old car fan Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 New project, anyone have any information they can share. Made in Dayton Ohio, hometown, they were discussed here in 2011.Serial # 2408. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsmoke Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 (edited) Cool find, will be interested in hearing more! the book "The American Car since 1775" (AQ and Dutton) lists the Custer Specialty Company of Dayton Ohio 1920-1946, had an experimental electric car in 1898, and also built gasolene, electric, handicapped and amusement park rides. Could this be a very early motorised wheel chair? Edited March 4, 2023 by Gunsmoke (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 Yes it was ,still has original pinstripes, so must be a nice machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 You will see us at Hershey, still considered a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt G Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 I have period sales material illustrating these - the invalid car as you have plus the amusement park rides etc. Just need the time to locate and then scan etc. this will take some time as I am in the middle of other research and writing projects that have deadlines. Very happy to see you have this, just great. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 (edited) Walt,awesome,going to get it moving, tires, and nothing else.the pinstripes on this is amazing. Edited March 4, 2023 by old car fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 How about sources for 20x2 clincher tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsmoke Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 Interesting in period ad for these Custer motorized wheelchairs. Not sure they would be considered a "car", most likely would have very few if any transportation regulations (like headlights horn, tail/stop lights), but nice find none the less. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 (edited) Gunsmoke, it is equipped with these. The whole thing is a piece of work. Edited March 5, 2023 by old car fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC38dls Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 (edited) Does a Custer car come with a little big horn? dave s ps just being a smart a$$ Edited March 4, 2023 by SC38dls (see edit history) 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 That's history I know, but can't answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 Looks like an early Australian Rascal scooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dictator27 Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 Invalid cars were common in the UK from the 1950s to the 70s before the arrival of the mobility scooter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 4 hours ago, Gunsmoke said: Interesting in period ad for these Custer motorized wheelchairs. Not sure they would be considered a "car", most likely would have very few if any transportation regulations (like headlights horn, tail/stop lights), but nice find none the less. In Alberta, it would have qualified for 'motorcycle' plates, just as later three-wheeled Cushmans did. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex D. Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 Great for the old guy's cruising the Hershey flea markets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 5, 2023 Author Share Posted March 5, 2023 Thanks Dosmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 I live in Dayton and never heard of that company,might want to contact the Carillon museum as it has alot of info on products made in the Dayton area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 5, 2023 Author Share Posted March 5, 2023 Nephew was there yesterday, didn't receive to much information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 6, 2023 Author Share Posted March 6, 2023 Any clue as to finding the year of this custer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt G Posted March 7, 2023 Share Posted March 7, 2023 Just a quick reply for now - 40 years ago I had extensive correspondence with my good friend Ralph Dunwoodie of Nevada , he and I exchanged information on Custer cars as I had one at the time. I also had communicated with Mike Worthington Williams in Wales and Bev Kimes who was Editor of Automobile Quarterly at the item. AQ did an article on the Custer car then , someplace here I have a copy as she used my file on the history of the cars . All this in an era of not finding history or doing research at the tap of a button. Here is what I can share for now. No further news for some time , just do not have the time. Hope this helps Note the penned notations of cost when new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 Thank you Walt,that is more information than I am able to find so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 I will have to look up that address and see what is in that location now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 8, 2023 Author Share Posted March 8, 2023 6 hours ago, junkyardjeff said: I will have to look up that address and see what is in that location now. Looks to be the old soap factory. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt G Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 In some of the factory literature they refer to the Custer as a"Cootie Car" - yes really not making that up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 8, 2023 Author Share Posted March 8, 2023 Walt evidently he made several, I have seen a post from years ago, but nothing on ours,I certainly appreciate your information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 On 3/8/2023 at 3:39 AM, old car fan said: Looks to be the old soap factory. When I Googled it looks like it was in the Davis electric buildings across the street from the soap factory,the building it looked to be in had caught fire and is no longer standing and was right next to the train tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 6 minutes ago, junkyardjeff said: When I Googled it looks like it was in the Davis electric buildings across the street from the soap factory,the building it looked to be in had caught fire and is no longer standing and was right next to the train tracks. It was the old Master electric buildings not Davis electric but I think it was the Davis sewing machine company at one time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkyardjeff Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 Here is where the pointer shown when I looked it up,that building on the right came out almost to the street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gariepy Posted March 9, 2023 Share Posted March 9, 2023 123 Franklin Street, Dayton OH. is one one of the pcs of literature. https://www.google.com/maps/place/123+Franklin+St,+Dayton,+OH+45402/@39.7531213,-84.1929413,3a,75y,152.13h,99.5t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3sJwky6O20D2E378pQda9w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x884086acc4b2a471:0x9f2d7e86cbeaf8fa!8m2!3d39.7534267!4d-84.1931084 Walking distance (virtually next door?) to the Packard Museum. 46 Franklin St, Dayton OH. West Peterson lives near there? @West Peterson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) Jeff,knew it was close, I remember driving by and smelling soap.Yes,close to West,he has visited. Edited March 10, 2023 by old car fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 This is perhaps the most famous of all Custer Cars today. Most websites that show this photo do not identify the car (and if attempted, usually misidentified). The lady is Mary Bay. As Tim said, Custer made several different vehicles, the Cootie (a children's car) being the second most produced. The most produced was the automotive wheelchair. They also built a Cabbie (miniature railroad), Carrier (truck), and coupe. The factory is within a stone's throw from the Stoddard-Dayton factory, which is still standing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 The Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation in Kingman. Arizona (Route 66) has a 1914 Custer Chair Car. Here is what their website says: Its Inventor, Levitt Lucern Custer, was an entrepreneur and contemporary of the Wright Brothers. “Custer had worked with the Wrights and was an accomplished balloonist and aviator in his own right” says Larry Fisher, Foundation Curator. The Custer Chair Car was largely for seniors, however the Great War (World War I) brought with it the opportunity to create a mobility solution for returning wounded soldiers. The three-wheeled Custer Chair Car answered this by promising "Miles of Smiles for a Penny." The Custer Specialty Company offered the cars first with electric power, and later optional gasoline power. Hundreds were produced, although few survived the scrap drives of World War II. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 Here's another that was sold at a Mecum auction in 2020. https://www.mecum.com/lots/NC0420-410435/1930-custer-electric-chair-electric-vehicle/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 West,both those are electric, with disc wheels. Ours is gas with spoke wheels, would like to pinpoint the year of ours.Wheels Through Time has on,but not original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 Tim. Apparently no earlier than December 1942: By the time WWII ended, over 4,000 amputations had been performed on U.S. soldiers, many of whom came to the Dayton Soldiers’ Home (now called the V.A. Medical Center) for rehabilitation. This prompted the invention of the Custer Invalid Chair, a three-wheel motor vehicle that ran on batteries. Designed to be used by invalids as a sort of self-propelled wheelchair, it would travel 10 to 15 miles before it needed recharging. Custer was granted design patent #D53,891 for his electric motorized wheelchair on October 7, 1919. Unfortunately, while Custer’s invention allowed the veterans to travel into town, since the Soldiers’ Home was on a hill, many times the chair would run out of power on its way back. This led Custer to invent a gasoline version of his invalid car. Custer’s gasoline-powered wheelchair was granted patent #2,306,042 on December 22, 1942. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 Of course, the patent being granted in December 1942 doesn't mean that gas-powered Custer Cars weren't built before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old car fan Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) Yes,that one is in garage looking for tires.Must be before purchasing, not our garage. Edited March 10, 2023 by old car fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyankee Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 These are 2 in the Kingman,Arizona museum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj59 Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Here is a link for an add. Add is dated 1933. The picture in the add is 100% identical to our chair. Being ours has the original model H Briggs and comparing to another Custer chair serial number we have dated ours close as possible to a 1933 https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.disabilitymuseum.org%2Fdhm%2Flib%2Fcatcard.html%3Fid%3D1122&data=05%7C01%7Cdj%40adh-inc.com%7C7f57a634db724bcfca2208db218032ca%7C6ef0a0b66dff4140aef733858f121baa%7C0%7C0%7C638140606735874408%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=BQJcycy%2Bwmh%2B06CvUDA%2FftAe2u7lVWmsZPROU2DiIzM%3D&reserved=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj59 Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 After pulling the model h Briggs that is original to the unit, it serials out to a 1934. So we are right in there 33-34. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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