POPULARSCIENCE

MECHANICS AND HANDICRAFT

There's room in one driveway for a standard car and this two-seater, too. With a 72-inch

This one-cylinder midget, designedby former airmen, has a two-speedautomatic drive. It can be boughtunassembled, or in a crate ready to run.

By Harry Walton

IN a small Ohio town a couple of ex-fliersare turning out a two-passenger car you

can buy for about $400, before taxes andtrimmings. Things like fenders, windshield,top and bumpers are considered extras, buteven they leave the price tag on speakingterms with $500.

The car is really practical. It will run adozen errands and still give you change outof a buck at the gas pump. As I found bydriving it, it will climb steep grades, makebetter than 40 on the highway, squeeze intoa substandard parking space, and ride outreal bumps. It will seat two husky passen-gers and take a couple of armloads of pack-ages as well.

Anybody can drive it. If you have anable-bodied maiden aunt who never got thehang of the old electrics, you can teach herto drive the King Midget in five minutes.104 POPULAR SCIENCE

There's no clutch pedal, no gearshift lever,no Greek-lettered selector quadrant. Youdrive with one foot—which controls an hon-est-to-goodness two-speed transmission.

All you do to start up is step on the gas.After a short run in low, you let up for amoment, press down again, and pick up inhigh—just as in the latest automatic jobs.Downgrade, the engine gives compressionbraking down to about 15 m.p.h.

Climbing hills, the engine stays in highuntil it drops considerably below the cut-inspeed. Then it shifts to low and keeps righton. You can't forget to shift, and you can'tstall the-engine.

Who makes it? The King Midget gotoff to an imperceptible start when two pilotsmet in the Civil Air Patrol. Both were ma-chinists by trade; both had built their ownplanes, as well as cars and motor scooters.And both wanted to manufacture somethingwith an engine in it.

Chunky, blue-eyed Dale Orcutt dreamedof turning out planes at first, for both pilotshad ideas about aircraft design. But ClaudDry, once an aerial photographer and opera-tor of a small airport, was less optimistic

wheelbase and a 42-inch tread, it fits into a space only 48 inches wide and 8-1/2 feet long.

about private flying. Inevitably the talk gotaround to midget cars.

The partners decided to keep their feet onthe ground. In 1945 they bought out a de-funct motor-scooter factory, named theirnew firm Midget Motors Supply, and es-tablished their plant in Athens, Ohio.

By 1946 they had designed a single-pas-senger midget racing car and bought outtwo more scooter plants. A powerful scooterof their own design was a success and isstill in production. But their dream was tobuild a small two-passenger car.

The difficulties loomed large. A differ-ential would boost costs formidably; wouldone-wheel drive do? Could a really light carbe roadworthy? Could a mechanical starterbe devised, saving the price of a completeelectric system? Nine test cars were bviilt—atthe price, they ruefully assert, of 12 Cadil-lacs. One was hastily junked; others revealedbasic design headaches.

It's no scale model. They found theanswers in their knowledge of small-planeconstruction, and in their own ingenuity. Ifyou just scaled down a big car, they rea-soned, you'd wind up with a small one

NOVEMBER 1951 105

that was almost as complicated and costly.The new car had to be planned from a

fresh start. One-wheel drive was found to beeffective if car weight was properly dis-tributed and springing right. The enginewent in back, on the drive-wheel side. Ropeand pedal starting were discarded in favorof a retractable cable. This runs over pul-leys, giving a two-to-one advantage, to arack that meshes with a pinion on theengine—but only when you pull the cable.

Simplicity, patented. The King Midgetis starkly simple where it doesn't hurt, butsignificant details aren't skimped. For in-

Four can tote it. The car weighs less than500 pounds, with most of this on the rear wheels.One man can slide the front: end to get themidget in or out of a tight space.

You can buy it knockeddown. Metal parts of thebody (right) are steel.Fenders, bumpers, clothtop and plastic wind-shield are extra. Basic unitis the welded frame, ofseamless steel tubing andairplane-type channel,shown below with wheelsand engine. Buyer needsonly common tools.

stance, brake drums were first stamped, butthey warped out of round in use. Nowthey're lathe-turned from heavy-walledseamless steel tubing.

Wary of imitators. Dry and Orcutt havepatented several of the Midget's features.Take the brake system. Hydraulic brakes

self-equalizing but costly to make.areMechanical brakes are troublesome toequalize, hard to keep that way. Wanted:self-equalizing mechanical brakes.

The King Midget has internal-expandingbrakes actuated by cables. But the gimmickis in the cable rigging. It runs from onebrake to a pulley near the driver's feet,across the car, around another pulley, andback to the other brake. These pulleys aremounted on the ends of a pivoted bar towhich the pedal is welded. The bar multi-plies pedal leverage, while the cable, freeto move over the two pulleys, equalizes it-self at all times.

The hand brake is a simple lever workingon the toggle principle. When thrown sothat the cable pull is just past dead center,it holds positively—without tooth or ratchet.

Power plant. Inside this little bus is aone-cylinder, 23-cubic-inch Wisconsin en-gine. But there's no one-lung jerkiness tothe car. Pickup is smooth, and the shift tohigh quick and easy. The four-cycle engineis rated 7-1/2 horsepower at the comparativelylow speed of 3000 revolutions per minute.It is air-cooled by a built-in blower (there'sno radiator).

This engine boasts such features as rollercrankshaft bearings and an oil-bath air clean-er. There are also a two-jet carburetor, auto-matic spark advance and impulsed-coupledmagneto ignition. This last means you don'thave to spin the engine like a whirlingdervish to get a hot starting spark.

Standard starting equipment is the Yankeetype—you yank a retractable cable on the

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Or they'll put it together for you, and paint ita standard cream finish. All parts except engine

and wheels are made in Athens, Ohio, factory.Above is one of the assembly lines.

side of the car. Since you can't stall the en-gine, one start lasts a whole trip. You canget a battery-powered starter as an extra.

The engine holds three pints of oil, cir-culated by a pump. You switch from grade30 in summer to 20 in winter. That's all thewinter conditioning you do.

It shifts for itself. The car can bebought with a single-ratio automatic drive.This is a centrifugal clutch of special designthat lets the engine outrun the drive fora quick getaway and pickup, and locks it

in after the gas pedal is momentarily let up.The two-speed transmission, listed as an

extra, gives better pickup and hill-climbingability, for it affords two distinct drive ratios.The car PS tried out had this transmission.

This patented drive gets results with aminimum of parts, complication and cost.It consists of dual V-belt drives, with pulleysof different ratios, and two automaticclutches. These operate somewhat like self-energizing brakes, engaging at a much high-er speed than they will disengage at. The

Leg room is good, and you don t sit way down—seat is 9-1/2 inches above floor. Although seatcannot be moved forward or back, brake andgas-pedal mounting can be adjusted to suit.

Starter cable has handle on driver's side ofthe body. Small button above louvers is thechoke. Cable retracts into body. Once the en-gine is running, you can't stall it.

NOVEMBER 1951 107

Oil is checked on a dipstick. Engine holdsthree pints. Being air-cooled, it requires noantifreeze in winter, only lighter oil. Spare tiregoes on outside of rear panel.

One-cylinder power plant slides on its mountsfor tensioning drive belt (not shown). Pulleysseen are for the single-ratio drive. Lightinggenerator runs only when lights are wanted.

low-speed clutch gets the car off to a smoothstart. Then, at about 14 miles an hour, thehigh-speed clutch locks in, the low-speeddrive free-wheels through an overrunningdevice, and you're rolling in high.

On a hill, you stay in high until speeddrops to about seven miles an hour. Thenthere's a quick automatic shift to low, dur-ing which the engine picks up speed. Yougo right up.

The centrifugal elements that take up theload are faced with molded lining and give

a positive lock when they are engaged. BothV belts are the heavy industrial type, withsteel cables inside.

The jackshaft drives a gearbox by whichthe car can be reversed. From there amotorcycle chain drives the right rear wheel.To back up the car, you flip over a shortlever under the front of the seat. That's theonly time you touch anything resembling agearshift, and the only thing Aunt Matildacould stub a thumb on. The lever has aneutral position, so the car can be towed

Chain from jackshaft drives rear wheel. Start-er meshes rack with engine pinion only when

108 POPULAR SCIENCE

cable is pulled. Wheels run on tapered rollerbearings. Tires are 5.50 by 8, 18 inches outside.

Wheels are sprung independently. Each rearone is mounted on a triangular frame pivotedat its wide end (upper right in photo). Frontwheels have enclosed springs, oil shocks.

Four-wheel springing can take it, as I discov-ered by repeatedly running up curb at drive-ways and then hopping off (above). The bumpwas easy, and there was no loss of control.

easily, without turning the engine over.How's the ride? Not sedan-soft, but

by no means uncomfortable. All four wheelsare independently sprung—the rear ones oncoil springs, not snubbed, and the front oneson oil-filled combination shocks and springs,heavily snubbed. You can bounce the backof the car, but not the front. Despite theabsence of rear shock absorbers, the drivewheel will always stay flat-footed on theground.

Steering is through a gear and segment,with a much lower ratio than the one in yourBreezeway Eight. The Midget responds likea sports car on the turns; a twitch and you'rearound the corner. But that snubbed frontend makes it foot around the curves nicely;there's no sway or wandering. With its lowcenter of gravity, it would be hard to turnover.

The chassis is of welded-steel tube andchannel. Body parts are cold-rolled steel.Like a plane, the car has a plastic wind-

shield—it costs less than safety glass, is lightand nonshatterable, but can be scratched.

How about bad weather? Side curtainsand heater are extras. The curtains are fittedon a steel frame, hinged like a door. Thecanvas top stretches over a strong steel-tub-ing frame, well supported by the windshieldposts and by braces at the rear. But you can'ttake the top down on the road, for there isno way to stow the frame. "Next year, may-be we can make it fold," say the designershopefully.

What about servicing? King Midgetdealers are scarce, but the little car hasfewer potential trouble spots than any other.The drive chain, subject to grit and wet, mayneed occasional adjustment or replacement.Drive-belt tension is a simple matter oftightening a draw bolt on the engine. Brakeadjustments are easy and obvious.

Owners who know which end of a wrenchfits the bolt will probably enjoy working on

[Continued on page 266]

Top speed won't get you a ticket on this high-way. Officer Joe McBride of Athens policeclocked a new King Midget for PS at 42 m.p.h.The car will beat that when broken in.

From dead slop, car started up 37-percentgrade (tough even to walk on), though drivewheel spun on smooth brick. On ordinary"steep" 17-percent hill, wheel didn't slip.

NOVEMBER 1951 109

Pat. Pending

Get Out of TroubleAfter Your Car is Stuck

On Ice, In Snow, Mud or SandAn amazing new invention . . . PRESTO Emergency TireChains are snapped on to wheels instantly after yourcar is stuck . . . not before. This assures a saving in fuel,tire wear and time . . . you drive smoothly along withcomplete confidence of having efficient traction to getout of trouble from wheels spinning next to the curb, inruts, on ice at intersections, getting up that slopingdriveway, off wet and muddy highway shoulders, in mudor snow. Chains are used only when needed and there-fore give years of service. There are no straps to tighten. . . no jacking up the car . . . no loss of time, fuel andtires because you can get your car out of trouble in-stantly, this easy PRESTO way:-Magic clips are inserted be-tween the tire and rim (likewheel balancers) and chains art-attached instantly when needed.•Wheels stay in balanceand the clips are unnoticed.One box of four Chains(enough for one car) as-sures trouble-free driving.Order direct for two weekstrial on our money-backguarantee of your entiresatisfaction. Postage prepaidif payment in full is sentwith order, or write for freecircular.

NO. 1 SIZE (for one car) fit 5.25to 7.20 tires, $5.95. NO. 2 SIZE(for one car) fit 7.60 to 8.20tires, $6.45.

Dealers, Agents Wanted.

PRESTO CHAIN CO.2 6 6 POPULAR SCIENCE

500-Lb. Car for $500[Continued from page 109]

the car themselves. For others there's thecorner garage or motorcycle repair shop.

Lubrication is so simple you don't needa service-station grease job: Engine oil isadded or changed as necessary. The frontshocks are filled with oil. Wheel bearingsneed packing twice a year as on big cars.That leaves only the steering and reverse-gear cases, jackshaft bearings, rear-wheelmounts, and chain to lubricate.

Drive after dark, too. The battery-less version of the King Midget can be or-dered with lights and a 35-watt, com-pensated-output AC generator. You have toreach back over the deck to a lever thatmoves the generator against the engine fly-wheel (what do you want, dash control?).The automatic compensation gives you goodlights even at low speed. The dimmer switchis on the dash.

Where state laws require parking lightsindependent of the engine, a dry-cell stand-by battery can be installed.

Any color, as long as it's cream. Aspart of the price struggle, the makers of theKing Midget have standardized everything—even the overspray in the paint booth. Ithas to help finish the next car, for they spraya cream finish on six cars at once. If youwant some other color, it will cost you tenbucks extra.

Buy it knocked down. If you buy aKing Midget fully assembled, it will comein its own crate, which you have only toopen at one end to roll the car out, readyto run. The crate is returnable.

You can save a few bucks by ordering itin separate units—chassis, engine and drive,fenders, body and so forth. All parts are pre-fabricated and can be assembled with justa few tools. A booklet giving assembly in-structions is provided. If you buy it unas-sembled, you have to paint it yourself, END

Screw-Nails Stop Floor Squeaks

SQUEAKY flooring may be prevented by apply-ing the planks with helical-threaded nails, Vir-ginia Polytechnic Institute's Wood Laboratoryreports. Driven with a hammer but holding likescrews, the nails show far greater and morelasting holding power than cut flooring nails orplain-shank flooring brads of equal size. EarlierInstitute tests (PS, Sept. '50, p. 126) have dem-onstrated the usefulness of the helical-threadednails called Screw-tite nails, in other applica-tions.