Our previous post looked at the cutdown movement and how limited means, augmented by great inspiration, motivated so many to build their own racy-looking speedster. Those who had the funds bought car bodies especially crafted to customize their used Model T or Chevrolet 490. Those that didn’t have the funds could often afford a Red-I-Kut plan to fabricate their own speedster body from meticulously lofted patterns. And for those that didn’t even have that – well, one could always use their own imaginations and available materials lying around the back yard. And photos prove that they did!
1914 home-made cutdown speedster. Photo courtesy Antique Automobile
In the late years of the teens decade, bodies were becoming more sophisticated, and so were their fans. What were they thinking? This series of posts looks at some of their designs.
Designing/Redesigning
Motor Age featured beautiful covers and great articles! image courtesy Horseless Carriage Foundation library.
Motor Age was a widely-read journal of the early twentieth century. Writing for Motor Age in the July 10,1919 issue, B.M. Ikert devoted one section of his column to reader ideas about remaking existing cars into sport-bodied speedsters.
Clearinghouse Column. Illus courtesy HCFI library
Upon comparing the age of the donor cars and the date of this publication, the examples found on pages 35-37 no doubt made affordable platforms upon which to project one’s speedster dream!
Ideas
Several readers sent in just a raw idea. Ikert had staff sketch artists render images from the information, and in some cases commented on their idea.
Our first submission came from Louis Weiss of Graham, Texas, who wrote:
Publish diagram for changing a 1917 Allen 37 5-passenger car into a racer.
1917 Allen racy speedster.
Allen was an independent manufacturer, headed by two brothers, with two plants in Fostoria and Columbus, Ohio, which operated between 1913 and 1922. Allen was emblematic of many small automotive concerns of this period: they started during the recession of 1913 by purchasing the Peabody Buggy Works in Fostoria and the Columbia Buggy Works in Columbus, thus inheriting the necessary equipment to set up an auto concern. Allen made tourers and roadsters, annually producing between 500 and 2000 units. They lent support for war production during the Great War, for which the U.S. government welched on paying the Allen brothers until 1922. Resuming auto production despite this snub did nothing to help their bottom line, and Allen unceremoniously closed up shop during the depression of 1922. No doubt Louis Weiss got a great deal on a used Allen!
C.E. Hall of Auto Sales Co. in West Point, Mississippi wrote:
Publish suggestion from changing a 1914 Chalmers 26 from a five-passenger touring car to a speedster. I desire to use the same fenders, put a 30-gallon tank in the rear, and install a vacuum feed for the gasoline. From whom could I secure a body?
1914 Chalmers redesign. Think of all the weight lost from this speedster body!
Ikert’s artists drew up a nice speedster overlay to transform the Chalmers. Ikert also suggested that Mr. Hall “See advertising columns of Motor Age for body maker.” Like many auto journals of the period, Motor Age was flush with body suppliers who could supply this enterprising young man!
E.A. Stewart of Los Angeles, California wrote:
Publish sketch of neat body of raceabout for a 1915 four-cylinder Saxon roadster.
1915 Saxon Raceabout.
Saxon was the brainchild of High Chalmers, president of Chalmers-Detroit, a successful mid-priced car that flourished in the nineteen–teens and lasted until just after the postwar depression of 1922. Saxons were built on the Chalmers reputation, which was solid, and Chalmers were priced to compete with the Ford Model T. Out of the gate in 1914, sales were strong and Saxon flourished until it hit the postwar wall in 1922 and fell dead in the dirt. There must have been a lot of well-built Saxons around for cheap!
B.E. Inbody of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania wrote:
Publish body design similar to Ralph Mulford’s Frontenac racer for a 1914 Mercer roadster.
1914 Mercer redesign
The Frontenac Corporation has been covered in prior posts and was a very successful speed accessories firm that used Morton & Brett bodies under license for Fronty racing efforts. Several racers of the day, including Mulford, found success racing Frontys.
The Mercer Raceabout was the quintessential cutdown speedster of its era, whose roots begin in 1910 with the Mercer Model 30 Speedster. Completely redesigned for 1911, the Model 35 Raceabout was transformed into a much more powerful and competitive race car that happened to be masquerading for use on the street. A true speedster if there ever was one!
On the other hand, the Mercer Model 35 Runabout was better suited for street use, with more safety features, such as secure seating behind doors, so that one did not fall out on bumpy corners. Both designs would continue relatively unchanged until 1916.
1912 Mercer Model 35 Runabout.
Diehard Mercer fans would consider a rebody of a Mercer Raceabout or Runabout to be sacrilegious, but hey, this was 1919. No doubt “Smiling Ralph” Mulford would have approved of this Fronty conversion of a Mercer!
Plans
A remarkable design was drawn and submitted by J.W. Ratley of unknown address for a concept that heralded the Aero age of the 1930s. Ratley wrote that he drew
…a body constructed with an eye to airplane lines and practice. The chassis is 135 in. and has an underpan extending from the front axle to the rear axle.
This covered underpan anticipated a streamlining idea found on landspeed record cars of the 1930s, as well as LeMans-style racing prototypes beginning in the 1960s. Today we see universal use of this concept in virtually all sports cars! Anyway, to continue, Ratley stated
The fenders are attached to the axles and are fitted extremely close to the wheels; the running boards are held by struts to the frame…
Reader-designed Aero Speed Car. Is this beautiful, or what?
Granted, none of this is structurally ground-breaking design, but it was a fresh breeze in the otherwise mundane design world of the second decade. The Aero movement would find its wings and take off with Lindbergh in 1927, whose impact on American sensibilities would be augmented with achievements by explorer Amelia Earhart and racing ace Frank Hawks. Franklin executed a whole model line to tout its air-cooled engines and scientific light weight, both of which found affirmation in aeronautics.
1930 Franklin Airman Series ad. Illustration courtesy H.H. Franklin Club, Inc
One designer of the 1930s would take the aero movement seriously, and that designer was, of course, Gabriel Voison. Voison had designed aircraft for the French government during WWI, and this informed his later work. Trained as an architect, his automotive designs showed more geometric and aerodynamic influences than anything else. One can see that the aeronautical influences that had inspired the Ratley design also show up in Voison’s work as well in his 1934 Aerosport Coupe.
1934 Voison Aerosport Coupe. Note aero design themes also seen in Ratley’s Aero Speed Car from 1919. Photo taken at Frist Museum, Nashville, KY, © Ronald D. Sieber 2013
Ratley finished up his discussion about his sketch by writing:
The body is built high on the frame and has narrow openings for the passengers; the head and shoulders are only visible when they are seated in the machine. The edges of the compartments are padded in airplane fashion and the four seats are separate. A small windshield similar to the DeHaviland is placed in front of each seat.
This reader-enthusiast from 1919 had pretty much thought it all through. The other readers, though not as thorough, nevertheless give us a window into what was affecting American automotive culture. Racing. A need for adventure. Aeronautics. The freedom that comes from driving.
All of the above are influences that gave birth to the speedster movement in the United States and elsewhere. All of these concepts inform the most impactive automotive design to this day. Designers who take heed are designers who will succeed…
Next post we will look at some more designs that Ikert included in his report. Until then…
Go drive that speedster!