100-year-old electric car put up for sale (34 photos)

A rare electric car, produced back in 1924 by the American company Automotive Electric Service Corporation, was put up for sale on eBay. The vehicle, called the Auto Red Bug, was marketed as a cheap, smoke-free alternative to the Ford Model T and cost $125, although it offered virtually no amenities. The seller set the minimum amount for which he was willing to part with the car at $17.5 thousand, but during the auction the maximum bid was only $500.





The design of the Auto Red Bug dates back to 1914 - a wheeled cart called the Flyer, invented by a small company called the AO Smith Company, which hoped to sell it as an ultra-affordable means of transportation. The Flyer design included a fifth wheel, equipped with a small internal combustion engine and mounted on a kind of rocker arm. They started it in a raised state, after which the wheel fell onto the asphalt, thereby setting the little car in motion. A few years later, the rights to the design were bought by the large company Briggs & Stratton, but later, when the market was flooded with budget Ford models, it sold the development to the Automotive Electric Service Corporation.

Here they decided to replace the wheel motor with an electric drive, turning the Flyer into an environmentally friendly and very easy to operate Auto Red Bug. However, the basic structure remains the same. The base for the vehicle is a wooden platform, which also, due to its ability to bend somewhat, serves as a damper - the Auto Red Bug does not have the usual suspension. There is also no transmission - the electric motor directly drives one of the rear wheels, and there are only two pedals. The battery was stored in a box behind the seats. The ultra-affordable price was ensured, among other things, by the absence of not only a roof, but also a body.

It is generally accepted that in this form the electric car became popular not only among private owners, but also, for example, at large resorts - local vehicle fleets were formed from Auto Red Bug to move around the territory. The electric car was on the market until 1930.

The copy up for sale is said to be one of the very few surviving to this day. It is not specified how original it is, but the seller claims that the car is running and can serve both as a decoration for a collection and as a way to attract attention at various thematic exhibitions.