Parade Goers Love His Bathtub Car

Parade goers love his bathtub car AG WORLD Ag World 15-1-17 'Parade goers get a big kick out of it," says Rick Clow, Princeton, Minn., about his "bathtub car" which he rides shirtless in local parades. The antique cast iron clawfoot tub pulls a float and blows bubbles "on the go". Clow bolted the rear axle from a Dodge Colt to the tub's drainhole and installed 13-in. car tires in back and swivel wheels from a riding lawn mower in front. A 9 hp Briggs & Stratton engine, removed from a grain auger, mounts on an angle iron framework mounted on one side of the axle, and a jackshaft equipped with a reduction pulley is mounted on theotherside. Clow steers the bathtub with a hand brake on each wheel. A ball hitch mounts on the back. "It's really fun to drive," says Clow. "I use a thumb throttle on one of the brake levers to slow the tub way down, then I use the brake lever to spin it around on a dime. When I rev up the throttle again it takes off by itself. I keep a pail full of soapy water inside the tub and attach one end of a hose to a nipple on the exhaust pipe to blow bubbles." A sign on one side of the tub reads "Princeton: Home of Good Clean Fun. Help Save Our Rural Water - Bathe With A Friend". Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Clow, Box 145, Princeton, Minn. 55371 (ph 612 389-5284).

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