September 3, 2008

Boys Power Auto-Scooter With a One-Cylinder Motor (Aug, 1931)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 10:53 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1931
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Boys Power Auto-Scooter With a One-Cylinder Motor

GEORGE WENDEL, 12 and Billy Hawkins, 11, of Detroit, Michigan, failed to find the proper outlet for their speed urge in the ordinary scooter. Bicycles, even, palled after a time, for were they not muscle-powered vehicles of a by-gone generation?

So George and Billy picked up some rubber-tired wheels from a toy wagon, an ancient one-lung gasoline motor, and an assortment of odds and ends, and are now burning up the pavements of the Michigan metropolis.

4 Comments »

  1. A week later they both recieved an ASBO. ;)

    Its a sad state today that children do not have the freedom to do such things.

    Comment by cATFLAP — September 4, 2008 @ 7:20 am

  2. cATFLAP – There are no laws restricting kids today from repeating this – they’re just sidetracked by other things (media, computers, cellphones), the lost art of building stuff, and overly-protective parents, but that doesn’t mean they can’t.

    Comment by pryapart — September 4, 2008 @ 8:19 am

  3. Kids can still do this. They just can’t “burn up the pavement” with them. Unfortunately, most kids would much rather just buy something ready-made than take the time to create stuff like this.

    Comment by Eliyahu — September 4, 2008 @ 1:15 pm

  4. So, these are the kids who invented go-carts? Cool. Funny how the name “auto-scooter” didn’t catch on. :)

    Comment by Steve — September 5, 2008 @ 6:47 am

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