The Smith Flyer was an American

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufactured by the A.O. Smith Company in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

from 1915 until about 1919 when the manufacturing rights were sold to

Briggs & Stratton Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of small engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large faciliti ...

and it was renamed the Briggs & Stratton Flyer.

History

The Smith Flyer is a small, simple, lightweight, two-seat vehicle with a wooden frame that doubles as the body and as the suspension. A small gasoline engine is mounted on a fifth wheel, or motor wheel, to drive the Flyer. The wheelbase was 62 inches (1575 mm), the wheels were 20 inches (508 mm) in diameter, and the width was 30 inches (762 mm). Since the 5th wheel was directly driven by the engine, the engine was started with the driving wheel lifted slightly in the air, and then when the engine was running smoothly, the driver lowered the engine (by means of a lever) gently to start the forward motion. The direct drive motor wheel was developed by Arthur William Wall of

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, around 1910 to power a bicycle. The concept of attaching the motor directly to the wheel was not new;

Ferdinand Porsche Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was a German automotive engineering, automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche, Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first Petrol engine, gasoline–Electric motor, el ...

developed one around 1900, but his motor wheel was electric. The A.O. Smith Corporation of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, acquired the U.S. manufacturing rights to the Wall motorwheel in 1914 and first produced the motor wheel for use on bicycles, but later added the wooden-framed

buckboard A buckboard is a four-wheeled wagon of simple construction meant to be drawn by a horse or other large animal. A distinctly American utility vehicle, the buckboard has no springs between the body and the axles. The suspension is provided by th ...

car that they called the "Smith Motorwheel".

Briggs & Stratton Flyer

In 1919 the manufacturing rights were purchased by the

Company, who produced the Motor Wheel and Flyers. They made several improvements in the engine, increasing the bore size, along with a new, all steel connecting rod and flywheel magneto. These improvements increased the power output to 2 horsepower (1.5 kW). Briggs & Stratton marketed the Flyer nationwide, and even started a publication entitled ''Motor Wheel Age''. In 1925, when they sold the rights to the Flyer to Automotive Electric Services Corporation. The Automotive Electric Services continued to produce the Flyer until the supply of engines ran out, then they substituted an electric motor driven by a battery. Briggs & Stratton kept the motor that had been the heart of the Motor Wheel and adapted it to other applications such as lawn mowers and running small equipment. The Motor Wheel motor was the progenitor of all Briggs & Stratton motors to follow. Virtually all Flyers were painted red and were known widely as the “ Red Bug”. The Flyer is listed in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

as the most inexpensive car of all time. The book lists the 1922 Briggs & Stratton Flyer as selling from US$125 to US$150 (equivalent to $ to $ in ) . A few Smith Flyers still exist in collections, and blueprints for the car are available online.

References

Additional reading

* David Burgess Wise, ''The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles'' * Altman, Jim, “The Motor Wheel”, ''Antique Automobile'', March–April 1971, pp. 9–24. * McFarlan, Donald, Editor, ''The Guinness Book of Records'', Bantam Books, 1992, page 361. * Ken W. Purdy, ''Motorcars of the Golden Past, Galahad Books'', NY, pages 98–99. * Rodengen, Jeff, ''The Legend of Briggs & Stratton'', Write Stuff Syndicate, 1995, pages 30–39.

External links

Sildrome article - Briggs and Stratton Flyer and Auto Red BugBriggs & Stratton Company websiteA.O. Smith Company websiteOriginal Smith Flyer plansModern Smith Flyer replica
{{Briggs & Stratton Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States 1910s cars 1920s cars Cyclecars Vintage vehicles Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Wisconsin Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1916 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1920 Cars introduced in 1916 Cars discontinued in 1920

History

Briggs & Stratton Flyer

See also

References

Additional reading

External links