Every once in a blue moon, I come across something so unusual while perusing for-sale ads that it stops me in my tracks. That was the case when I spotted a 1923 Ner-A-Car listed for sale here on Facebook Marketplace in Skaneateles, New York, for $20,000 or a cash deal.
What is a Ner-A-Car you may ask? The seller provides little information beyond this 1923 project motorcycle, made in Syracuse, New York, that is all original and needs to be sorted. At first glance, this vehicle looks mostly like a motorcycle, but it has some unusual features. An online search reveals the history of this oddball cycle. The Ner-A-Car, sometimes spelled Neracar, was a foot-forward motorcycle designed by Carl Neracher, who started the Ner-A-Car Corporation in Syracuse. It was publicized as a low-cost alternative to a motor car. While the average new car in 1923 cost around $350 and luxury cars cost double that, a fully equipped Ner-A-Car cost $225. It was in production from 1921-1926 and manufactured in both the United States and England, proving quite popular and selling over 16,000 units.
There were three versions of the Ner-A-Car manufactured in the Syracuse factory, and by the photos, this example looks to be the commercial version, referred to as Type CB, which featured a pair of headlights, a pair of drum brakes on the rear wheels, and a steel utility box rated to carry 150 pounds. The Ner-A-Car featured a steel-channel chassis like an automobile and hub-center steering at the front wheel.
The Ner-A-Car is powered by a 221 cc two-stroke engine. It was advertised to get 85 to 100 miles per gallon, ride 300 miles for a dollar, and do 35 miles an hour. Another key marketing point was that, unlike a motorcycle, the Ner-A-Car’s frame protected riders from road grime and engine fluids, letting them wear ordinary clothes, including skirts, cassocks, and kilts, while riding. To help advertise the Ner-A-Car, Erwin G. “Cannonball” Baker rode one from Staten Island, New York, to Los Angeles, California, in the autumn of 1922. The 3,364.4-mile journey took a little over 7 days, with operating costs totaling $15.70 at the time. Baker would later start a Ner-A-Car dealership in Los Angeles. While this oddball piece of transportation history would be perfectly at home on display in a museum, Ner-A-Car clubs in both the U.S. and England also restore and still ride them. Would any of you readers like to experience riding the Ner-A-Car?
One that I’d never heard of before.
I also saw something the other day,in the same vein,
that I’d never seen before – a guy on a gas powered unicycle
riding in traffic on Main Street in Salem Virginia,where the
speed limit’s 35.
Ner-A-Car. Bill Harrah had one on display in his museum there in Sparks NV.
Interesting concept and apparently somewhat successful for the time.
The powered unicycle trip is getting crazy-saw a guy one afternoon last July on Highway 50 in Nevada between NAS Fallon and Middlegate cruising along at a good speed while wearing a pack back and ATGATT. Heard later the rider had stopped for the day at Cold Springs Station near the historical Pony Express station and stagecoach stop, enroute from a California coastal town riding across the USA.
Gutsy!
Darwin Award nominee?
Yes, yes I would like to ride a Nera-car; in a kilt to be sure!
On a (newer) Royal Enfield while firmly clamping on his pipe no less.
I’m waiting for Howard to chime in, to tell us when he used to ride one of these.