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.[3]
The direct drive motor wheel was developed by Arthur William Wall of Birmingham, England, around 1910 to power a bicycle. The concept of attaching the motor directly to the wheel was not new; Ferdinand Porsche developed one around 1900, but his motor wheel was electric. The A.O. Smith Corporation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 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 car that they called the "Smith Motorwheel".[1][2]
Briggs & Stratton Flyeredit
In 1919 the manufacturing rights were purchased by the Briggs & Stratton 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.[2][1]
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.[3]
Virtually all Flyers were painted red and were known widely as the “Red Bug”. The Flyer is listed in the Guinness Book of Records 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 $2190 to $2620 in 2022) .[3]
A few Smith Flyers still exist in collections, and blueprints for the car are available online.
^ abc"The Cheapest Production Car In History: The Briggs & Stratton Auto Red Bug". Silodrome. 2021-12-30. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
Additional readingedit
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 linksedit
Sildrome article - Briggs and Stratton Flyer and Auto Red Bug
Briggs & Stratton Company website
A.O. Smith Company website
Original Smith Flyer plans
Modern Smith Flyer replica
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Smith Flyer vehicles.
December 20, 2023
smith, flyer, briggs, stratton, flyer, redirects, here, confused, with, briggs, stratton, also, auto, american, automobile, manufactured, smith, company, milwaukee, from, 1915, until, about, 1919, when, manufacturing, rights, were, sold, briggs, stratton, rena. Briggs amp Stratton Flyer redirects here Not to be confused with Briggs amp Stratton See also Auto Red Bug The Smith Flyer was an American automobile manufactured by the A O Smith Company in Milwaukee from 1915 until about 1919 when the manufacturing rights were sold to Briggs amp Stratton and it was renamed the Briggs amp Stratton Flyer 1 2 Smith FlyerSmith FlyerOverviewTypeBuckboard automobile cyclecarManufacturerA O SmithAlso calledBriggs and Stratton Flyer Red Bug Auto Red BugProduction1916 1920Body and chassisClassCyclecarSmith Motor Wheel1917 Smith Flyer Contents 1 History 1 1 Briggs amp Stratton Flyer 2 See also 3 References 4 Additional reading 5 External linksHistory editThe 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 3 The direct drive motor wheel was developed by Arthur William Wall of Birmingham England around 1910 to power a bicycle The concept of attaching the motor directly to the wheel was not new Ferdinand Porsche developed one around 1900 but his motor wheel was electric The A O Smith Corporation of Milwaukee Wisconsin 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 car that they called the Smith Motorwheel 1 2 Briggs amp Stratton Flyer edit In 1919 the manufacturing rights were purchased by the Briggs amp Stratton 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 amp 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 2 1 Briggs amp 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 amp Stratton motors to follow 3 Virtually all Flyers were painted red and were known widely as the Red Bug The Flyer is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most inexpensive car of all time The book lists the 1922 Briggs amp Stratton Flyer as selling from US 125 to US 150 equivalent to 2190 to 2620 in 2022 3 A few Smith Flyers still exist in collections and blueprints for the car are available online See also editCyclecarReferences edit a b c Kimes Beverly Rae Clark Jr Henry Austin 1996 Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805 1942 3rd ed Krause Publications ISBN 978 0 87341 428 9 a b c Georgano Nick 2001 The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile 3 vol ed Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers ISBN 1 57958 293 1 a b c The Cheapest Production Car In History The Briggs amp Stratton Auto Red Bug Silodrome 2021 12 30 Retrieved 2022 11 10 Additional reading editDavid 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 amp Stratton Write Stuff Syndicate 1995 pages 30 39 External links editSildrome article Briggs and Stratton Flyer and Auto Red Bug Briggs amp Stratton Company website A O Smith Company website The Smith Flyer at the US Scooter Museum Original Smith Flyer plans Modern Smith Flyer replica nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Smith Flyer vehicles Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Smith Flyer amp oldid 1169322132, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
