I’m not quite sure whether to poke fun at this idea or applaud it for being a great idea. In 1956, Mechanics Illustrated published plans to build a car from mostly plywood, oak, and mahogany strips, using a motorcycle engine for power. On the one hand, I love the concept; light weight, readily available parts, build it in your garage…
But on the other hand, this thing — as designed and described in the article — has some serious issues. A frame made from oak and plywood? Can you say “severe body flex?” And the brakes… The motorcycle rear hub mounted inboard with a welded shaft going to the left rear wheel? The whole frame & drivetrain seems pretty lacking to me.
I guess the appeal for me is just that it conforms to some of the basic ideas that I’ve had for a project of this kind that I’d like to put into flesh someday; using off-the-shelf or salvage yard components to build a zippy little two-seater like the Locost or Stalker V6. But using laid up cedar for the body panels… That just may have some possibilities! But I’d definitely forego the wood frame. Definitely.
One of the neatest features on the Speedball is headlights that lay back for aerodynamics, but snap to attention when you pull a lever. And that’s not all; when in the upright position, the right headlight pivots in concert with the front wheels to throw light in the direction you’re turning. Not sure how steady the light would be on this buggy, but it might be an interesting feature to commandeer. Then again, would it really be worth the amount of work it’d require? Maybe not.
The Modern Mechanix Blog has high-res scans of the pages, along with an OCR’d version of the text. Here also is a pdf of it.
