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Bobby tried to hide inside Crazy Zeke's 1930 American Austin coupe. |
ORPHAN BABIES VOLUME 1, 1887-1927 |
Curiosity drove a young boy to discover an orphan baby car. |
VOLUME 1 OF ORPHAN BABIES, America's Forgotten Economy Cars is the first encyclopedia solely dedicated to America's small cars built between 1887 and 1927. It is also the engaging story of Bobby, a thirteen-year-old Iowa boy who stumbles onto a treasure trove of rusting relics in and around a tumbledown garage. Bobby's curiosity and love of old cars quickly puts him at odds with the mysterious owner, a local recluse known to the kids as Crazy Zeke. "I'M COMING IN AFTER YOU!" The snarling, gravelly voice of an angry old man paralyzed Bobby with fear. He shivered uncontrollably. Not from the dampness of the musty old garage. Not from the crisp Iowa air. He was chilled by the icy certainty that his life was surely over. Why had he let his curiosity about old cars drive him to this place? He was a good kid--a boy any mother would be proud to call her own. He prayed before meals, at bedtime and when he was in trouble. Especially when he was in trouble. "Please, God," Bobby whispered. "Don't let him see me." Under the dashboard of an antique car that was too small to conceal him, the youngster wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in his knees. "I promise, if You get me out of here, I'll never break in again." It was during the sultry summer days of 1969, between his seventh and eight years of formal education, that Bobby encountered the crusty old curmudgeon and his family of automotive oddities. In spite of the awkward introduction, the unlikely pair grew to understand and respect one another. They formed a partnership around a single goal: To restore Zeke's little American Austin coupe before summer's end. Meanwhile, Zeke schooled the youngster about his little cars. He lifted hoods and opened doors. He spoke of his deteriorating relics with a pride and passion usually reserved for tales of a parent's children. Bobby learned valuable lessons about cars--and life. THE PIONEERS Lesson week number one began with a simple question. "Can you tell me who invented the horseless carriage?" "Oh, come on," Bobby replied. "That's too easy. Henry Ford built the first car in a brick shed behind his house." Bobby's confidence was misplaced. Zeke perched himself on an old car's bumper and fired up his pipe. The aroma of burnt cherries filled the air as he took a long drag. "Actually, a man right here in Iowa was already making cars before Ford ever thought about building one. Way back in 1887, William Morrison built an electric car in a secret laboratory in Des Moines. The car ran fine, but he didn't have a good way to steer. So he put the motor and batteries in a boat and scooted up and down the Des Moines River." THE CYCLECAR CRAZE Some of the tattered and torn vehicles engulfed in the weeds behind Zeke's garage looked more like big toys than little cars. Zeke called them cyclecars. A cyclecar was more than a motorcycle but less than an automobile. It was bare-bones, basic transportation--wheels, body and motor--about 36 inches wide. It looked something like a larger automobile that had been squeezed through a keyhole. The cyclecar idea was introduced in 1909 when a Frenchman named Maurice Barbeau built a long and slender car that resembled a canoe on four wheels. The combination of low price, low maintenance costs and simplicity made for an instant sensation. Between 1913 and 1915, approximately 200 cyclecar brands emerged in the United States. Nearly all were introduced by inventive entrepreneurs with dreams of becoming wealthy auto barons. The streets were crawling with Crickets and Dudly Bugs, Imps and Vixens, Eagles and Falcons, and many other makes. Without a doubt, ORPHAN BABIES contains more photographs and information about American-made cyclecars than any single book ever published. 'T' TIME Lightweight cyclecars did not hold up well when subjected to rough roads. Nor could they compete when Henry Ford lowered the price of the new Model T. For more than a decade, Ford's success and affordability contributed greatly to the stagnation of the small-car evolution in America. Even so, With the streets full of look-alike Ts, an entire industry developed around economical replacement bodies, many of which are illustrated and described in ORPHAN BABIES. Ford's dominance and lack of evolutionary ingenuity in the low price field virtually invited competition. By 1927, the American public had grown weary of the Model T. Instead, they gravitated toward more stylish models from Chevrolet and Whippet. Ford was forced to close up shop and re-tool for survival. The sudden demise of the Model T opened a window of opportunity to entrepreneurs at home and abroad. The automotive press predicted the time was right to introduce the "Pony Four" concept--a real automobile of smaller proportion. The only question was which company would be first to give birth to a successful baby car for the American market. The answer is revealed in ORPHAN BABIES Volume 2: 1927-1943. |
All content on this website and in the book (c) Copyrighted 2009 by Robert D. Cunningham. No portion may be reproduced without permission. All content is contributed by amateurs for general enjoyment; no guarantee of accuracy is guaranteed or implied. |
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ORPHAN BABIES America's Forgotten Economy Cars Volume 1, 1887-1927 In this exciting new softcover book, reclusive old Zeke Zehr tells 13-year-old Bobby about the smallest automobiles ever built in the United States. |
In 1900, the Thomas B. Jeffrey Co., of Kenosha, WI added automobiles to its line of Rambler bicycles. |
The Saginaw roadster, from the Valley Boat & Engine Co. of Saginaw, MI, was one of nearly 200 American cyclecar brands introduced between 1913 and 1915. |
The 1914 Imp cyclecar hailed from Indianapolis, Indiana. It was designed by William B. Stout, who went on to become one of America's most prolific and flamboyant automotive engineers. |
Perhaps as many as a few hundred Zip cars were manufactured in Dubuque, Iowa during the so-called "cyclecar craze." |
In 1915, the Twombly Car Corporation, of New York, announced the introduction of the $600 Twombly Underslung Taxicab. The driver sat in the center of the narrow 4-foot-wide car to provide balance and to allow the passengers an unobstructed view of the road ahead. |
The handsome Robbins Landaulette Coupe body, first offered in 1913, was designed to replace the standard Ford Model T body. It was built of steel and plywood. A complete chapter of ORPHAN BABIES is devoted to the Model T aftermarket industry. |
A PARTIAL LISTING OF CARS COVERED IN ORPHAN BABIES, VOLUME 1, 1887-1927 American Junior Red Bug; American Peugeot; Argo Motorvique; Auto Cyclecar; Autoette; Autogo; Autoped; Automatic Electric; Baby Dispatch Car; Baby Moose; Bicar; Bradford; Briggs & Stratton Red Bug/Flyer; BrownieKar; Brush; B.Z.T.; C.A.C.; California; Cameron; Car-Nation; Cavalier; Ceco; Chautauqua; Cleveland; Coey Bear; Coey Junior; Comet; Continental; Cotay; Crest; Cricket; Crosley Electric Buckboard; Crusader; Cub; Culver Racer; Cycleplane; Dayton; DeCross Cycar; Dile; Dodo; Dudly Bug; Duryea GEM; Eagle; Economycar; Elbert; Essex; Euclid; Falcon; Flagler; Ford Cyclecar; Ford Model N; Ford Model T; Ford Quadricycle; Frederickson; Fujioka; Gadabout; Galloway Joyland; General Motors "Mosquito"; Grant; Gray; Greyhound; Hanover; Holsman; Hoosier Scout; Hupmobile; IHC Auto Buggy; Imp; Imp II; Jeffrey; Keeton; Lane; La Vigne; Liberty: Lincoln Highway Roadster; Little; Little Detroit Speedster; Locomobile; Malcolm; Marathon Six; Marr; Martin Scootmobile; McEwin; Mercury Cyclecar; Merz; Metz; Michaelson; Morrison Electric; Motokart; Motorette; Moxiemobile; Curved Dash Oldsmobile; Orient Buckboard; Overland; O-We-Go; Pioneer; Princess; Puritan; Rayfield Cyclecar; R-C-H; Real; Rex; Ritz; Saginaw; Saginaw Speedster; Salvador; Saxon; Scripps-Booth Rocket; Sears Motor Car; Sheldon; Sheridan Commercial Car; Smith Flyer; Smith Motor Wheel; Smith Baby Comet Racer; Spacke; Standard Cyclecar; Star; Steco; Stevens; Stout Cyclecar; Tribune; Trumbull; Twin City; Twombly; Vixen; Ward; Whippet; Wichita Falls; Wing Midget; Woods Mobilette; Zip. Read about these and many more automobiles in ORPHAN BABIES, America's Forgotten Economy Cars. |