In 1952, disabled Russian veterans of World War II (or the “Great Patriotic War” as it was called in the USSR) received their long overdue motorized transportation in the form of an open three-wheeler, the SL1. Built by a motorbike company in Serpukhov, the light vehicle (eventually powered by a 346cc engine) proved that 3 […]
SZD SD3 “Invalidka” Car- 1980 Read More »
In post-WWII Europe, Communist Czechoslovakian cars were a rare commodity. Most people rode motorcycles and bicycles since most of the population simply could not afford a car. In 1948-49 The Automobile Club of the Czechoslovak Republic sponsored a competition to design a lidove vozitko, or people’s car. The only three requirements were that the vehicle
Lidove Vozitko- 1950 Read More »
Anton F. Erickson built this streamlined car in his garage in Dayton, Ohio at the end of World War II. Mr. Erickson had a patented method for repairing metal panels, which is evident when looking at this car – the body is made of many small pieces of aluminum instead of several big sheets. Anthony
Erickson Streamliner- 1945 Read More »
Built by Jean Legeay of Gennes, France, the L’Éclair is a home-built propeller-driven car. Built in M Legeay’s garage, he made every part, except the Indian V-twin engine, the wheels, and the gauges. He even carved the propeller himself! The name L’Éclair shares its meaning with the pastry; éclair in French means “flash of light”. It
Inspired by watching events such as the Port Townsend (WA) Kinetic Sculpture Race, it occurred to local tinkerer and inventor John Montgomery how simple it would be to run a live axle through the middle of a canoe and use an inverted bicycle frame to drive it. The Autocanoe was born. The one seen here
Mignet Aviation was founded in 1984. The chief designer was Pierre Mignet, eldest son of Henri, the inventor of the Flying Flea. The manager and head of the company was Alain Mignet, Pierre’s nephew. In many ways, the HM.1000 “Balerit” (a local dialect word for “hawk”) was a modern version of the Flying Flea, continuing
Mignet HM.1000 Balerit- 1992 Read More »
Avid Aircraft was an American company that built and sold homebuilt kit airplanes. The company was started in 1983 by Dean Wilson, and was initially based in Idaho, moving to Montana in 1998. Avid made several different airplane kits, one being the Catalina, debuting in 1992 as a high-wing amphibious tail dragger. It can land
The Flying Flea was designed by Henri Mignet, a French designer/builder, in 1934, and was one of the first home-built airplanes. A number of the early airplanes crashed because no one realized how important the weight and balance on the airplane was. After learning this, the Flying Flea has had a very good safety record,
Mignet HM.380 Flying Flea- 1998 Read More »
The Honda N-ONE is a modern interpretation of one of Honda’s first production cars, the N360. The N-ONE was previewed at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2011, and went on sale in November 2012. Like the Honda N360 and N600, the N-ONE is considered a Kei Class (city car) in Japan. Although the N-ONE is