Shawmobile
Encyclopedia
The Shawmobile was a small two-seat buckboard
type vehicle from the horseless carriage era powered by a front mounted gasoline engine with belt drive to the rear wheels. Wheels are of the wire bicycle type.
advertised an engine kit for motorizing a bicycle in Popular Mechanics magazine for $90. The engine was 241 cc with dry cell battery ignition and a slip belt drive. Advertised cruising speed was 20 mi/h, with a maximum speed of 30 mi/h. By 1905 Shaw was mass producing his engines to convert bicycles to motorcycles.
To further increase sales, Shaw began selling plans to build a car to use his engine. It was a very primitive car, a buckboard with a motor, but a real car. By 1906 he was manufacturing complete motorcycles. By 1908 Shaw built and sold complete Shawmobiles. Ads claim 25 mi/h with the original Shaw engine. Spindly, spidery, the Shawmobile helped put America on wheels far cheaper than a Ford of the day. Shaw redesigned the car in 1922 to look more conventional.
The redesigned "Shaw Speedster" looks very like the later King Midget series one, which was also advertised as a "real car." The redesigned Shaw car was produced until 1930. In 1915 Shaw also redesigned the engine kit featuring an improved H-20 engine with a magneto ignition, and chain drive.
Buckboard type cars were also built during the same period by Buckeye in Cleveland, Ohio (only made in 1901), and by Waltham as the Orient Flyer from about 1903. The Orient Flyer was rear engined with friction drive.
A similar buckboard design was also used by the A.O. Smith Company starting in 1915. Similarly to Shaw, A.O. Smith also motorized bicycles with a device call the Smith Motor Wheel. To increase sales of its bicycle engine the Smith company developed and sold a small buckboard car call the Smith Flyer
which was propelled by the motor wheel. Later still, in May 1919, A.O. Smith sold the Motor Wheel rights to the Briggs & Stratton Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Briggs & Stratton sold the buckboard car as the Briggs & Stratton Flyer.
Briggs & Stratton
produced the Motor Wheel and Flyers until 1925. Briggs & Stratton then sold the Flyer to Automotive Electric Services (AES) Corp. of North Bergen, New Jersey.
AES continued to manufacture the Flyer under the name Auto Red Bug. AES continued to sell Flyers with Briggs Motor Wheels until the supply of those motors was exhausted. AES then switched the Red Bug to electric power and continued to manufacture them until some time in 1928. Inspection of a 1923 model however does show a data plate on the vehicle that states it was manufactured by Automotive Standards, Inc. in North Bergen, New Jersey
.
Also a [Rutgers University] library item lists an advertisement for "Red bug: the electric roadster" as manufactured in Newark, N.J. by Automotive Standards, Inc., [s.a.].
In the 1950s Banner Welder Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
sold a similar buckboard car version as the Banner Boy Buckboard.
American Buckboard Corporation, Los Angeles, California, USA also sold a similar car in 1955-1956. It was also a revival of the 5-wheel Briggs & Stratton Flyer. It was sold as the American Buckboard and as the Bearcat.
The latest production version found was made by McDonough Power Equipment from the 1940s through the 1960s which was sold as their Model 60.
Buckboard
A buckboard is a four-wheeled wagon of simple construction meant to be drawn by a horse or other large animal. The "buckboard" is the front-most board on the wagon that could act as both a footrest for the driver and protection for the driver from the horse's rear hooves in case of a "buck". The...
type vehicle from the horseless carriage era powered by a front mounted gasoline engine with belt drive to the rear wheels. Wheels are of the wire bicycle type.
History
In the nineteenth century, Stanley Shaw first invented his own steam engine. At the dawn of the motoring age Stanley Shaw invented his own gas engine. By 1903 the "Shaw Manufacturing Co." of Galesburg, KansasGalesburg, Kansas
Galesburg is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, United States. The population was 150 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Galesburg is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
advertised an engine kit for motorizing a bicycle in Popular Mechanics magazine for $90. The engine was 241 cc with dry cell battery ignition and a slip belt drive. Advertised cruising speed was 20 mi/h, with a maximum speed of 30 mi/h. By 1905 Shaw was mass producing his engines to convert bicycles to motorcycles.
To further increase sales, Shaw began selling plans to build a car to use his engine. It was a very primitive car, a buckboard with a motor, but a real car. By 1906 he was manufacturing complete motorcycles. By 1908 Shaw built and sold complete Shawmobiles. Ads claim 25 mi/h with the original Shaw engine. Spindly, spidery, the Shawmobile helped put America on wheels far cheaper than a Ford of the day. Shaw redesigned the car in 1922 to look more conventional.
The redesigned "Shaw Speedster" looks very like the later King Midget series one, which was also advertised as a "real car." The redesigned Shaw car was produced until 1930. In 1915 Shaw also redesigned the engine kit featuring an improved H-20 engine with a magneto ignition, and chain drive.
Buckboard type cars were also built during the same period by Buckeye in Cleveland, Ohio (only made in 1901), and by Waltham as the Orient Flyer from about 1903. The Orient Flyer was rear engined with friction drive.
A similar buckboard design was also used by the A.O. Smith Company starting in 1915. Similarly to Shaw, A.O. Smith also motorized bicycles with a device call the Smith Motor Wheel. To increase sales of its bicycle engine the Smith company developed and sold a small buckboard car call the Smith Flyer
Smith Flyer
The Smith Flyer was an American automobile manufactured by the A.O. Smith Company in Milwaukee from 1915 until about 1919 when the manufacturing rights were sold to Briggs & Stratton and it was renamed to Briggs & Stratton Flyer. The Smith Flyer is a small, simple, lightweight, two-seat vehicle...
which was propelled by the motor wheel. Later still, in May 1919, A.O. Smith sold the Motor Wheel rights to the Briggs & Stratton Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Briggs & Stratton sold the buckboard car as the Briggs & Stratton Flyer.
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton is the world's largest manufacturer of air-cooled gasoline engines primarily for outdoor power equipment. Current production averages 11 million engines per year.-History:...
produced the Motor Wheel and Flyers until 1925. Briggs & Stratton then sold the Flyer to Automotive Electric Services (AES) Corp. of North Bergen, New Jersey.
AES continued to manufacture the Flyer under the name Auto Red Bug. AES continued to sell Flyers with Briggs Motor Wheels until the supply of those motors was exhausted. AES then switched the Red Bug to electric power and continued to manufacture them until some time in 1928. Inspection of a 1923 model however does show a data plate on the vehicle that states it was manufactured by Automotive Standards, Inc. in North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township had a total population of 60,773. Originally founded in 1843, the town was much diminished in territory by a series of secessions. Situated on the Hudson Palisades, it is one...
.
Also a [Rutgers University] library item lists an advertisement for "Red bug: the electric roadster" as manufactured in Newark, N.J. by Automotive Standards, Inc., [s.a.].
In the 1950s Banner Welder Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
sold a similar buckboard car version as the Banner Boy Buckboard.
American Buckboard Corporation, Los Angeles, California, USA also sold a similar car in 1955-1956. It was also a revival of the 5-wheel Briggs & Stratton Flyer. It was sold as the American Buckboard and as the Bearcat.
The latest production version found was made by McDonough Power Equipment from the 1940s through the 1960s which was sold as their Model 60.
See also
- List of microcars by country of origin: U
- Smith FlyerSmith FlyerThe Smith Flyer was an American automobile manufactured by the A.O. Smith Company in Milwaukee from 1915 until about 1919 when the manufacturing rights were sold to Briggs & Stratton and it was renamed to Briggs & Stratton Flyer. The Smith Flyer is a small, simple, lightweight, two-seat vehicle...
- Briggs & Stratton Flyer
- List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers
Sources
- Farm Collector
- Gas Engine Magazine
- GALESBURG: LAND of SHAW’S Mfg. Co. by Robert J. Varsolona
- Waltham Museum reference
- The Chanute Tribune
- Galesburg Museum
- old publications by Shaw Manufacturing Co
- Popular Mechanics magazine
- Georgano, G.N. (Editor) (1982). Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars. London: Ebury Press. ISBN 0-85223-234-9