Let's Talk Cyclecars

I just saw this on Craigslist today:

If I had $500 laying around I would want to buy this. Looks like a good starting point for something fun.

 

Post the link.

 

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/antique-mini-car-buggy-frame/6772174430.html

 

It almost looks like a late 40s British 500cc racer. Hard to tell without seeing the motor mounts (which might not have ever been completed.) Someone grab it.

 

1924 Mollmobil marc pic. ...

 

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Thank you SR for interestign advertisment!​

It could be made a cute and efficient special on that chassis, in a style of British Formula 500, or hill-sprint racer, or trial cars, or cyclecar or whatever!


Design and construction look quite good with many interesting details... All around independent suspension, nice big wire-spoked wheels, chain transmission and so on...

Ciao,
Zoran​

P.S.: If it is somewhere in Swiss, I would try to find 500 Swiss Franks (equal to the USA $$$ - my monthly Serbian pension income)

 

It might not be an open diff. A cheap method for locking the diff was to fill the spider gears with melted lead.
Does anyone recognize any of the components?

 

Just in... a FB post from Clarke Walker. The only clue mentioned is "Mont Ventoux". Now that's a copilot! Gary

 

And whats the driver looking at ?

 

Before or after the crash?

 

I always liked this photo.

 

There are plenty of them around in the US--just look for a Range Rover (or a V8 Discovery etc)

Roo

 

4 wheel Sandford

 

This is the link to the Hanomag pictures above sorry the article is written in german language https://www.zwischengas.com/de/FT/fahrzeugberichte/Hanomag-2-10-PS-Kommissbrot-.html

 

No apologies required for posting articles written in languages other than English. It's time we English speakers quit being so lazy and learn something new....besides most pages self translate anymore.

 

SWINCAR all-terrain vehicle elecric

 

Hello, Tarcoleo!​

That is the photo of the SWINCAR that I was waiting for a long time: two-seater version! That would be the only variant acceptable for me and my wife for cruising across and around Bern, in SWINCAR or any other light electric-powered quadricycle! For sure that for road-legal use it must have all the lights and other equipment, proper for necessary attest and registration. With 4 Kilowatts electric-motor (a Kilowatt in each of the wheels) it could be accepted to category similarly to a moped (light quadricycle) - single-seat model! For the two-seat model with 6 Kilowatts in total, it should be attested and registered as heavy quadricycle... (or detuned to 4 Kilowatts)
Of course, all this does not mean that I have money to buy one...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=78&v=jDNGGa3u-B8




https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=qDjsPN2QtQ8


Watching the first photos some years ago - I couldn't understand all the movements of those "spider legs", over uneven terrain and especially during turning of quadricycle in short radius... Only short films seen later gave me a solution: hard to imagine, even harder to design and almost impossible to make it properly for attractive and safe use. But, the creator Pascal RAMBAUD managed in all that!

Zoran​

 

I’ve been planning a 3 or 4 wheel electric hub motor powered car for some time now. Converted a few bikes and a trike, and now that “fat tire” bikes are popular manufactures are offering powerful hub motors laced to wide rims so you can run a decent tire with some side wall and an adequate contact patch. My design would be more for town/neighborhood use, something much like the Hanomags pictured above.

Here are two of my favorite designs I’ve come across. The first is very utilitarian with forward storage trunk, drop in windows, etc.. and similar to what I’d like to build, the second is 4-wheel hub motor powered with polycarbonate body and suspension of all things. Notice the clever use of fork hoops to suspend and support the wheels and axles, and the use of calipers and discs. Some of my serious mountain bike friends have pretty trick hydraulic disc brake setups on their bikes.

I have to finish my electric catamaran first, but it’s 600W of solar with MPPT control will serve as a charging station for the electric car once built. I just started laying out the panels as seen in the last photo.

 

Here are some more photos of traditional cycle cars to make up for me getting off topic with talk of solar boats!

 

Interesting looking car on the beach.European Cycle car or american iron?
From stiffspeed

 

American iron at its finest. The Wisconsin Special. 16ft long, 836 cu. in. ...

 

Thank you SR100,so the picture should be in the thread Aero engined vintage racers

 

Thank you SR100,so the picture should be in the thread Aero engined vintage racers

 

It looks good here too.

 

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Thank you, Rolf,​

For the interesting article about one of my favourite small automobiles! (it could be translated to English without problems, but to Serbian, we could get only funny and even stupid text)...

It is interesting that in the article, Hanomag Kommissbrot was declared as "limousine", probably because of a closed cabin? Similar was in my old Yugoslavia - my Trabant 601 was declared in traffic licence as "limuzina"!

Of course, cute Hanomag was just one between my 15-20 "favourites" in a class of small old-timer autos, but near the top of the list...






From some early teenage years, when I found one-two photos of Kommissbrot, I was thinking about a homebuilt version of small and cute “soldier's bread”, not knowing for the phrase "replica" and a fact that people build them worldwide.
Through years, I collected a lot of photos with various variants, including chassis and suspension, even a sketch with dimensions - but, my school-days dream shall stay a dream.

Ciao,
Zoran​

 

Nice video of how a "Crash Box" works. My Morgan 3 wheel has one of those.

The Lane Car Museum in Nashville, Tn. has a Hanomag on display. and an amazing story about it and it's owner Josef Ganz. Here is a write up of the story of Ganz and his relationship with the development of the Volkswagen.

 

Thank you, Fred,​

For giving me missing link between Josef Ganz and Hanomag Komissborte!

I was always sure that the first few of the Ganz prototypes were similar to Komissbortte (by construction, style and spirit), but constructed and made better, being more modern for their time and that class of autos.

There are many articles, web-pages and even one book that put a new light on Ganz's work on "Volkswagen" (peoples-auto)... He didn't "invented" well-known Volkswagen, designed by Ferdinand Porsche and produced in his new factory got as good Nazi from his mentor Hilter. Ganz didn't have a direct influence on Ferdinand's Volkswagen - but, he "invented" the name "Volkswagen" for one of his prototypes. Of course, he was later "asked" to leave Germany and settled in Switzerland, continuing work on "peoples-autos". However, Gestapo found him there and molested him a few times, including influence on Swiss to put him in prison...
For him and all other wannabe constructors and producers of "peoples-auto", it was forbidden to use that name, except for Ferdinand and his factory.
In that time, longer then a decade there was steady development toward practical "peoples-auto" including almost a dozen of German (including Mercedes-Benz ) companies and a few Czeskoslovakian designers (Tatra was the best known and the most copied), or Italian (the most known and successful was FIAT 500 Topolino)...

Mostly all of the designs were based on works of Hans Ledwinka (tubular chassis, independent suspension, rear positioned air-cooled engine...) and Paul Jaray (aerodynamical auto-bodies). Ganz was going through that process and was among the most successful of designers and indirectly lead to Ferdinand's Volkswagen. A few of the first Ganz's micro-cars were not much practical as peoples-autos, being a two-seater with small engines. Through years, working as a designer to other German companies, he developed something larger body for "peoples-auto" that had a bench for kids or smaller passengers and more powerful engine - real family auto: cheap, simple and small...







If he had time and money (work for German companies was stopped), he should develop his design to something better than Ferdinand's. The first of Ferdinand's designs were pathetic too, including two-cylinder miniature engine or 5 cylinders radial engine and so on...

Then, after the WW2, Swiss took all his work for their own company and made a lot of small autos - RAPID, after sent him away!

In any case, a great man and great designer, but with quite turbulent and unhappy life: moving from country to country and finished poor and unknown in Australia... However, on most of the photos from various periods - he was smiling person!

Ciao,
Zoran​