Let's Talk Cyclecars

About "The Hornet" in the words of Duncan Pittaway. I built the car about 20 odd years ago. The chassis is from a 1924/5 5cv Citroen which John Champ found in a hedge in France and bought for £35. Front axle is genuine Frazer Nash... albeit the main tube was cracked and I re-tubed it straight like a GN. The front aluminium back plates were so rotten that I cut most of them away... not sure how effective they are, but they sure look lightened! The back axle is GN and copied almost exactly from the "Ceasar" special that Mark owns. Engines are two Harley Davidson JD V-Twin's from 1926 complete with "Riccardo chips" in the top of each barrel to increase the compression ratio. When I first used it in the early '90's, I ran them on straight methanol with a pair of Amal GP carbs, but when I lent it to Robin he converted it to run on SU's and petrol. It's easier to drive on petrol, but won't rev as well ... and isn't as fast! The transmission is my own concoction.... using two 2 speed cross shafts with GN style dog clutches to get four gears, and a beefed up HD clutch. There's 11 chains in total, including the one driving the rev counter! Finally .....the steering's via a 1922 Jowett 7HP steering box... 1/3 of a turn lock to lock.... wheels 19" Rudge...... fuel tank, oil tank, pedals, gauges, etc, Beaulieau autojumble finds..... throttle pedal a '20's Whitworth spanner! Inspired by Bolster's four JAP engined car I couldn't afford KTOR engines so the HD 1,200's were the obvious vintage choice. I always planned to fit two more JD engines, and still have the other two "in stock" ready... effectively making it up to a 5 litre V8!!

 

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As you can see, I'm not so hot at loading images. But this is the Hornet, as Bob describes.

 

March 2015 when l visited Duncans Workshop

 

I've never met anyone quite like Duncan. He's a total gear head, he really loves this stuff and he's all about wrenching and racing his cars. What's so non-typical is his budget. You think you're walking around a typical English farm, and he opens a door and there's a race spec real deal Bugatti Type 35....The replicas of those cost $250,000 or so, and here Duncan has his tearin' up the racetracks like he stole it. He also has Bill Thomas Cheetah #1. Heck of a guy.

 

For sale in Victoria ,OZ $4500 AUS.

 

I dig under-slungs. I know that isn't finished, but those springs aren't going to work like that. Only the main leaf is holding the car up. Or am I missing something?

 

No, you are not missing - you are right!
Smaller leaves should be under the main one!
Ciao, Zoran

 

I think the seller intends for the new owner to rectify and finish the project.

 

Is the engine a Salmson?

 

Sorry l was completely wrong!It must be the alcohol.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbcli...G31yXnIySK4XEs&v=JTYWdscvvo0&feature=youtu.be

 

Marc pics!

 

Although Darlmat roadsters are not cyclecars, they are special enough to include them here. pictures by Marc! From wikipedia:
Émile Darl'mat (1892–1970) was the creator and owner of a Peugeot distributor with a car body business established at the rue de l'Université in Paris in 1923.[1] In the 1930s the firm gained prominence as a low volume manufacturer of Peugeot-based sports cars. Business was interrupted by the Second World War, but at least one prototype was kept hidden throughout the period and directly after the war Darl'mat returned to the construction of special bodied Peugeots, although in the impoverished condition of post-war France business never returned to the volumes achieved during the 1930s.

Building the business[edit]
The first cars were built at Darl'mat's workshops in Paris; however, during the 1930s the special bodied Peugeot-based coupés and cabriolets became increasingly integrated into the Peugeot range. During the second half of the decade, starting in 1936, Darl'mat's Peugeot-based coupes and cabriolets were built at the Peugeot plant in Sochaux.

The best remembered of the Darl'mats is a sports car based on the Peugeot 302: the engine was taken from the 402. Several Peugeot-Darl'mat 402 "spécial sport" models raced at Le Mans with success in 1937 and 1938.[1] The cars were built in very limited numbers and three models - a roadster, a coupe, and a drop-head coupe - were offered.

 

Found this in a Peugeot/Citroën garage that was in business during the 50's to the 80's. Unfortunately it's not for sale.
Apparently it was used with other such diminutive cars as a promotional vehicule on the Tour de France, it was for kids to drive them around with a big ad on the roof.
The grille is Renault and the ornamant is Matford if I'm not mistaking.
I bought a couple steering wheels to hang on the wall in my new shop and a spot light made from a teen or early 20's headlight and Renault 4cv drum as a base.

 

750CC YRSAN. Gallica image via Lee Stohr

 

From Gerard Gaud at Vintage Revival Montlhery 2022

 

BNC at VRM 2022. Juri Castricum image

 

I don't know what it is. Marc pic from VRM2022

 

Empy Special. American-made, Model-A-based, lives in Scotland now.

 

SPIDER @ VRM 2022. Marc and Gerard pics.

 

Great article Dawie! Much appreciated. thanks

 

Another view of the EMPY.

 

The Spider is my kinda fun! I really wish there was more of this type of stuff in the US., and more places to use it.
The Brits are definitely not afraid to use their vintage stuff.

 

True story. There is a different attitude towards old cars there. Using a Bugatti Brescia or Bentley for trialing for instance. There are the hill climbs here that tend to be straight up instead of the twisty windy affairs like Shelsley Walsh or Prescott...which are essentially an uphill road race against the clock. How much would it cost to rent a paved oval track for a weekend and camp out in the infield?

 

Robi Warden pic from VRM 2022.

 

From Paul Rogers Engineering(http://paulrogersengineering.co.uk/) who just completed some work on KIM II.
The original engine dated from 1914 when it was fitted to Kim, which subsequently crashed in 1920 having lapped Brooklands at 85 mph- meaning around 100mph on the straights!!
The wreckage was built into Kim2 and there's a long story as to what happened to it to get to what you see today.
The original crankcase had had a very hard life, so I was commissioned to replicate it exactly, but without the spiders web of cracks which prevented the engine from holding together for more than a few minutes.
With bonnet and tail removed, there really isn't much to it. 400kg without driver (thanks to the farm's weighbridge) and around 35bhp it's pretty potent.
The noise department: Two single mags and a vast 36mm Zenith triple diffuser. The carb was great for running flat out around Brooklands, but wouldn't idle at less than 1500rpm. I was tasked with making this work well and let it idle at a more sensible rpm. Hmmm.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/12561...-90Y61_3s-mE8_-AHQUDuIBdyupThGhyYf0Liq3arY1qY

 

I may list some English VSCC newsletters in the HAMB Classified section this weekend. Bob

 

Sandford 4 wheeler

 

https://thenewmotoring.wordpress.co...03bs_UjZcABy3Ircre2qHk5KLA_XNNHrGS98eahqhJluw