1901 Oldsmobile Replica Took 1,000 Hours To Build

1901 Oldsmobile Replica Took 1,000 Hours To Build AG WORLD 32-5-24 Allen Turner, spent about 1,000 hours building a 2/3-scale replica of the 1901 Oldsmobile, one of the first horseless carriages. He started with nothing but photos and dimensions of the car. While it's not an exact replica, Turner says that cosmetically, it's almost identical. Using wood and steel, he made every part of the basic automobile except the wheels, horn, transmission and engine. "I started with nothing and made all the parts, from the axles to the springs, hubs, frame, body, and seat," he says. The body is made from metal and the seat is made from wood, with hard foam laid over it. The body is painted black and the seat red. The original car featured a big, heavy "hit and miss" gasoline engine that had to be cranked. Turner decided on a 7 hp lawn mower engine with electric start. The engine belt-drives the car's rear axle. The series of pulleys reduce engine rpm's from 3,000 down to 26. The car rides on four 20-in. bicycle wheels, which are only 2 in. smaller than the wheels used on the original car. It has tiller steering. "As far as I know the Oldsmobile was the first mass produced car ever made. It was quite a little car," says Turner. "They were made from 1901 to 1908, and the design stayed almost identical throughout that period. There were between 12,000 and 13,000 of them made," he notes. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Allen C. Turner, W3510 Gillette Ave., Motello, Wis. 53949 (ph 608 297-2316).

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