cruiser has been pressed into service once again. Turning heads and exciting crowds, this vehicle has been used in several public displays and events to date. The Budweiser II is now currently on display at Antique Warehouse.

 

Checkout post #365

 

Don't know if there were any other responses to this, but the Spaulding wasn't the only car commercially manufactured in Iowa. The Maytag and Maytag-Mason were produced in Des Moines and Waterloo in the early 'teens. Those were the first cars designed by Fred and August Duesenberg. The Duesenberg Brothers were born in Germany but grew up in a little farm town outside Humboldt, Iowa.

 

Yup, Mike, soon as I made that comment about the rarity of car manufacturing in Iowa, I got hammered.

But YOU have added a couple of more car makes, so THANKS! To your knowledge, any of those Maytag/Maytag/Masons still in existence???

 

HJ, the Budweiser "land cruisers" are wild, man!

Now, as a point of clarification, I was under the impression Budweiser did try a production car for a while. But these boat-cars are really a handful of custom-made promo vehicles.

Are these the only autos Budweiser produced???

 

Swi, those McDonough Buckboards were sure COOL! I didn't know of them, onlt their predecessors. In 1960, I was pestering my dad to death for a go-cart. I wanted to drive something so bad.

Heck, I was only 9. Wouldn't YOU have killed to have a McDonaugh when you were 9 ??? I couldn't drive a real hotrod like the big boys, but I had dreams of flying 'round in some kind of self-propelled jobbie!!!

Thanks, also, for bringing up the MicroCar Museum. Fascinating chapter in US/world automobiling! I was reall surprised when I posted RE the kit-built King Midget that guys chimed in about rodding them and, today, what engines would fit in those tiny cars to make them FLY !!!!!!!! Anything on WHEELS -- I swear! -- somebody is gonna figure out how to hotrod it to get more speed and NOISE!!!

Let's encourage guys & gals interesting in the smallest cars ever built to go spend an hour checking our the site:

http://microcarmuseum.com/tour/buckboard.html <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

 

There are several Maytags and Maytag-Masons still in existence... they weren't exceedingly rare, as I believe they made a couple thousand. They were actually pretty well regarded as a competition vehicle in hill climbs. I believe most ran a flat 2-cylinder or 4-cylinder motor. Another notable car company in Iowa was Colby, which operated out of Mason City. They made about 900 cars in their brief existence. They were pretty successful in racing with the "Colby Red Devil." There is only one known Colby left, a 1911 Model D Semi-Racer, which is on display at the Mason City museum.

The Iowa State Historical society claims there were 50 different car manufactures in Iowa, but I think most of those must have been one-off blacksmith projects. The other "real" Iowa car companies were Morrison Electric, Des Moines, Monarch, Wells and Cannon.

 

PS - Here's a 1910 Maytag-Mason that's still on the road. According to this article there are about 20 left....

http://www.tomstrongman.com/ClassicCars/GeorgeHess/Index.htm

 

Mike, you surely packed a ton of Iowa info into two well-written paragraphs, buddy! I LOVE hearing about the early endurance- and hi-perf cars, especially (who doesn't?). THAT is what the HAMB is all about!

Sheesh, Mike, Swi, HJ and a gang of other guys have made this exploration of EXTINCT AND EXTREMELY RARE CARS a really enjoyable trip.

 

Yep! And ONLY ONE COLBY!!! Hooray again! That's what the thread is about.

 

Colby RACER, no less!

 

See this link: http://www.iptv.org/IowaPathways/artifact_detail_large.cfm?aid=a_000013&oid=ob_000220

 

Fred and August Duesenberg started building cars in 1907. Known as Masons after their financier of the same name they were powered by a 24 hp flat-twin engine. The Mason company was purchased by Frank Maytag, of appliance fame and had its name changed to Mason Maytag in 1910. The firm was also moved from Des Moines to Waterloo, Iowa. From the start the brothers were interested in building racing cars but when the owners of Maytag decided to curtail their racing efforts they left the firm and set up their own shop.

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 align=center><TBODY><TR><FORM name=mainimage action=""><TD><INPUT value=/eddier type=hidden name=CISOROOT> <INPUT value=910 type=hidden name=CISOPTR> <INPUT value=100 type=hidden name=DMSCALE> <INPUT value=600 type=hidden name=DMWIDTH> <INPUT value=600 type=hidden name=DMHEIGHT> <INPUT value=viewer type=hidden name=DMMODE> <INPUT value=1 type=hidden name=DMFULL> <INPUT value=0 type=hidden name=DMX> <INPUT value=0 type=hidden name=DMY> <INPUT value=%20Mason type=hidden name=DMTEXT> <INPUT value=1 type=hidden name=DMTHUMB> <INPUT value=4 type=hidden name=REC> <INPUT value=0 type=hidden name=DMROTATE> <INPUT title="Eddie Rickenbacker and Eddie O'Donnell" border=0 alt="Eddie Rickenbacker and Eddie O'Donnell" src="http://content.lib.auburn.edu/cgi-bin/getimage.exe?CISOROOT=/eddier&CISOPTR=910&DMSCALE=100.00000&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=%20Mason&REC=4&DMTHUMB=1&DMROTATE=0" type=image></TD></FORM></TR></TBODY></TABLE>​

Eddie Rickenbacker and his riding mechanic Eddie O'Donnell in a Mason race car in Elgin, Illinois. Rickenbacker left the Columbus Buggy Company in 1912 to become a professional racer. From to the end of 1914, Rickenbacker worked for Fred and Augie Duesenberg building and driving Mason race cars (later called Duesenbergs). Auto racing was a harrowing sport in those days, as evidenced in this episode recorded by Rickenbacker biographer W. David Lewis, "On 28 July, in a 300-mile race at Galveston, Texas, one of his tires blew out when he was going 90 miles an hour. Instead of coming off the rim, it ot caught and flapped repeatedly across his left arm and shoulder, hitting him like a club. Suddenly, as he considered leaving the race before his arm fractured, the blows stopped. Climbing out of his seat, his riding mechanic, Eddie O'Donnell, had thrown himself across Edd's body and was absorbing the punishing hits. By the time Edd got to the pit both men had severly lacerated arms and torsos and O'Donnell had a separated shoulder".

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 align=center><TBODY><TR><FORM name=mainimage action=""><TD><INPUT value=/eddier type=hidden name=CISOROOT> <INPUT value=908 type=hidden name=CISOPTR> <INPUT value=100 type=hidden name=DMSCALE> <INPUT value=600 type=hidden name=DMWIDTH> <INPUT value=600 type=hidden name=DMHEIGHT> <INPUT value=viewer type=hidden name=DMMODE> <INPUT value=1 type=hidden name=DMFULL> <INPUT value=0 type=hidden name=DMX> <INPUT value=0 type=hidden name=DMY> <INPUT value=%20Mason type=hidden name=DMTEXT> <INPUT value=1 type=hidden name=DMTHUMB> <INPUT value=1 type=hidden name=REC> <INPUT value=0 type=hidden name=DMROTATE> <INPUT title="Eddie Rickenbacker with the Mason Racing Team" border=0 alt="Eddie Rickenbacker with the Mason Racing Team" src="http://content.lib.auburn.edu/cgi-bin/getimage.exe?CISOROOT=/eddier&CISOPTR=908&DMSCALE=100.00000&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=%20Mason&REC=1&DMTHUMB=1&DMROTATE=0" type=image></TD></FORM></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The Mason Racing Team (left to right): Eddie Rickenbacker, Eddie O'Donnell, Billie Chandler and Fritz Walker. Walker was killed in a crash at Galesburg, Illinois in 1914.

 

There actually is a cyclecar thread on here: look at http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226791

They've long fascinated me, too. The interesting thing is the similarity between American and European cyclecars of that era.

However, out of that thread it seems that there are three distinct things HAMBers understand under the term cyclecar, namely 1. a motorcycle-engined car, 2. a microcar, and 3. the actual sort of late-Edwardian, early-Vintage contraption we're talking about here.

I'd love to see a hot-rod Bedelia or Carden, for instance. I think enough is understood about suspension dynamics these days to get the weird suspension systems to work in a slightly less lethal way.

Bedelia:

Note the centre-pivot steering.

Carden:

It's rear-engined: JAP V-twin I believe. The "radiator" is carved out of wood.
Correction: That's a later Carden, with a rear-mounted flat-twin and IFS. Early ones had the V-twin and Bedelia-style centre-pivot steering. This AV is the same basic design: