Here’s a 1920s-style buggy that some enterprising soul has constructed from plywood, bicycle wheels, and a Briggs & Stratton engine. It runs and drives and has at least a couple of thoughtful details, including a step to aid ingress, working front and rear lights, horn, dual outside mirrors, and a reflective safety triangle on the rear for those brief evening forays. Listed on facebook Marketplace for $2500 or offer, the buggy is located in Keyser, West Virginia. Gary found this oddball for us – thanks!
This contraption is powered by a 400cc Briggs & Stratton engine that generates about 14 hp and is located beneath the driver’s seat; a gas tank is situated under the rear seat. A video accompanying the listing shows the start-up procedure and gearshift as well as the beginnings of a drive. Honestly, I’d worry about the wheel and tire arrangement as it looks a bit rickety and won’t provide much in the way of suspension. Speaking of tires, the seller notes that one of the four has gone flat – should be an easy fix, though. Nothing here is complicated, fortunately!
Safety equipment? What safety equipment? We’re missing doors, seat belts, air bags, and hey, the padded dash became ubiquitous by the 1970s. The instrument panel is missing instruments, but it probably wouldn’t be tough to add a speedometer. I’d love to know how fast this thing will go in its current state – but it’s probably like a Model A with a theoretical top speed and a “comfort level” that’s considerably less. The seat “upholstery” is carpet.
The use cases for this buggy are slim. I’d think you could tool around your own property or a very residential neighborhood – all outings subject to clear weather, of course. The seller suggests using this little guy in parades. Wherever you run it, though, better hope a Briggs & Stratton Auto Red Bug doesn’t show up – first made in 1914, the Auto Red Bug is a serious contender for attention. It was the cheapest car sold in America and found a ready market in a war-torn economy, alongside the Model T. But if you’re in the market for wooden buggies, you’ll pay more than five times as much for the Auto Red Bug, putting this homemade example in a frugal light.
You know, people like me, owe a debt of gratitude to the author. Bringing us back to earth after that outrageous Checker post, who knows how high into the stratosphere we’d go. I see the “air filter bandit” got this too. Well, that’s what the convenient oil fill hole is for. Fun stuff, and I think I sell folks short today, lots of people can still do this. People still love a parade, and while the actual content of the parade has changed, this is perfect, for whatever costume you may wear.
Here again, someone with skills and tools can make this at home, and those that can’t would probably rather watch it go by, put,,putt, pow, oh oh,( coasting to a stop) and now a FLAT TIRE!!! The local Wallymart has discontinued bike tubes, that are paper thin to begin with, and I was friends with a local bike shop, until he went out of business, flat tires were his #1 repair. Years ago, my son worked at Walmart, and an irate customer gave my son heck( who was just a cart getter) because a new bike he bought had a flat tire!
Is there interest for something like this anymore? People are so used to e-this and e-that, think they could even start this, machine?
Somewhat related as far as irate customer.I went into Dominos to order a pizza just as a old lady was f-bombing the employee for messing up her 2 pizzas,she walked out.I offered to buy one but the gal said they are paid for you can have them.They were $ 24.99….but free for me.
This looks like a true 1 of 1.
Needs to drop a zero.
Thanks, Michelle and Howard, for your eloquent description of the fine contraption. Twenties styling (cough)? This looks like it emerged from the Wordless Workshop. The designer clearly knows that this is little more than a nuisance. Lights, mirrors and an orange triangle tell most of the story. Odd that there’s no mention of brakes.
Brakes? We don’t need no stinkeen brakes!
I’m digging on the hi-performance GT steering wheel.
I’d like to see this thing up close,
take pictures, and observe how it
was built so that I could possibly
build one for myself using EV
components for power. Sorry Howard, gas is great, but I’d have to make mine electric to comply with our state’s LSV rules and regs. Here in Florida, a sight impaired person like myself can
operate a low speed electric vehicle (with a top speed of no
more than 15 MPH) such as a
mobility scooter, (open or closed)
adult quadricycles, (Rhoadescars) or even a small
motorized vehicle like this one on
any sidewalk or bike path– provided it is built to comply with
Florida regs. And that means electric models only. Sorry Howard, gas is great, but when in
Rome, do as the Romans do. At least I can operate said vehicle
WITHOUT a driver’s license. Having such a vehicle would be a
huuuuge leap forward for me as I
would be able to take myself to places that I wanna go like to the
Smoke Shop, or just down to my
store to make a pest of myself to
my kids by making sure they’re doing things right. First thing to go would be those thin, skinny bike tires that only last maybe two months (if you use your bike
daily) They’d get heave how’d in
favor of either Fat Boy tires and rims, or those off a motorcycle as
they are thicker and have more puncture resistance. Brakes, dunno if I’d want mechanical or
hydraulic units like the new mobility scooters have today. If you do it right, you could get by using a 24 or 36 volt system to
power it. That way, you can trickle charge it as you ride it using a combination of a roof
mounted solar panel along with
two bicycle generators (one per
wheel, mounted at the rear and
spinning up 24 volts to maintain
the battery levels during the day)
Thinking of using a 2 HP brushless motor to power it. That should give me the reliability
I want while keeping me under the speed cap set by the state.
As for the rest of it, it would look
just like the one you see here with
the exception of a roof and waterproof fabric doors and a windshield to keep you out of the
weather should it rain or turn cold. And other than very bright
LED lights and turn signals, that would be it. And that, folks, is what freedom looks like to me.
Wouldn’t that just be a golf cart?
Hi Ken! It sounds to my oddball way of thinking. (My old boss once commented that I didn’t think outside the box. I thougt outside the universe! But he was ok with that since I made him lots of money!) I would start with one or maybe 2 electric bicycles. With 2 you get 4 wheels (you can upgrade tires) 2 motors and 2 battery packs. If you keep it light you can just use one motor and could possibly use both at the same time when a “burst of speed ” was required OR needed help climbing a hill. You could also keep a pedal arrangement for occasional exercise! Just a, couple of thoughts. Remember, the larger and/or wider and/or the heavier the tire. The more power needed to do the job.
Very cool. It takes ingenuity and resoursefulness to build something like this. Cool to tool around in the neighborhood and a parade. Better than just sitting on your hindend doing nothing other than reading and commenting on BarnFinds! Sorry folks, that is me in the mornings before getting busy. It looks like the builder played Henry Ford and enjoyed every minute! So if the body is screwed together. Then you can take it apart and build a different body style. Barney Oldfield racer, “C” cab, Wright Brothers airplane, etc. It could keep you busy for years without much money spent. (Plywood, screws, paint, graph paper for your design work.) People spend/waste time and money on things they enjoy. Why not keep busy with something creative?
Hey! It’s air cooled!
For around $2500 you can build a Cyclekart that’s way cooler and faster and maybe even find a group to race with.
@pairsNpaint: You are correct sir. The only problem with golf carts is that you can’t drive them
on sidewalks or bike paths. This
thing’s got a Rhoadscar type of vibe to it that could indeed be used in the way. Golf carts are great, but you can only use them
in designated places and not on
city or county roads. A rig like this one would give me the freedom of movement I so desperately want in a way that doesn’t land me in trouble with the police. And Wayne, I like the
side by side bike thing but can’t see well enough to weld. My late
BIL bought one like that at an auction 15 years ago. It looked very strange with some kind of
tie rod mechanism up front that
steered the front wheels. He always said he was going to get it
ready to ride but never got around
to it. And when he passed away,
it was still sitting inside his house. And that is a good idea to
add pedals to the buggy I wanna
build. Doing that, it would be having a Rhoadscar at half the price or less. A new Rhoadscar will set you back at least $10K for
a solarider that allows you to charge as you go. I figure I can
build one for maybe 1/4 the price of a new Rhoadscar and save on
shipping too. That’s why I wanna
have a look at this one so I can learn how to build one of my own
saving money while I get myself
mobile without using Uber. They’ll rip you off by either charging you $20 every 6 blocks
or literally robbing you when you
get where you need to go. Had a
Haitian Uber driver rob me in the
parking lot of my store in ’21. She wouldn’t let me out of her car
until I gave her all the cash I had.
And while I reported it to the police, the DAs office said they wouldn’t prosecute her for fear
there would be race riots if they
found her guilty. Now you know why building a rig like this is very
important to me.
This is a really unique little find. That 14 HP motor may almost be a bit too much for the plywood body ( just kidding). I probably wouldn’t take this on any public rlads, unless it was in a parade, but if you have a good sized piece of property it could be fun to run it around. They did a good job making it.
This thing looks pretty cool, kinda like the antique car rides at some amusement parks. I always wanted one of those since I was a little kid. I guess who ever built this made their dream come true. I can’t tell from the pics what kind of brakes it has, I once saw a 1901 Olds replica that had a really neat disc brake setup.
Yeah, I remember those! They were kid sized replicas of a curved dash Oldsmobile. They had, I wanna say, a smaller engine (maybe 5 HP) with a direct drive setup that had no clutch for a kid to fool with. Think they sold for $500 back then (1962) your folks could get
a fairly nice place to live and a good used car for that price–unless you lived in California where everything was expensive
even then and still is today. But I
digress. Wayne, I like your idea
of changeable bodies for this thing. Looks like it would be easy
to do too. Just drill your holes in
the frame behind the front seat,
make a different body, swap ’em
out and have all the fun you want.
Too bad I can’t find a set of plans
to build a replica of a 1925 Baker
Electric coach to build as a quadricycle using parts from E bikes and motorcycle parts. Now
that would be something! And yeah Wayne, I’d put some pedals
in there just in case I want a workout LOL! But seriously, there’s just no way in hell you can
beat the fun you could have with
this thing! It’s the gift that keeps
on giving.
Since alot of the engineering is already done. Buy this and change it over to electric. You can still scavenge parts from electric bikes and still add pedals. (As I can see the gravel lot where the floor “boards” are supposed to be.
The way that engine is so enclosed under the seat I would think there would be an overheating problem.
That was a common setup in the early brass era. The early engines were certainly less efficient and emitted more waste heat. It somehow worked OK. Of course those were the days of wooden cars and iron men.
Bun warmer for the winter?