Devoted to remembering the lost automakers - great and not so great - of the last seventy-five years
Dedicated to remembering the lost car makers, the orphaned brands that are such a rich and entertaining piece of American automobile history.
The Imp was a tiny 2-seat runabout designed and built by R.K. Griffin in Pasadena, CA. It was promoted as “A Little Car with a Big Future.” And by far the Imp’s most futuristic feature was its one-piece fiberglass body - making the Imp, when it was unveiled in 1948, one of the very first cars to use this new low cost molding technology.
Read MoreThe C.L. Eshelman Co. of Baltimore, Maryland made lawn mowers, roto-tillers and children’s peddle cars. They also built some actual cars…sort of.
Read MoreDuring the 1960s and 1970s, the self-proclaimed “King of the Electrics” was the Electra-King, made by B&Z Industries of Long Beach, California. During the first half of the King’s 17-year reign it was not much more than a 3-wheeled golf with an enclosed body. Its six-6V batteries powered a 1hp army surplus tank turret motor that could propel the 500lb cart to 18mph. That was probably plenty fast, as the E-K had no front brakes. After an ownership change in 1972, the Electra-King could be had with a bit more power and with 4 wheels…but not 4 brakes. The King may have been a favorite of octogenarian Richard Petty wannabes for roaring (quietly) around their retirement communities.
Read MoreThe Hewson Rocket was conceived by Southern Californian, William “Shem’ Hewson, who set out to design a low priced sportster that was fun to drive and have the latest in rocket age aerodynamics. Few other cars have ever employed a trapazoidal wheel pattern, where a car’s front and rear axles differ significantly from each other in length (meaning it leaves four distinct sets of tire tracks) And only the exhalted Citreon DS was a comercial success. But whereas the DS was considered a “Goddess” among cars, the Rocket proved to be all too mortal.
Read MoreThe Bradley GT was a fiberglass sports car built in Plymouth, Minnesota. It was one of the best known of the many dozens of independent carmakers that during the 1960s and 70s that used the Volkswagen Beetle as a foundation for fun.
Read MoreAs the decade of the 1950s was coming to a close, traffic fatalities were on the rise. It was estimated that a million people had lost their lives in car accidents in the 60+ years since the first automobile appeared on road. The 1958 Sir Vival was one man’s attempt to stop the carnage, thus becoming America’s first safety car.
Read MoreKentucky congressman Charles Farnsley was a rabid Corvair enthusiast. He was also an entrepreneur, one who sensed an untapped market for an ultra-luxury compact car. For reasons known only to the Mr. Farnsley, he named his Corvair-based creation the Lost Cause.
Read MoreThe 1947 Gadabout was created by Ray Russell, a Detroit engineer who possessed an active mind and an artist’s soul. Its body was sleek and sculpted, and made of aluminum using just 4 different panels. Those were stretched over an MG chassis that retained its 80in wheelbase, but it was widened to allow for 3-across seating. (Gadabouting, v. Three people driving around while squished together)
While the space between the Gadabout’s wheels is very short, that was made up for with very long overhangs. This allowed Gadabout owners to specify whether they wanted their engine to be mounted in front of the front wheels or behind the back ones - though why anyone would want that choice is a mystery to all but Ray Russell.
At any rate, such flexibility was made possible by the fact that the car had no axles or transmission. All four wheels were suspended independently, aircraft-style, each with a coil spring and torsion bar. The two drive wheels, whether they be in front or in back, had a small motor in each hub driven by oil pressure from the engines’ crankshaft. And that engine was also no technological slouch either. The air-cooled, two-stroke unit had direct fuel injection and a turbocharger - a first on an American car.
It was claimed the Gadabout could do 50mph and get 50mpg. No wonder Popular Science, Mechanix Illustrated and Hemmings magazines all called this technological tour de force some variation of “the car of tomorrow, today.” Unfortunately, the little runabout never made it out of yesterday. Only one was ever made.
The Duke’s domesticated side
Bede Industries of Cleveland OH, created a propeler driven car in 1981. It used a pusher fan driven by a motorcycle engine. Bede claimed the car could do 100mph and get 120mpg. These numbers were calculated off engine output and weight, and did not take into account the propeller drive’s inefficiencies, which were considerable.
The car had other drawbacks. During supermarket parking lot maneuvers, empty carts would be blown into the next county… not to mention the occasional old lady with a walker. And passing a bicyclist on the road in a Bede could have dire consequences for the rider.
Only one Bede was ever made, and it is not known to have survived. Old ladies with walkers everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief.
Dedicated to remembering the lost carmakers, the orphan brands, that are such a rich part of the history of the American automobile
