This German company was producing cars as early as the 1920s but they struggled financially through that decade. In 1931, Hanomag had 25% of the small-car market in Germany, trailed by DKW (19%) and BMW (17%).
Hanomag was an established name when the company produced its first car. They built their first steam engine in 1836; by 1905 they were producing steam trucks.
The Hansa Automobile Gesellschaft was founded in 1905 to build light cars. Light cars were comparatively rare in Germany at the time. By 1913, the company was building small to medium-sized cars as well as large, luxurious cars.
In the early 1900s, some race tracks were made of wood. Called board tracks, they were constructed of wood because of the low cost and ease of construction. Bicycles were the first vehicles to be raced on board tracks.
Harley- Davidson (H-D) started by making motorized bicycles in 1901. By 1917, they were a very successful company, producing over 20,000 motorcycles for the U.S. military. It was during this time that H-D launched a line of bicycles.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Harris was disappointed because of the failures of both the Stanley Steamer and Doble steam cars. Harris hoped that if he built a unique and stylish steam car, it might revive the industry.
This propeller-driven iceboat was built using an illustration featured in a 1924 Popular Mechanics magazine. It features a Heath Henderson, Model B-4 motorcycle piston engine.
Heinkel, like fellow airplane maker Messerschmitt, was prohibited from making aircraft after WWII. In 1953 Heinkel began building a high end 4-stroke scooter called the Tourist. Scooter sales soon began to slow, and in 1956 Heinkel began building bubble cars.
Constructed in 1932, this one-of-a-kind, propeller driven car was discovered in a barn in France in 2000 having been placed there by the original owner in the late 1930s. Little could be seen of it through the rubble.
In early 1940, Rudy Stoessel, Paul Erdos, and Burt Chalmers opened a small body shop in Hollywood called Coachcraft, Ltd., and began building custom bodies for movie stars and wealthy locals.
Named the high wheeler for obvious reasons, the 48” wheel puts the seat at 53” above the ground, placing the rider’s head between 7 and 8 feet off the ground!
