Runabout (automotive design)

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Locomobile Steam Runabout (1901)
The Oldsmobile Curved Dash (1901–1907; here: 1904) is a typical representative of the first generation runabouts ("motor buggies")
The Austin 7 (1929) can also be called a roadster

The runabout , sometimes also referred to as a motor buggy or car buggy in its earliest versions , was a popular automobile design in the early years of the 20th century . It was small, low-cost, open cars, which both combustion as well as electric motors and also of steam engines could be driven. The drive technology was arranged under the vehicle floor and / or under the driver's seat. In vehicles with a combustion engine, either the platform of the driver's seat served as the engine compartment, in which the mostly single-cylinder engine was mounted transversely and the starter crank therefore protruded laterally from this engine compartment. Power was often transmitted via a chain to one of the rear wheels or the differential or via a chain to each of the rear wheels. Often the engine and transmission were blocked to the rear axle. The radiator of water-cooled engines was first placed under the floor of the car and later moved to the bow. Behind attached boxes for water or oil tank resp. Tools are often mistakenly interpreted as hoods, which was by design. Steam cars had their often relatively small machines under the floor or on the rear axle and the steam boiler under the seat before it moved forward and also often simulated a bonnet.

Most runabouts only had one bench that could accommodate two passengers. Sometimes additional superstructures were available, often removable and at an additional cost, in order to be able to take additional passengers with you:

  • Additional bench at the rear with the seat facing forward
  • Additional bench at the back with the seat facing backwards (" Dos-à-dos ")
  • Tonneau structure with side entry
  • Tonneau superstructure with rear entry, with the door having a seat on the inside and which could be used as a seat when closed
  • Folding seat in the bulkhead on first-generation vehicles with an engine mounted in the middle or in the rear. The front end of the body could be opened, whereby the cover became the backrest and the front part the footrest

The term “buggy” is no longer used for the following vehicles with a front engine. In the time of the early classic cars, almost half of the car models and the majority of the cars produced in total belonged to the runabout type. After the First World War, it was increasingly used as an alternative term for roadster , especially in the USA .

Those interested in classic cars also encounter the term from the English language as part of the name of car models.

The 1964 GM Runabout was a three-wheeled concept car presented at Futurama II, part of the 1964/65 World's Fair in New York .

Examples

Charles Brady King's 1896 automobile is an example of an early motorized buggy.

Other body variants from the pioneering days (selection)

literature

  • Beverly Rae Kimes et al .: Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942. 2nd edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1989, ISBN 0-87341-111-0 .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes (Ed.): Packard. A History of the Motor Car and the Company. Princeton Publishing, Princeton NJ 1978, ISBN 0-915038-11-0 .
  • Tad Burness: American Car Spotter's Guide, 1920-1939. Motorbooks International, Minneapolis MN 1975, ISBN 0-87938-026-8 .