Fun in the 20s

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Cute girls

 

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Looks like the axle pivots in the middle like a wagon

[dodge28]

The axle pivot is in the middle. Notice the right hand drive. It indicates an early model around the turn of the century. Right hand steering was common for a few years.

[Crusty Trucker]

Hey, Dave, there's a section of the forum for old photographs called "Photos and Videos" and would be a much better place for this and similar contributions. Thanks for your posts, but I think they'd get more attention posted in the right forum section.

 

 

 

[Twisted Shifter]

18 minutes ago, dodge28 said:

Notice the right hand drive. It indicates an early model around the turn of the century. Right hand steering was common for a few years.

 

Either that or the negative or glass plate was reversed before printing.

[dodge28]

Many early cars of that era was right hand drive. No doubt about that.

[Bloo]

Yep. In the US, Ford changed to left had drive with the introduction of the model T in 1909, and almost everyone followed suit around 1913-1914. Almost. There was a holdout or two clear into the 20s I think.

[wayne sheldon]

The "car" appears to be an early "cyclecar" and probably has a motorcycle engine. Likely a V-twin, but could be a single. In the USA, there was a short cyclecar craze from about 1910 to about 1913. In America, the craze died down quickly as Henry's model T went down in price and became much more affordable.

In Europe, the craze began earlier, and continued into the early 1930s. One of the main reasons for European's interest in cyclecars was the vehicle tax structure in most European countries was based upon horsepower, and tended to be punitive with even moderate horsepower cars being taxed heavily. Average working families wanting a car needed something small and low horsepower that could carry a couple adults or one adult and a couple children when needed. Light and cheap, with low taxation, cyclecars were the perfect simple solution to personal transportation in Europe! And with their punitive horsepower taxation, they remained popular there into the 1930s.

Naturally, of course, anything one could drive, should be raced! And throughout the 1920s, cyclecar racing in England and Europe was a serious sport!

 

It was Hitler's rise to power that put an end to the cyclecar's popularity. Then, when the rebuilding of Europe took place after the war, the flimsy cyclecar was sort of overlooked. It was replaced by a bunch of mini cars with very small but efficient engines built by several European companies. But that is a story for another day.

 

I sure would like to know more about the car in the OP photo. I don't recognize it, although I do think I have seen it before. That front axle should be it identifiable to someone that really knows cyclecars. I am not even sure if it is American or European.

 

 

Edited February 3 by wayne sheldon
I hate leaving typos! (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

It is a cyclecar, you can see the cooling fan thru the grille and behind it just make out a V twin engine. No doubt an air cooled motorcycle type as used by many cyclecars.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

23 hours ago, Crusty Trucker said:

Hey, Dave, there's a section of the forum for old photographs called "Photos and Videos" and would be a much better place for this and similar contributions. Thanks for your posts, but I think they'd get more attention posted in the right forum section.

 

 

 

I find that there's much more discussion on the general section. I've posted on the old photos and it goes right by. Sometimes i post it in general and they move it which I don't like but that's the way it goes.