Driving the Craziest 1920's Cycle Car that Should Never Have Been Made | Jason Drives

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[@jameshusband1487]

The horn was right there! It was staring at us the whole time, and it remained entirely unhonked! Calamity!

[@GCimprezaFTW]

Chekhov’s horn?

[@lukewarmwater6412]

ohh man!!... I didnt notice that at first, but now it seems like such a missed opportunity!!

[@Jim0i0]

Note to the director: when the host gestures to something, SHOW IT! I'm so tired of car shows that focus on the bumbling talking head to the exclusion to the subject. Think like an engineer, not a portrait photographer. Isometric views please. Show the geometry of that wacky steering tilt and for Christ's sake, get a camera into those tight spaces while the bobblehead is there to interact with the controls. It's ok to tell the talent to do it again for the camera.

[@robqg]

It all seemed too zoomed in, often out of focus, and barely showing any of the car at all.

[@michaelledford4751]

Me being nearly 80 years old I remember when cars were all built super simple ,much like this all cars were easy for regular people to maintain & repair ,I could change a fuel pump on a 350 Chevy motor in 10 minutes and a timing belt on a Chevy Chevette in 15 to 20 minutes using a 5/8 wrench and a 15/16 drill bit to line up the pulley with a hole in the block ,no timing light needed .

[@thistime4you]

I'm not far behind ya but if you had a model t you would never need to change a water pump 😀

[@Bzorlan]

Modern cars really aren't made to be easily repaired easily. They cram everything into such a tight space that if you want to change one part you have to remove half the engine. I don't see any need for it to be like that.

[@Meton12765]

You don't use a timing light to change a timing belt. It is used for setting ignition advance / retard. If you fuck the _valvetrain_ _timing_ by not locking the valvetrain in position you're going to have valves dancing on top of your pistons and destroy the engine.

[@Meton12765]

@@Bzorlan Yes. Modern cars are not meant to be maintained. They're meant to be disposable items. Their designed use life is 1,5 years. You're supposed to crush them and get a new one, not change the battery or bulbs.

[@user-vh7ki7xu7o]

@@Bzorlanthe Lexus ls400 should get a pass. It’s layer upon layer of electronics and hoses but it’s worth it. Overhead cams make everything more complicated but they’re superior in almost every way

[@porticojunction]

"Among the worst I've ever driven" would not be so damning a statement if were it not coming from Jason.

[@althejazzman]

The man who's driven all the worst cars.

[@RustOnWheels]

My thoughts go to the worst he has driven before this, at the same museum. That microcar from I believe 1949 with the split window aero body.

[@juanhuanglo8429]

The Hoffman was the worst car Jason has ever driven.who puts neutral between each gear if you can find them.the rear wheel was in the center of the car also

[@iSchmidty13]

Not a single frame of B-roll of the side or 3/4 view of the car lol, all we get are motion blurred and badly framed glances during the driving portion of the video It sounds like a really cool car! I just wish we got to look at it lmao

[@Radiator1991]

EXACTLY MY THOUGHTS.... Camera work sucks

[@leh3827]

I felt insulted when he kept putting it down. What does one expect from a 1920s cycle car. I would love to try it, and open it up in 2nd gear on a back road.

[@Desmaad]

Jason Drives is back! Yay!

[@hoilst]

"Cheap Alternative To A Person" - that is a derogatory term to use for Jason. Sure, he mightn't be a person, but he's a FANTASTIC gnome.

[@SilversidesSage]

Finally! More of this series please...

[@martinpook5707]

In UK the Bond Minicar was made into the 1960s. The 2 stroke engine (250cc) and gearbox turned as a unit to steer but only one front wheel. Four seats though!

[@marksommers6764]

I owned a 47 - 48 Bond Minicar .. LHD , Villiers motor w both electric and manual start .. WHAT A HOOT !

[@dexnpy]

They are not extinct. They have been reincarnated into the likes of the Renault Twizy and Citroen AMI.

[@sudmuck]

Don't forget the Morgan 3-wheeler.

[@12volthighpeakvanlife.62]

Lol i Live in England , the festival of slowth is amazing Cycle cars bring Fun, people together, grin from ear to ear you get good attention, i Love them and as personal local transport driving around the countryside beats any Tesla. a very nice example you have , a big thumbs up as i watch from my Net Book which i love , and wanted . its small and fits in the Cycle car . and they do exist more than you think . Peace bro .

[@TooManyHobbiesJeremy]

Yea! Another Jason Drives. Thank you

[@FranklinleeScamLikelee]

Please keep doing these weird vehicles broooooooo! These are great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep it up!!!!!! “It’s like being comfortable in a small textile mill.” Lmao

[@pashakdescilly7517]

In some ways, that car is WAY ahead of its time. Look at the front suspension. It has lower wishbones, and a transverse leaf spring as an upper member. That is pretty much the same as many luxury cars had as front suspension in the '30s and '40s.

[@thomasschwarting5108]

I want one in 2023!! Looks like a real challenge to drive, I LIKE IT!!

[@frankcasatelli4078]

What a baby! It looked like a blast to drive. I wish I had it!

[@androo4519]

More proof that the Austin Allegro is not the worst car ever made

[@CaptHollister]

Cyclecars are not classified as automobiles. Judgment on the Allegro stands.

[@androo4519]

@@CaptHollister There are thousands of proper cars worse than the Allegro. Pretty much anything pre-war is worse.

[@BassyConn]

I see a loyal patron of his local Omega Mart... Good... very good.

[@TheHughzt]

Here in the UK the 1950s fuel crisis created a demand for cheap, frugal cars like bubble cars and ultimately the mini. The Bond minicar was a 3 wheeler with Villiers motorcycle engine mounted on the front wheel that turned in a similar way to this car. The contrast between the huge flamboyant American cars of the time and our poverty spec ones couldn't be more stark.

[@hoilst]

The Bond Bug ended up in one of the greatest starring roles ever, but: a Robbie Williams film clip - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpS6gKmfgq5pgs0

[@KelikakuCoutin]

Wasn't only the UK ... France, Germany and the rest of Europe had fuel consumption restrictions that made a good number of tiny cars with tiny engines a mandated "people's car," such as the VW Beetle and the Citroen CV, along with the Morris Minor (in England) and the BMW Isetta (Germany). Fuel consumption mandates were in effect, which were in the form of incentives, engines with large capacity displacements were sanctioned with government tariffs (at the time).

[@truetech4158]

Dig the reviews of small vehicles. I just bought a electric J2 micro alibabamobile.

[@Francois_L_7933]

What? No horn squeaking? 😁 I probably sounds just as hilarious as the rest of the car!

[@RichardGoth]

Please review more cycle cars!

[@Mile26point2films]

I love that little horn, classic!!

[@spinnetti]

I've loved cycle cars ever since childhood... There were dozens of brands in the 20s'. I Liked the Dart, though technically not a cycle car, its shipping box was its garage. Then as now, a used good car is better than a new crappy car. (e.g. couple year old Corolla is 10x better than a new "smart" and less expensive)

[@frglee]

One of the oddest vehicles I have seen was an early 1930s British three wheeler van, basically a 500cc twin cylinder motorbike with two wheels at the back powered by a chain, and a metal framed kind of wooden shed on top. You sat astride it and used handlebars to steer inside the cab. Apparently it was an economical design for deliveries and tradesmen to carry their tools and materials about in. The early 3-wheeled Reliants were similar, but by the late 40s they ended up being engineered more like a car or small van, being made until the 90s.

[@saxon-mt5by]

It also meant that it could be driven by a sixteen-year-old with a motorcycle licence, so the company could employ him for less than someone older with a car licence.

[@thistime4you]

Not sure what planet you're on but cycle car builds are booming.

[@ultimateformulations]

That is fantastically weird! I love it.

[@TheColinputer]

Hey least it will never be like take me to the dealer. I need my brain re programed with 20 laptops and a $5000 bill. Actually now i think about it. The global chip shortages wont affect these cars. They should start production again.

[@billyclyde5129]

Pretty cool, but I would have liked a little info on the engine. It sounded like a possible two stroke.

[@billyclyde5129]

@@marknugent2775 Obviously the car.

[@Backroad_Junkie]

I'm sure there are more places that have weird cars than Lane, but I guess they don't let people drive 'em. (Did Jason "Cheap Alternative to a Person" Torchinsky even credit the museum?) Between Jason and Aging Wheels, I feel like I've been there, lol...

[@flick22601]

Will you get a chance to drive that LARC LX?

[@jaredj631]

Bro that’s a fancy go cart

[@CaptHollister]

Is it possible that reverse is achieved by timing a spark at just the right moment to send the single-cylinder two-stroke spinning backwards ?

[@tww1981]

Nice and interesting car ! Being front drive it was ahead of its time !

[@jaredj631]

I loved my netbook In 2008 lol

[@AtheistOrphan]

So did I.

[@OuijTube]

Aw yeah he’s baaaack

[@johneastman1905]

We need a walking tour of your storage facilities, and the amphibious military vehicle !

[@douglasfur3808]

The steering front end solves the FWD problem of combining steering and power at the wheels. No CV joints or steering bit to engineer. And to proove its genious Fuller's dymaxion car had the motor that turned with the rear wheel. It worked better in that the engine was above the wheel and an the same vertical axis.

[@margal]

@4:38 is that Fiat 126p in the background? I've learned how to drive in that thing. I miss it so much... Could you review that in future?

[@michaeldesilvio5532]

This would be very popular today.

[@2wings1bird46]

Cheap, available, fun- but never should have been made 🤷🏼‍♂️🤔

[@marksommers6764]

My `47/'48 Bond Minicar steered the motor too !

[@dennisyoung4631]

“Drives like it’s got a hinge in the middle….” (It *DOES* have a hinge in the middle, er, closer to the front…)

[@duggydugg3937]

I just saw the Ape = bee in Italian ...the Ape car is a trike .. looks like fun

[@G56AG]

You might consider that the driving experience was a lot better when it was new. While the cosmetics look good, it may not be up to spec mechanically.

[@lukewarmwater6412]

also take into account that harnessing a horse to a cart is much more difficult than operating that car.... sometimes the horse doesnt want to go anywhere.

[@davidbryce6970]

It is very common for these type of videos that too much film-time is of the presenter rather than the car's details.

[@SeattleSoulFan]

What's worse, this or the 1951 Hoffman?

[@Desmaad]

Omega Mart t-shirt, nice!

[@Iowa599]

Were those safety goggles prescription?

[@johnforeman6620]

In some countries there was a tax advantage for small engined vehicles. This does not show the steering mechanism. Does it have cart-type steering ?

[@nateharder2286]

The original go kart

[@mikita.saladkevich]

Jason looks like a beast from Men In Black 3 wearing this glasses

[@mikita.saladkevich]

Boris the Animal

[@Rowsdow3r]

I can see Mr. Fischoeder from Bob's Burgers driving this.

[@andyvitale6071]

And what was it's cost?

[@billy2534]

There are several of these cycle cars at the Carillon Park in Dayton, Ohio, although you can't drive them...

[@praveenb9048]

Arguably, a lot of those tuk-tuks in Asia that are built around motorcycle engines -- those are cycle cars.

[@Imp5011]

Cyclecars are a lot easier to like than proper cars of the era. They’re more relatable somehow.

[@C-Henry]

Its about time we bring back the cycle car, could be a way to make a cheap EV commuter, just a no frills, subcompact car that can charge off a standard 110V outlet (or whatever you have in your country) with 100 miles of range, maybe a little less, just enough to get you to work and back and save your dino burner for family vacations.

[@timpauwels3734]

The Citroën Ami and the Renault Twizy are examples.

[@AtheistOrphan]

Citroen Ami?

[@glynluff2595]

I think it was called the C5!

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

Its the car from the kids UK show "brumm"

[@rodneynoriel1528]

I love how Jalopnik tries to clown the technology of the past when for the day these were ingenious solutions. The steering motor was a great solution to not having CV joints or U joints.

[@nathangoshawk]

Is that centre pivot steering? If so no wonder it has a poor turning circle, any tighter and you would be making friends with the road surface for sure.

[@wanea3760]

What the name this car?

[@realnutteruk1]

See also Bond Minicar... made well into the '50's, maybe even '60's.... single front wheel with engine above... the whole lot turned to steer...

[@charlesdarwin4780]

I'd buy one. Heck! I'd drive a street legal go kart to work if I had one.

[@crashbox7130]

As a Brit, I would happily have this contraption sat alongside my late-model Citroen 2CV and 1932 Morris Minor two-seater. Utterly bonkers.

[@ads214]

Like the Omega Mart T

[@BobHarbison]

Cycle Cars do still exist. The Polaris Slingshot is the most common, but there are several others too. They pretty much exist for the same reasons too.

[@BobHarbison]

The pivoting steering mechanism also still exists on large construction loaders. It swings the opposite direction from where you’re turning and it does indeed give a sensation of staring to tip over. Takes a while to get used to it.

[@cohort6159]

I miss Jalopnik. Their website went to shit with huge screen blocking active ad popups that reoccur frequently and interfere with reading or seeing anything. I used to visit every day. Now I look maybe every month and they remind me why I don't go there anymore.

[@lukewarmwater6412]

I have a 1100cc yamaha engine, it is shaft drive and air cooled, now I know what I must do with it!

[@hughwalker5628]

A bit like the Mini killed off microcars like the Isetta and Heinkel in 1959.

[@domecrack]

Omega Mart!

[@highfive55]

✌️

[@stavrin]

This car was made to serve WWI disabled veterans, therefore you have duplicate manual and pedal controls. Post WWII there were similar made in Russia - cheap, simple, duplicate controls, single or double seaters.

[@ChrisHendrickson82]

This seems like the same idea behind the Aston Martin Cygnet, a little city car for day-to-day use while your real car stays at home. This seems to have been about as successful as the Cygnet too.

[@LBJHJP50]

No the cygnet was an emissions dodge

[@jareknowak8712]

First, cyclecars were cheap.

[@AtheistOrphan]

The Cygnet was just a rebadged Toyota iQ.

[@nicholas_scott]

I wonder if the weird steering was to avoid some patent?

[@Backroad_Junkie]

Probably more you don't have to have any weird linkages to turn both front wheels equally at the same time. I seem to remember another car that had a similar setup, but only had one drive wheel. You backed the car up by turning the assembly 180 degrees so instead of driving forward, you drove backward. Weird indeed...

[@kazumadee]

@@Backroad_Junkie Bond Minicars have one wheel at the front that has a pivoting scooter engine, however you reverse that by starting the engine the other way

[@jareknowak8712]

Simplier suspension, less parts.

[@andrewallen9993]

They are still making two Peron cycle cars in India.

[@lawrencetoto9225]

Morron!

[@lawrencetoto9225]

Go away!

[@hideouslyugly]

I like it. If this car was in India it would have 6 people on it....

[@jareknowak8712]

The Grandfather of CycleKart´s. Or Grandmother.

[@PeterBooher]

A cycle car was a motorcycle that kept itself upright and you didn't need motorcycle skills.

[@therealgaragegirls]

Sounds a lot like my old Honda... lawnmower.

[@brianhiles8164]

How many were made? How many were sold? How many still exist? How many dollars would it take to bribe you to drive it again?

[@elizabethcherry920]

A Twizzy could be called a cycle car, think about it, same concept

[@tonycosta3302]

It’s a vintage smart car. Or those silly three wheeled electric vehicle thingies. None of the make sense today either.

[@alexie40stencsi5]

😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀👍👍👍

[@WalterPidgeonsForge]

No credit to the Lane Motor Museum? It’s all about you, isn’t it?

[@squarestanley]

Who’s here from The Grey Nato?

[@white-wy6dg]

What size is the engine? how many cylinders ? you let slip it has two gears but why not tell us about this interesting little car? how many were made and where ? and why does tour camera person not show us much at all bar a beardy bloke in a t shirt ? why did I bother watching this, I guess it was made for 10 year olds.

[@keithmoore5224]

cycle cars popular in uk and europe usaly home made built with pushbike wheels alot lighter than the one you have a lot on you tube just saying

[@flashgordon3715]

Now we have ATV's, make street legal ATV's, electric

[@Vladshock]

It sounds like you keep saying "psycho car".

[@DetroitMicroSound]

You never told us why it should never have been made..... Nor did you even try to show us.

[@yoppindia]

incomplete review, should have shown the engine, transmission, 2nd gear, reverse.

[@jokersmailes]

Check out chevy corvair it's the first turbo air cooled engine ever made !!!! Please where you located? I have a 1965 chevy corvair the war kinda killed off production its the cheap man's corvette 😁

[@KelikakuCoutin]

The Boeing YB-17A Flying Fortress used an air-cooled turbocharged Wright R-1820 engine. This was in 1938, over twenty years before the Corvair Spyder. There might have easily been many other, even earlier, air-cooled turbocharged engines, even before 1938, but I haven't taken the time to research it. Those turbochargers were made by General Electric. So, the Spyder didn't have the "first" air-cooled turbocharged engine ever made.

[@jokersmailes]

@@KelikakuCoutin based on info I read it was the second turbo ever made first mass produced making it technically the first turbo air cooled CAR say it agian CAR

[@KelikakuCoutin]

@@jokersmailes Do you have the Corsa or the Monza?

[@jokersmailes]

@@KelikakuCoutin 4 door 110 monza na (naturally aspirated) so not turbo I'm 24 years old 😁 I love boxer engines I see you folks with Subarus and saw this boxer engines and said yes please

[@philc8575]

The Morgan 3 Wheeler is available today!!

[@kinzieconrad105]

Six flags chaparral cars.

[@josephwiese3937]

So talk about the car show video of the presenter, and limit image's of the car.... SMH

[@lincolngrove2808]

Terrible camerawork

[@johnhudelson2652]

I would take a Trabant over this monstrosity.

[@parkdigwig3447]

Torchinsky=annoying.