Fairthorpe Atom Newsreel

NEW "ATOM" LIGHTWEIGHT CAR

This British Pathé newsreel is posted on the blog, Fairthorpe Restoration. I wish it had sound, because I'd love to hear that little BSA 250cc engine pulling the car with three people and luggage in it. (I'm guessing the suitcases are empty.)

New "Atom" Lightweight Car 1954

The unusual headlights identify this is the original Mk 1 car from 1954. Subsequent bodies had the lights faired into the body. Check out our earlier look at the Atom.

Crosley Wagon v. Joe McCarthy

When I stumbled across this photo on the Together Sauk Prarie blog, I couldn't resist posting it. It looks like the little Crosley (with the help of Star editor Leroy Gore) played a part in the "Joe Must Go" club -- a grassroots effort to recall Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy.

For the Crosley fans in the audience, this car has the chrome bullet nose of the 1948 1/2 model. But, since it doesn't have the bar grill, we are guessing this car is a CC model from somewhere between 1946 and 1948 that was "updated" with the bullet nose. (According to the Crosley Automobile Club, the bullet nose and grill bars were "offered as an option to update earlier Crosleys to the 'New Look' . Since the bars were available from the dealer you will find them on earlier CC models.")

Let's hear it for the Crosley -- and Leroy Gore.

NSU Prinz 30 -- Winner at Sebring

According to Racing Sports Cars, the NSU Sport Prinz, driven by Fred Fischhof came in 1st among GT600 cars at the 1961 Sebring 4 Hour race. (It came in 13th overall.)

Shortly after the race, Fischhof was interviewed by representatives of Gulf, and provided this response in the advertising they ran later that year:

RED BARBER: (to Fred Fischhof, Class 3/4 winner in NSU Prinz) "As another driver who ran on Gulf, and won, what do you have to say, Fred?"
FRED FISCHHOF: "Like you say, Red, Gulf Crest really burns clean and keeps the carbon under control. The car didn't miss a lick. It picked up quickly out of the curves and hit peak power on the straights. Maybe I have a little extra reason for saying so."
RED BARBER: "What do you mean by 'a little extra reason,' Fred?"
FRED FISCHHOF: "Well, I drove the smallest car in the race at Sebring. So it was a most responsive one. I could be sensitive to even minor differences in performance."

OK -- now you've heard it from Red and Fred.

(NB: We suspect this is a "file" photo, since Fred's winning car was number 34.)

ALDEN staRRcar

From the Museum of Learning:

The Alden staRRcar, for "Self-Transport Road and Rail Car", was a design for a personal rapid transit PRT system designed by William Alden in the 1960s. It originally envisioned small electrically powered cars suitable for short distance trips at low speed within urban areas, which could optionally merge onto tracks that would provide power and guidance for high speed travel over longer inter-city distances. It was one of the earliest "dual-mode vehicles" to be proposed, and one of the earliest to be actually built.

Over its lifetime the design changed dramatically, originally a four-person vehicle with dual-mode operation but eventually emerging as a much larger people mover for 20 people. In this form, Boeing Vertol was awarded a construction contract in 1970. It holds the distinction as the only PRT system to enter commercial service, as the basis for the Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit system. The Morgantown system first opened for service in 1975, and with the exception of a closure for a major expansion, has remained in service since then.

Racing Messerschmitts

This clip is described as part of a Finnish musical comedy - Iskelmäprinssi.

We've always been fascinated with the idea of racing microcars -- particularly Messerschmitts. (See the post from June 26.) While a Tiger is probably a better choice for racing, it's great to see these cars going wheel-to-wheel.

Crosley at the New York World's Fair (1939)

Crosley was a major manufacturer in the late 1930's -- making everything from radios to refrigerators -- and, of course, minicars.

The picture above is a publicity shot, taken in front of the Crosley Pavilion in the World of Tomorrow section of the fair. Rides were given to guests of the fair on a short course just outside the pavilion.

There is a brief clip showing the cars and the pavilion twelve minutes and fifty seconds into this amateur film: http://www.archive.org/details/Medicusc1939_5

How many people can you fit in your minicar? (Renault Estafette)

This schematic is dated 1960 -- making this a Renault Estafette R2130/31. According to Wikipedia, that model was manufactured from 1959 to 1962, and was powered by an 845cc engine.

An interesting question to ask is...with seats for nine people, how can this car manage with a payload capacity of 600 kg (1,323 lbs)? Unless you include children, I don't know nine Americans who collectively weigh less than 1,323 lbs (that's an average of 147 lbs/person).