All over Britain in the pre-WWI era, bicycle makers were morphing into automakers, as if knowing how to make a wheel was qualification enough to tackle the motoring industry. Raleigh Bicycle Company took its first run at producing a passenger vehicle in 1903 when it made the Raleighette, a three-wheel bicycle with a front-mounted basket to carry a passenger (eeek). The product didn’t attract many buyers, but Raleigh was not deterred: it approached the market again in 1930, making a van first, and then a three-wheeled, four-seat convertible – the Safety Seven. Teetering on a single front wheel, powered by enough engine to reach 55 mph, the Safety Seven was made from 1932 through 1936. Around 3000 were sold. Of course, far fewer survive today, but here’s one, listed on facebook Marketplace for $15,000 and located in Piggott, Arkansas. Thanks to Zappenduster for your always-interesting tips!
Raleigh had loaded engines onto bicycles as early as 1899, usually made by Schwann or Fafnir. But leading up to WWI, the company refocused on bicycles. When it re-entered the motorized bike market in 1920, it began making its own engines. Under the Safety Seven’s hood is Raleigh’s own 742 cc V-twin, paired with a three-speed Sturmey Archer manual gearbox driving the rear wheels through a shaft. Taxable output was 7 hp – thus the “Seven” in its model name. The factory claimed a top speed of 55 mph – which must have been terrifying!
The sparse cabin isn’t much more lavish than a go-kart – a smattering of gauges and switches, a sporty three-spoke steering wheel – and remember the seats in the school bus you rode when you were a kid? That’s about what we have here. The tiny pedals embossed with “R”, delicate gearshift, and separator bar to keep the passenger on his own dang side of the car – we could be looking at a kid’s carnival ride! The car comes with its top and side curtains – a minor miracle.
The rear “seats” are barely more than a parcel shelf. The body is aluminum, crafted in the typical British method of the time – fashioning panels around a wooden frame. It weighs about 900 lbs, about 550 lbs less than a Bugeye Sprite! Raleigh couldn’t find many customers for its little car, so for a final time in 1935, the company turned away from the automotive market to concentrate on bicycles. But that wasn’t the end of the three-wheeler born as the Safety Seven. Chief designer T. L. Williams left Raleigh to build three-wheelers in his backyard, founding Reliant Motor Company. Where Raleigh failed, Reliant succeeded, producing hundreds of thousands of vehicles until its demise many decades later in 2002.
Really? No, Raleigh. My 1st 10 speed was a Raleigh. The model escapes me now, a Record maybe, but 1 of the 1st things I bought new. That represented a LOT of grass cutting. Just about everyone had a bike with a Sturmey Archer gearbox, 3 speeds, but I think they made a 2 speed also. I don’t follow the naming this a “Safety” car, good heavens, looks anything but safe. I’m sure the Brits said the same about some of our cars in the 30s too. I still worry about a 3 wheelers single tire running in the “grease strip”, running over everything 4 wheelers don’t. The spare tire is a nice touch for that issue. It’s simplicity is outstanding, and a refreshing change from the electronic nightmares of today. Great find and unless the back seat passengers didn’t have legs, I’d have to think just designed as a 2 seater and gear.
———————-ATTENTION——————-
I picked Michelles post because they are widely read, I want to say something,,uhp, uhp, up, it’s okay, no I didn’t bump my head on the Jeep frame rail, I want to say something important to anyone reading this, and not on April 1st. I’ll spare the details of my hoaky return, but I can say, Jesse was more than cordial in an email to me. He told me of some great news about the site coming, and allowed me to stay. He could have easily banned me, but didn’t. I feel he is a good friend. I know, I’m getting to it,,,
at this time we, staff permitting, I want to try and get more members on board. For the cost of a Starbucks iced coffee, we can help keep this site going. This is unrehearsed, not compensated in any way, except for what a great place to hang out, I see that now, but always have. think about it, eh? It’s a group we can be proud to be a part of. Peace all,,
I have a 1946 bicycle with a Sturmey 4-speed hub. They also made countershaft gearboxes for motorbikes; didn’t know about the car ones.
I had always thought that the gearbox and rear axle were sourced from the Austin 7?
The Sturmey-Archer part of the story reminded of my school days back in the late 1940’s and mid fifties. My Dad used to buy bicycles from the local police auctions and between us we would restore them and Dad would sell them on and buy more bikes at the following auctions. While we were doing this he showed me how to repair the S A 3 speed hub when the gears stripped. I made a lot of money for myself by repairing the local lads S A’s.
It reminded me of my early years too Solosolo. When I was in grade school I wanted a bike that I could ride in the woods near our house in south Texas but my mom thought I should have a Raleigh 3 speed, and that’s what I got. Problem was it was definitely not an off-road bike and it was also too big for my then 9 year old body so it ended up sitting and rusting away.
Howard, I agree with the cool place to hang out. I kind of feel like we have a family here. (And just like a family, we help each other out, have some heated discussions and some we just tolerate. But all in all a great way to start my day.
Oh, the article, I’m not seeing anything safe about this vehicle. And I instantly thought Reliant when I saw the picture. Would be ok to tool around in one of those communities that use golf carts as primarily transportation.
Generally speaking the safety standards were much lower than today. I recall my Lancia Autobianchi 112 in 1977 came with no seatbelts. Then the Law changed and i had to retrofit them and of course no mention of automatic seatbelts that were mandated one year later, as my L.A. 112 Abarth that i bought in 1978 was already factory fitted with them.
My first bike was a Raleigh 3 Speed Stormy Howard, and my current bike is a Raleigh 10 speed. I bought a Clubman ten years ago on eBay that was originally sold at a store in Nottingham but ended up in FL somehow, and it was a mess when it arrived so I decided to restore it. So a year later after sourcing parts from four countries and stripping and refinishing the frame and all of the components I finally finished it and now it’s my one and only ride. I did buy a vintage front crank that will turn it into a 15 speed but I haven’t put it on yet. Oh, and it’s no longer a Clubman. I could only get decals for the Record Ace (which interestingly I found in Australia) so I put those on and decided to upgrade it to Campagnolo components instead of Suntour.
This is so cool, Michelle! Weird, too, but never mind that.
I have never driven nor even seen one of these, and I’d guess it might be a less-than scintillating experience. But there’s something about it that makes me wish I could give it a home. Maybe the look of a T-Series MG that has suffered an amputation?
I find it interesting that at least some of Raleigh’s suppliers — e.g. Sturmey-Archer — also provided parts for bicycle manufacture. I had a Raleigh bike with a Sturmey-Archer three-speed transmission in the rear wheel hub.
Perhaps Raleigh was dreaming of a GM-like future in which the boy started with one of their bikes, and when he became a man graduated to a “Safety Seven”?
One of the first things that rang a bell, as with others here, was Raleigh and the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub. I purchased the bike, made in the 70’s, maybe 30 years ago for $75. All I did was clean, grease and change oil in the hub best I could without taking it apart. There is a little plastic cap where the oil goes in. I learned not to have the wheel turned with the cap down when storing. It sits in the garage as I’m too old to drive this on the streets in Philadelphia. I go swimming at the Y instead now.
Well Michelle. You’ve done it again!!! I always say I learn something new here on Barnfinds all the time. We had a couple Raleigh bikes growing up. And I certainly remember the Sturmeny Archer 3 speeds we had too. I never knew they made cars. the Raleighette you posted definitely looked a little hairy to ride in, at least that front seat, hope you had a good crash helmet. But this is really cool. And its these unique finds that keep me coming back, and being a member. Along with the great well researched write ups from Michelle and all the staff, and Fast finds finds too. Other individuals find so many different vehicles that I wouldn’t have thought of, or have forgotten about. Thanks again Michelle, keep ’em coming!!!
So true. I’m coming up 87 and learn something new EVERY DAY!! Today I learned about the Raleigh Safety Seven! I have been in the classic car industry since joining the local Veteran Car Club in Durban, South Africa, in 1976 owned, and run, several classic car businesses, was the classic car/bike “guru” for the biggest auction house in the city and yet until today I had never heard of a Raleigh motor car! Thank you Michelle.
So appreciate the kudos, Solosolo. We have to thank our tip-meisters, too – if they didn’t find the cars, I couldn’t write them up!
Hey look Ollie, Michelle found Grandpa! Didn’t even know we had a Grandpa.
It’s funny the word “Safety” is in the name of the car. If you have to drive on 3 wheels you want two in front and one in back (like a Morgan), which is much more stable than one in front and two in the back like this thing. With a single front wheel there’s a pesky tendency to flip over in turns.
I’m glad you mentioned that. Here’s the genesis of “Safety” in the name: way back before Raleigh had produced its first bike, bikes had giant front wheels. Raleigh’s idea was that for safety’s sake, bikes should have two roughly same-sized wheels. They called their first bike the “Safety”. For some reason, they carried that name on to the glorified trike that constitutes the Safety Seven!
See??? Its stuff like that!! That totally makes sense. I totally respect any individual that could mount and dismount ( in one piece) those high wheel bikes. Thanks again Michelle!!!
The first “safety” was a (Starley) Rover; it’s still generic – in the same way as Hoover is – in Polish for bicycle.
Penny-farthings were known as Ordinaries.
I’m currently rebuilding an 1890s bicycle. There’s some odd features…
What a fascinating find! Also a Sturmey-Archer veteran here (had a 3 speed Hercules-the sort of bike English people commuted to work on in the ’50’s-rain or shine-mostly rain). Yes-this would have been a step up for working class folks of the era. Fascinating fact-this car’s successor, the Reliant, was popular with coal miners (many of whom were illiterate) because 3 wheelers, categorized as motorcycles, required no license (which meant no written test-I got that off a Top Gear episode with Clarkson). I may not have the details quite right but the gist is correct. Also taxes and insurance were obviously lower. It should be noted that Reliants weren’t as tippy as Top Gear made them out to be-some weights were added in order to make them unstable enough to flip like that..I would love to cruise this little Raleigh on the back roads of New England on a spring day! No garage space, unfortunately-I’m sure it will be snapped up by a collector.
You could drive a 3-wheeler on a motorbike licence, providing that it was under a certain weight as it then came under the same umbrella as a sidecar outfit
See also Isettas and Messerschmitts.
Morning 🌄 folks! If you wanna see more of these little oddballs,
go to YouTube and look up a site
called Cool Ideas, where they show all kinds of odd vehicles from all over the world 🌎. My favorite among these was the Velorex, a canvas covered 3 wheeler from I wanna say Czekoslovakia. On the Velorex,
the the single tire is in the rear, while the other two are up front
to make the trike more stable. It
has a metal frame covered by some type of plasticky canvas
fabric to protect the riders. From
what I could find out about them,
they were made from 1945-1971.
Would love to find a set of plans
for it so that I could build an electric model small enough to
use on either sidewalks or bike
paths. I would then use flexible
solar panels attached to the fabric skin to charge the trike while you drive it. And when you
get to the site, have a look at the
Mochet pedal cars the French built before and after WW2. Pretty cool find! I really like it!
Believe it or not, I have a friend that has both a Mochet and Velorex. I’ve driven the Velorex.
This or the Isetta could be used around the neighborhood… kind of like the golf carts. I enjoy the oddities which get presented here.
Nice, but this is the Raleigh that I really want.
Howard, I agree with the cool place to hang out. I kind of feel like we have a family here. (And just like a family, we help each other out, have some heated discussions and some we just tolerate. But all in all a great way to start my day.
picture of Raleigh chopper also has a 3 wheel connection as it was designed by Tom Karen who designed the body of the reliant Robin, among others
Hi Mike! I haven’t ever had the pleasure of driving a Velorex, but
I’ve heard they drive differently than other micro cars of that era.
And of course being legally blind,
I haven’t ever driven anything except a bicycle but my love of cars is very strong and I have enjoyed working on them even if
I can’t drive them. My building an electric powered version of the
Velorex would exempt me from having to have a driver’s license so long as the top speed is not above maybe say, 10-15 MPH.
Ebikes and other Electric quadricyles of that speed range can be used on public sidewalks
or any bike path you choose here
in Melbourne. And no Wayne, I haven’t given up on the self charging mobility scooter 🛵. I don’t have the cash to buy the parts yet. And what’s this I read about Howard being banned from
here? WTF?!!! what? They don’t
find humor in a grumpy old man’s
perspective on all things motorized. There goes my morning chuckies.
Hi Ken, There is no way to have a self generating while driving vehicle. Unless you have say solar cells that put out more power than the vehicle can use. It’s like a perpetual motion device/machine that “has yet” to be invented. Extreme output solar cells and low power use electric motor could work. But the amount of weight of the cells would require a motor to use too much power under today’s technology. Using bicycle generators on your wheel chair will give you additional range. But eventually the drag from the generators will eat up the power to keep it going continually. The technology is still not to that point. It will be someday. They flew an electric airplane (more like an ultralite) on solar power I believe across the English channel. But it only flies at day time with virtually no wind. And no miniature nuclear power generators are on the market right now. So currently laws of physics say no perpetual motion/self generating conveniences. Maybe someday.
Bicycles- I was gifted by my folks at ’bout age 13 (1948) with a 26 in. Westfield, the skinny-tired division of Columbia bicycles. It was made in, natch, Westfield, MA. Single speed with New Departure coaster brake.
The following Christmas I got a New Departure Trip-L-Speed-three speed planetary sprocket to replace the single-speed. Just swap ’em out and run the shifter cable to the handlebars. So, I had three gears with a pre-selecter feature which permitted changing gears while under a load with simply a momentary relaxation of effort to effect the shift… click. Also yielded power braking if shifted into low.
I put over 13,000 miles on that bike and it was still running strong (the engine was pooped, tho’) when I gave it away last year.
Oh, the bike was purchased at Simes Cyclery in Westwood, NJ, from Jack Simes, former 1936 US Champion bike racer.
Yah, I know… so what? (At least it ain’ ’bout FIATs this time!)
Yeah Wayne, I’ve thought about
parasitic drag from the bike generators too, but haven’t got myself around that problem just yet. Been thinking of some type of setup that would allow the rider to use some type of DC power from the solar panels to
power the chair in daylight while
the battery pack would be used in
the evenings with the generators
providing power for the lighting system. That system would comprise headlamps, tail lamps
with turn signals, and an LED light
strip running around the sides of
the roof for enhanced vision by
drivers at night. Found a used
chair for $600, but can’t afford to
buy it. Too bad as it is a 4-wheeler with a steering wheel instead of a joystick. Almost flipped one taking it from our
neighbor’s house to ours. Still at it though.
Wow!! we had one of these (Identical) it was our family’s first car in 1948 Mum Dad my sister and me used to travel 50 miles to visit my grandparents once a month for a weekend. Great adventure for small kids. I am amazed to see one still in existence, even so outside the UK where we lived. I would love to own it now for sentimental reasons, but now live in Tasmania Australia, any philanthropist millionaires out there?