I will never forget the first time that I saw a King Midget. My first thought was that it was something that had fallen off a carousel, but I’ve since grown to like and respect these little cars. Built in an era when Detroit was pursuing the dream of ever-larger cars with engines to match, the King Midget may have seemed irrelevant, but it represents a brave piece of engineering and marketing that saw the King Midget remain in production in one form or another from 1946, right through until the end of the 1960s. This particular 1954 Mark 2 is being offered for sale with a BIN price of $4,500, but the option is there to make an offer. Located in Sellersburg, Indiana, it is listed for sale here on eBay.
It would be so easy to have a great old laugh about this car or to roll out a whole pile of jokes about it, but there are some aspects of this car and its styling that you really need to take quite seriously. If you take a hard look, you can actually detect hints of a scaled-down Jeep, or of a Moke. It isn’t the most stylish vehicle on the planet, but it was designed to be simple and easy to both build and to maintain. The paint on this particular car is looking a bit tired, but looking at the whole car, there is no rust to deal with, so restoring the body should be a fairly easy task.
Things under the hood aren’t standard or original, but this isn’t the end of the world. Judging by the photos included in the ad, the original Wisconsin AENL side-valve engine, which pumped out 7.5hp, is included in the sale. In its place, we find a modern Honda engine, which produces 13hp, and should provide greatly improved performance. The drive is then sent to the rear wheel (only one of the rear wheels receives power from the engine) via a 2-speed automatic transmission. The owner says that the transmission has recently undergone a rebuild, while the vehicle is also fitted with a new clutch, a number of new suspension components, and new electrical wiring. The manufacturers originally made claims that the King Midget Mark 2 was capable of a top speed of 50mph, and fuel consumption of 50mpg. The fuel consumption figures could consistently be achieved, but the Midget was uncomfortable at speeds in excess of 30mph.
To own a King Midget means experiencing motoring at its most basic. The only upholstered surface is the seat, and that looks to be in good condition on this car. You also get turn signals and a manually operated windshield wiper. A speedometer wasn’t initially available when the Model 2 was introduced in 1951, but it did become available at a later date. It appears that this particular car hasn’t received the benefit of that option.
It is hard to believe that with the Japanese being the kings of the Kei car, that an American manufacturer could beat them at their own game, but beat them they did. The King Midget is smaller in virtually every dimension than the average Kei car, but the company still managed to sell 5,000 cars in a market that probably wasn’t best suited to a car of this type. With the Honda engine, this particular car should provide better performance that the standard car, but the option is available to return it to its original guise. It might not be a muscle car, but I can guarantee that it will start plenty of conversations wherever it goes.
I’m thinking about this one. I could use it to play 18 holes than take it out for dinner.
Probably wouldn’t eat too much either.
Well, the motor swap is a step in the right direction, but if one was to do all that, make it interesting, for heavens sake. It already has the snowmobile drive setup, go with a 640 Rotax. Now,,to try and stop it,,,
FYI, Rotax also made a 775cc, 90hp, engine. I had one in my ’72 Ski-Doo TNT. Hit the throttle and hang on!!! The only thing faster was the Arctic Cat King Kat, which was a 900cc triple!
wouldn’t this be a hoot with a v twin harley-davidson under the hood! and hook it up to a standard tranny!
I doubt the 50 mph comment. As a kid in the 60’s, I owned a gasoline powered golf cart with full suspension, centrifugal clutch and a Wisconsin engine around 12 HP. It topped out around 25 (just ask the highway patrolman who chased me home once).
My uncle had 2 of these, 61 and a 67 with speedometers. I have personally driven these at 55 mph on the highway. It was very stable on the highway, the brakes weren’t the best. I wouldn’t want to drive one very far at 55. Most golf carts have a low speed rear end that prevents them from going fast. My Dad’s golf cart has a high speed rear end and does 35 to 40 with the motor stock. All in all the King Midget was fun to drive better than a golf cart!
I’ve owned four of these. They are unique cars that get a lot of attention. Kids especially love them. They are capable of 50 mph, but the suspension is the limiting factor. One that I owned,had a 16 hp Wisconsin, and would easily achieve 50, but with the roads around here 45 was about as fast as you wanted to push it. The front suspension is a rather crude strut with approximately 2-3 inches of travel. At 50 Mph I’m fairly certain my front wheels left the ground when I hit a crack in the road that had hooved up.
I currently have a 67 type 3 in the garage that is going to be even more unique. It is getting a complete new suspension, Big and little tires, and a 1200 Harley Sportster engine.
Yeah for my 1963 King Midget. It only took almost 50 years to get one.
yeah to both….
The first time I saw one was in 1954.It was a ’53 model.It was for sale at an hardware store.The owner of the hardware store also sold both the speedometers,electric windshield wiper & turn signals as well for it.I am unable to remember the model but can tell you the engine was a Tecumseh 9 hp.,with an automatic-centifical clutch.To attain 50mph one would have to put larger tires on it and reverse the sprockets around.
I just finished posting a comment on an 80 hp Mercedes wagon and waxed poetic on it’s lack of get-up-and-go. Seeing a 13 hp vehicle has left me speechless. Still, I’d like to run against it in my Ariens riding lawnmower; pretty sure that new spark plug I put in it 4 years ago will give me an edge.
Joking aside, it’s cute and unusual. It would be interesting to have one as a conversation piece and to have fun running around the back 40. As for the driving it on the highway? I don’t think so.
LS! LS! LS! LS! Can you imagine a 400 hp ls in this thing!👍👍 That would scream FREEDOM and MURICA!
I came upon King Midget a couple of years ago while researching orphan makes. There were 3 generations of Midget over 20+ years. The Model 2 was my favorite. It was a sports car in the most minimalist form. Being essentially assembled kit cars, a modern Honda 4-stroke seems like normal evolution.