New paint job for Retroadster Mk I

Hello,

Currently my wooden Retroadster MK2 is standing in the garage

and still a lot to do.

The work came to a stop because we had to move into a new appartment,

and this had absolute priority.

 After most of the work was done,  

I had the feeling to do a repair job on the old velocar.

The birch plywood has developed a lot of black mould spots over the winter.

So I grabbed the sander and sanded the old varnish and most of the ugly spots down.

Luckily most of them at the lower half of the front panels,

which finally got painted the same color , like I painted the tail last year.

I want to build front fenders next time,

following the lines of the new color scheme.

An oval rear window is also on my wish list.

Kai

 

Front hood building diary 2

Hello,

Six weeks after the last post I have to admit, the progress is less than I suspected.

But anyway, I thought my small progress is worth to be shown.

The top panel of the front part is attached, the doors are cut out and they're able to swing to a nearly vertical open position almost like Lambo doors.

Now I'm in the designing process of the front hood/bonnet.

 I want to stay close to the look of an Jaguar XK 120, as long as this is possible with sheet material.

Here are the latest pics so far:

 This was a appearance test with mofa headlaps

If I'll attach the lamps this way, they'll need fairings

  The doors cut out and in open position

 Screwed on top panel with partly trimmed edges

 Fancy stainless steel hinges

These small triangular panels acting as edge reinforcement of the doors and allow to give the edge a slight curvature.

  The red dot represents the position of the future neodymium magnets, which will hold the doors open 

  And finally the front panel is attached.

The cutout for the front hood will be enlarged a bit.

Currently, the fenders are only existent in my imagination and I can't wait to see them in reality.

I hope, with the fenders and headlamps, the velocar get's its intended look.

Kai

Front hood building diary

Hello,

In my own workshop I had no opportunity to work this winter

Too cramped, too cold, too much moisture for wood working.

So I moved the project temporarily to a friends workshop.

Thanks Steffen, for your help.

Since then, a lot of work has been done.

Not only my own project has grown, Steffen has his own project in the works.

So we worked simultaneously on booth, just three meters or so apart.

Steffens vehicle is still Top Secret, 

he don't want to publish it before the work is mainly done.

This may be in two or three months.

Check out his website then.

Here are the proof of progress of my velocar

Because a picture is worth a thousand words, I hope it's self explaining.

I hope to accomplish the bodywork within another two weeks,

but I'm not in a hurry

After that steering mechanism and transmission.

Cheers,

Kai

Ancient pedalcars

Hello folks

Today I want to make a short journey into the world of antique pedalcars

Mochet

When it comes to talking about the ancestors of my pedalcar project,

 the best known name is Charles Mochet.

He produced his Velocars in Paris between the late 20s and 40s of the last century.

Velocar advertisment from the 30s

Mochet Velocars at display

Two ancient photos of Velocars with their happy owners

 Fantom

Another well known name ist the Swedish Fantom.

Although never produced by a manufacturer, 

the Fantom became popular as a cheap plan for self builders.

More than 100.000 plans have been sold over the years, but just a handful of Fantom were built by skilled Swedes.

The two pics above showing a two seated Fantom recreation of the Fordonsmuseum in Arvika/Sweden 

This one seater was build by Claes Johannson, the author of the book Folkhemmets Farkoster, from which the photos were taken.

Ardex

Ardex was another manufacturer of microcars.

During the German occupation of France in WW2 gasoline engines were forbidden, so Ardex changed the powerplants to electrical and human power.

Julien

This is my latest find.

Engineer Maurice A. Julien was formerly involved in the development of the famous 

Citroen Traction Avant. 

His pedalcar design, which he called the "Neocar" is in my taste the most sophistcated and elegant pedalcar of that era.

It featured also the then revolutionary front wheel drive and the whole body was made from aluminium.

It's supposed that just very few examples of this design were built, 

so informations about this fancy pedalcar are very rare.

Williams-Mourlot

One of my blog posts in 2014 was dedicated to a book written for self builders by Max Williams-Mourlot.

It contains a lot of plans, ranging from trailers and sidecars to small gasoline powered sportscars.

Among them were several plans for pedalcars with one or two seats.

Two different single seaters with rear steering:

 

A two seater with FWD:

Single seated velocar with front steering and rear wheel drive:

Sociable velocar with closest similarities to the Mochet models

 

All pages of this book can be found here.

Still, I have no knowledge of vehicles built to this plans.

Maybe somewhere there are still some forgotten old pictures, parts or dusty vehicles in old barns, waiting for their discovery.

Although there's a bare probability, I'm still dreaming about.

If you have informations in any form, I would appreciate to know from you.

Kai