Posted 12 years ago
poncho69er
(2 items)
my wife bought this for me for our wedding anniversary. The car is over 6ft long. Rides on peerless US tires. At one time this had a motor in the front with a drive shaft that runs to the rear wheels. Drive shaft and rear end are there along with the cast aluminum wheels and one hubcap showing "N" Has cast aluminum steering wheel,had working lights. There are no pedals but there is a lever on the right side used for braking?? or ???. I thought this might have been a home built but the car has to much detail and craftsmanship. All bolts on this have square nuts. The patten # on the tires show this around 35-36 but tires could have been older or newer. Any info on car would be appreciated.
Love it but wonder about the spare on the back of a race car. Maybe X-country racing? I have helped build up several race cars in the past & actually put an aluminium trailer ball on the back of a Z once to get a laugh & draw attention away from a few irregularities(it worked) from the techs..
Hope we get some good answers from the real racing crowd.
If you haven't found anything on this car. It's an American national, I have one that was built in 1935. They are quite rare and I was told they were a special order. You can see your car in an old film by the 3 stooges called "men in black". Mine has a Briggs engine. The spare came on the car. Outside the cockpit brakes and clutch on a side handle. Had mine 30 years. Cool car. Contact me. Thx
Love it when 2 old friends meet, even if they have never met. Wondering if the 35-36 means tire pressure?
Your car was made by the National Sales and Manufacturing co. They were made from 1932 to 1940 mosty for county fares and product give away contest. I have one myself that I am restoring The wheels and tires that you have are original to the car. Always want to talk to fellow National restorer. Contact me
ps. If you need hub caps I have a set of new cast caps, will need to be polished out
looking for info on the motor drive wheel and reverse idler or parts that they would be willing to sell.
I forgot to leave my email balll@shaw.ca
I would like to talk to you and okie3030, I do have some back ground on the company that produce this junior racers in the 30's.
I have found mr ball to be correct on the maker. Although it has some America national looks. It was produced by national car mfg. I apologize for the bad info. So few of these were made I have had a hard time finding correct info. I was told it was an American national by someone who said he had had one once. Sorry
Thank you for all the great info. Okie3030 could please give me the model number of the motor that I would be looking for for this car. I have Google the name is it Mr Ball has given and cannot find any information. Is there any other web sites that okie3030 or mr ball. My direct email is chevypontiacmana@charter.net
My motor is a 1935 Y block briggs and Stratton
I just acquired one of these at Hershey and have been communicating w Marlon Ball. I enjoyed reading the above thread and would very much like to learn as much as possible. I found a couple period newspaper articles. The best one was from a 7/23/35 issue of the Calgary Herald: where the "lilliputian roadster" manufactured by the National Sales and Manufacturing Compay of Des Moines, Ia was described as having a "four-cycle one-cylinder" motor which "purred like a wristwatch at 15 miles and hour" while getting sixty mpg. According to D. Cook (the sole Canadian agent for National) the little car is a "perfect demon on the road" and as it is "Operated by a frictional drive, it would carry a 300-pound person". Here is a link to view a single photo of my National. If you know anything more about these little gems, please chime in. I would love to learn as much as possible.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nEICREPvDKgbXS-2ml2wbGmUh89DXwjK/view?usp=sharing