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- King_Midget abstract "King Midget was a micro car produced between 1946 and 1970 by the Midget Motors Corporation. Although the company started out by offering a kit to build the car, they soon added completely-assembled cars and later only offered completed cars. Company founders Claud Dry and Dale Orcutt first sold the King Midget as part of their Midget Motors Supply operations in Athens, Ohio. By 1948, they began to use the name Midget Motors Manufacturing Co., too. In about 1956, Dry and Orcutt changed the name of their company to Midget Motors Corporation.Midget Motors' primary methods of advertising their cars were through small advertisements in popular magazines that appealed to home mechanics. The ads were tiny but effective; they showed a midget car and some earlier ads contained the phrase \"500 lb. car for $500.00\" The ads brought in a steady stream of interested customers. Some of the magazines featured articles about the car and several pictured the car on their front cover. This method of direct selling continued for most of the life of the company.The first generation King Midget was a single-passenger kit designed to resemble a midget racer. The kit included the chassis, axles, steering assembly, springs, instruction manual, plus dimensioned patterns for the sheet metal, all for a cost of $270.00. It would accept any one-cylinder engine. By 1947, the Model 1 was also available in assembled form, powered by a 6 hp (4.5 kW) Wisconsin engine. Since adding a differential would have increased the cost, the car was driven by the right rear wheel only. It used a centrifugal clutch designed by Orcutt. The pair began to develop a two-passenger micro car in 1947. In total, nine separate prototypes were built until the designers met their goals of simplicity, lightness, and economy. The result was the Model 2.When it first appeared on the cover of Popular Science magazine in 1951, the Model 2 was a two-passenger convertible offered either fully assembled or as a kit, powered by a 23 cu in (0.4 L) 7.5 hp (5.6 kW) sidevalve Wisconsin AENL engine. With a 72 in (1,800 mm) wheelbase (8 in (200 mm) less than a Crosley 4CC), it measured only 102 in (260 cm) overall. The Model 2 was still a very basic car; it had no speedometer or reverse, but it was light, strong, and available for just $500. In 1955, a custom model of the Model 2 was introduced. It lasted through 1957, with the price remaining under $550. By contrast, a four-passenger 1952 Crosley CD sedan could be had, fully assembled, for $943, and a wagon as low as $1002. Soon after the Model 2 was in production, the company began to offer the option of a two-speed automatic transmission that included a reverse. This transmission, developed and patented by Orcutt and Dry, was soon to be included as standard equipment and was used on all subsequent models.In the 1950s, Midget Motors developed the Junior and Trainer. Both designs were tube-framed motorized four-wheelers that were forerunners of the go-karts and all-terrain vehicles that were to become popular later. The Junior was powered by a 2.5 hp (1.9 kW) Briggs & Stratton engine, while the Trainer used a 3 hp (2.2 kW) Briggs and Stratton. Both had an automatic clutch with a geared, reverse transmission in the drive train. They were discontinued in the early 1960s.In 1957, the Model 3 was introduced. On a new, 76.5 in (1,940 mm) wheelbase, and now measuring 117 in (300 cm) overall, it was still smaller than a Crosley. It now had four-wheel hydraulic brakes and was powered by a 9.2 hp (6.9 kW) Wisconsin single cylinder engine. The unit-body, which was welded for increased strength, was continued throughout to the end of production. The 1958 price approached $900. (The much bigger Rambler American started at $1775.) In 1966 more power was added when the company switched to a 12 hp {8.9 kW} Kohler engine, and also converted the car to a 12-volt electrical system. Midget production lasted through the 1960s, and eventually almost 5,000 were built.Although the founders had strictly maintained their independence, by the nineteen-sixties they were approaching retirement age. So in 1966 they accepted a buy-out offer from a group backed by investment bankers and the owners retired, but remained as consultants. Over the years they had remained profitable by carefully matching their production to sales. They had produced a unique car of their own design and constantly introduced improvements and refined their design. But the new owners had a different vision; they vastly increased production but the anticipated increased sales did not follow. By 1969, the company was forced into bankruptcy. Production manager Vernon Eads bought the remains of Midget Motors under the name Barthman Corporation. He drew up plans for a new model, the Commuter, a one-piece fiberglass car that resembled a dune buggy, but a fire at his newly built Florida plant destroyed the only body mold. The 1970 run comprised only 15 cars, including the only three Commuters ever built. The costs of rebuilding after the fire, combined with new safety and emissions standards, were more than Eads could bear, and he closed the company in 1970.Today, much more information about the King Midget is made available by members of the King Midget Car Club, which offers books on the history of the cars, an annual gathering of fans and owners, and information about spare parts, repairs, vendors, and restoration. As the years have passed, an increased appreciation has developed about the qualities of the King Midget's efficient use of materials, fuel economy, ruggedness, and ease of repair.".
- King_Midget bodyStyle Convertible.
- King_Midget class Microcar.
- King_Midget productionEndYear "1946".
- King_Midget productionStartYear "1946".
- King_Midget thumbnail King_Midget_Model_III.jpg?width=300.
- King_Midget transmission "2-speedautomatic".
- King_Midget wikiPageExternalLink www.kingmidgetcarclub.org.
- King_Midget wikiPageExternalLink www.kingmidgetworks.com.
- King_Midget wikiPageExternalLink www.midgetmotors.com.
- King_Midget wikiPageID "2218149".
- King_Midget wikiPageLength "7563".
- King_Midget wikiPageOutDegree "23".
- King_Midget wikiPageRevisionID "679275771".
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Athens,_Ohio.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Automatic_transmission.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Briggs_&_Stratton.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Cam-in-block.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Car_and_Driver.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Category:Microcars.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Chassis.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Convertible.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Crosley.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Dune_buggy.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Fiberglass.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Frank_Markus.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Go-kart.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Kohler_Company.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Microcar.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Rambler_American.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Sedan_(automobile).
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Single-cylinder_engine.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Speedometer.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Station_wagon.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLink Wheelbase.
- King_Midget wikiPageWikiLinkText "King Midget".
- King_Midget bodyStyle "2".
- King_Midget class Microcar.
- King_Midget engine "1".
- King_Midget manufacturer "Midget Motors Corporation".
- King_Midget name "King Midget".
- King_Midget production "1946".
- King_Midget transmission "2".
- King_Midget wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Cite_journal.
- King_Midget wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Commons_category.
- King_Midget wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Convert.
- King_Midget wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Infobox_automobile.
- King_Midget wikiPageUsesTemplate Template:Reflist.
- King_Midget subject Category:Microcars.
- King_Midget hypernym Car.
- King_Midget type Automobile.
- King_Midget type MeanOfTransportation.
- King_Midget type Classification.
- King_Midget type Microcar.
- King_Midget type Product.
- King_Midget type DesignedArtifact.
- King_Midget type Thing.
- King_Midget comment "King Midget was a micro car produced between 1946 and 1970 by the Midget Motors Corporation. Although the company started out by offering a kit to build the car, they soon added completely-assembled cars and later only offered completed cars. Company founders Claud Dry and Dale Orcutt first sold the King Midget as part of their Midget Motors Supply operations in Athens, Ohio. By 1948, they began to use the name Midget Motors Manufacturing Co., too.".
- King_Midget label "King Midget".
- King_Midget sameAs Q1193866.
- King_Midget sameAs King_Midget.
- King_Midget sameAs m.06ws6_.
- King_Midget sameAs Q1193866.
- King_Midget wasDerivedFrom King_Midget?oldid=679275771.
- King_Midget depiction King_Midget_Model_III.jpg.
- King_Midget isPrimaryTopicOf King_Midget.
- King_Midget name "King Midget (Model III)".