Ok, it's not a real car but I thinks it's still pretty cool.Sorry if this topic has been covered before.. I bought it and it didn't run, mostly it was in a box. I did some research and these were made by McDonough Power Equipment Co. (now known as "Snapper") in the early 60's and the rights later sold to Sharp Mini Car. They are a 1/4 scale Model T which originally sold for $375.00 These are some pics of what it looked like when I got it. I'll post some more of it finished later.
Cool! I had one of those when I was a kid - wish I still did. A friend and I went down this really steep hill with a 90 degree turn at the bottom. The hand brake didn't really slow us down enough and the front wooden wheel exploded. We picked up the pieces and pushed it back up the hill. I can still here my Dad say "How fast were you going"?
They orginally came with a 3hp engine, it has a 5hp now. With the Fred Flintstone hand brake it's a scary ride!
Out in the back yard there is one of those overgrown by the Jasmine peacefully returning to Mother Earth. Does have the original windshield too. The wooden wheels have no spokes anymore but the rims are hanging on the steering wheel. My now 35 year old girls really enjoyed ramming around the block in that car and once ran into a tree which spilled them both out onto the yard laughing and giggling. Their now 26 year old brother enjoyed a T revival when he was six or so and then it was off to the bone yard. Last time I checked these were still being built and offered for sale in classified ads in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science by a company in Georgia and another up in the Midwest, like Wisconsin or Minnesota. Used for many decades by Shriners and other fraternal organizations in parades at Thanksgiving and 4th of July, etc.
There's a funny English movie out there on DVD called "The Snapper", but it's not about little Model T's . . .
Id love to have one of those. Retrofit some decent brakes & controls, and perhaps a Torque converter over that C clutch, and that would be a riot to rip around in.
Mine is like that one, it is early. The one lever is the tire brake, the other pulls the belt tight by tilting the drive gear unit. The car drives off the right rear tire. One thing mine had was a runningboard brace which was bolted underneath the floor box. Shaped like a "H", the outside legs run the length of the runningboards and have a carriage bolt at each end and the crossbar has 2 carriage bolts into the floot box. Later models of these little cars had plastic one piece wheels rather than the old style steel felloe, wooden spoke and hub construction. Hard to find smooth tread tires for these since most tires are for little bikes with knobby tread.
I think I have that "H" brace it was in the box of stuff that came with it. I'll check it out. Thanks!
Believe me, your kids, or yourself, will have a great time with that little car. Just try to find some no knob tires for it and the brakes will be OK for what the car can do.
More pics of it almost finished...still have to modify the tray that covers the engine and build a shroud around the belt
super cute, i want one. i have a real 1912 model "t" delivery car, but i would love to come across one of these!
The "radiator" section was painted silver with a silk-screened "honeycomb" black hexagon pattern in the front.
Future hot rodder!! Man power... Still don't have a kill switch on dash, have to reach around to shut it off, just a bit much for a 7 year old. I made his dad push him around.
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