I love the name “Devil Junk” that he gave his jeep, though it does make it sound like the kid might have a heroin problem.
The midget jeep at the left was built by Valentin Labata. of Leyte. Philippine Islands. He starts his letter by asking, “I wonder if Filipinos are qualified to enter your Workbench Award contest?” They sure are, Val. We base our awards on ability, not nationality. He goes on to say. “A 3-hp. Wisconsin engine drives one rear wheel through a belt, giving 25 m.p.h, top speed and 75 to 80 miles per gallon. The brake works through the other rear wheel. I received help from my father, who donated the engine and the wheels, and two relatives. That’s me in the middle. The other two boys are the helpful relatives.”
Well, it was apparently street legal in 1962 at least.
In case you had any concerns about reliability; read about these guys driving this kart around the world.
MI’s HIGHWAY KART
You don’t need a trailer or a station wagon to haul this kart to a track you can drive it there on public roads!
By R. J. Capotosto
DRIVING a kart is a real thrill. Seated on a low-slung frame only inches from the ground, you feel as if you’re doing 80 mph when you’re doing 20. Yet it’s surprisingly safe. The low center of gravity and a width two-thirds the length make it almost impossible to flip a kart in a tight turn. Just about everyone who tries a kart gets the urge to own one—and if you’ve got that urge, you get a bonus in building the MI Highway Kart.
Since karts are generally driven on special tracks, it is not necessary to register them. However, transporting a kart is often a problem. It can be hauled in a station wagon—if you own a wagon—or it can be towed on a trailer. Either way, the lugging can be quite a nuisance. With this in mind, our model was designed so that registration could be obtained, making it possible to drive the kart to its destination on public roads.
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What this really reminds me of is the car from The Ambiguously Gay Duo
Jet-Age Custom Car
No flames spout from the tail pipes of a custom-built three-wheeled car, but that is about the only difference between it and a space ship! The engine is a 60-horsepower V8 mounted in the rear. A single front wheel is suspended on a motorcycle fork. The sheet-metal body is welded to the frame. Air scoops on each side of the body ventilate the engine. The 10 tail pipes permit the hot air from the engine to escape. The unusual car was built by Stanley M. Eakin of Grove City, Ohio. It took six years of his spare time. Top speed is about 90 miles per hour.
Looks like it would be a lot of fun to try getting into that.
New German Sports Car Called 125-Mile-an-Hour Speedster
A recent entry in the sports-car field is this Porsche racer from Germany—a more powerful and faster machine than the model previously offered by the same maker. Power has been boosted from 70 to 80 horsepower and maximum speed, it is reported, from about 110 to 125 miles an hour. Body design has been revamped, too, with the result that the new model has a body a few inches lower than its predecessor.
Lucky kid, I want a tractor too!
Our next award goes to a proud wife and mother, Mrs. S. C. Manila, of Boyceville. Wisconsin. Her letter reads, “I cannot help but forward the enclosed, snapshot of a tractor my husband made for our youngsters. It really has created envy in everyone who sees it. It stops traffic and all children just must touch it and ride in it. I am sure your readers will be interested. It is powered with a 2/3-hp. engine and will pull four coaster wagons carrying 12 children. Our boy in the snapshot is just four years old.”
This is a really cool looking car.
Home Made Streamliner
HERE’S a little workbench project you can try out some evening. But remember, the job (pictured above) took mechanical engineer Norman E. Timbs 2-1/2 years of sparetime work and cost him around $10,000.
The chassis is of tubular construction and the car itself is 17-1/2 feet long with a 117-inch wheelbase. It weighs 2300 pounds. The hydraulically raised rear deck (1) covers a Buick engine (just behind the driver’s seat), gas tank (between the wheels) and a spare tire and wheel. And the front hood (2) covers a luggage compartment.
Some pedestrians think the auto looks like a whale; others think it resembles a turtle. But, whale or turtle, all agree they’d like to own the “critter” themselves.
I wish I could clean my house this way…
Giant Cleaner Sucks Out Bus
A Chicago company cleans out 110 buses every 24 hours with a king-size vacuum cleaner that attaches to the front door’ and inhales all the debris in each vehicle. Two 28-inch vacuum fans “create air pressure behind a huge bellows that does the job. A man helps remove stubborn particles with an air hose.
I’m not quite sure how adding an unneccessary tail to a car makes it highly streamlined, but I do like his driving goggles.
Aerocoupe Speeds 75 M.P.H.
HIGHLY streamlined and following accepted aeronautical design in construction, a novel aerocoupe developed by Richard Crossley, of East Haven, Conn., has a top speed of 75 m.p.h. The cabin resembles an airplane fuselage, featuring longerons, braces, etc. For traction, the vehicle is equipped with three airplane-type wheels.
This is the tank driving around in fast-forward at the beginning of the movie Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
Armored Tank Attains Speed Of 114 MPH.
AN ALL-WELDED armor-plated army tank which, it is claimed, can attain a speed of 114 m.p.h. over a level road and 78 m.p.h. over rough ground was recently demonstrated at Rahway, N. J. Invented by Preston Tucker, an armament manufacturer, the tank weighs 10,000 pounds, which is 2,000 pounds less than the present conventional type. Besides machine guns, it features an anti-aircraft cannon, which is mounted in a turret atop the rear of the armored body.
