The ABC was an American
high wheeler
A high wheeler is a car which uses large diameter wheels that are similar to those used by horse-drawn vehicles. These cars were produced until about 1915, predominantly in the United States.
Design
High wheelers were derived from horse-drawn ...
automobile built by Albert Bledsoe Cole in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, USA, from 1905 to 1910.
Known as the ''Autobuggy'' from 1906 to 1908, it was billed as "the cheapest high-grade car in America", and was available with two-cylinder and four-cylinder engines,
friction drive
A friction drive or friction engine is a type of transmission that utilises two wheels in the transmission to transfer power from the engine to the driving wheels. The system is naturally a continuously variable transmission; by moving the two ...
, and
pneumatic
Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air.
Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A central ...
or
solid tire
Airless tires, non-pneumatic tires (NPT), or flat-free tires are tires that are not supported by air pressure. They can be used on small vehicles such as riding lawn mowers and motorized golf carts. They also are used on heavy equipment require ...
s. The drive system used a cone and two bevel wheels, one for forward and the other for reverse. This allowed it to reach its top speed in either direction. A larger engine was fitted in 1908, and the wheelbase grew from to . Its high ground clearance made it popular in rural areas.
Later models were more conventional with two- or four-cylinder engines, but the market for high wheelers was disappearing and the company folded in 1910.
Confusingly, there was another Auto-Buggy made by
Success
Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person mig ...
, also of St Louis.
See also
*
ABC (1922 automobile).
*
List of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States
This is a list of defunct automobile manufacturers of the United States. They were discontinued for various reasons, such as bankruptcy of the parent company, mergers, or being phased out.
A
* A Automobile Company (1910–1913) 'Blue & Gold' ...
References
*
Georgano, G.N.
George Nicolas "Nick" Georgano (29 February 1932 – 22 October 2017[Nick Georgano](_blank)
Alvis Archive Bl ...
, "A.B.C.," in G.N. Georgano, ed., "The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885-1968" (Arkansas E.P. Dutton and Co., 1974), pp. 23.
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
1900s cars
{{Brass-auto-stub
Brass Era vehicles
Highwheeler