A New King Midget Car?

 

This is a copy of a page in the Collectible Automobile magazine dated October 1994. It was part of an article on the King Midget cars. This was a design for a 'series 5' of cars. If one clicks on the image and zooms in, one can read the article that tells of this car. 

As far as I know, it was never made. It would be cool if it was. It would be a modern take on the older King Midge car designs. 

I always wondered how it would be made with existing parts from other vehicles. The original had one back wheel that was powered. It had a small air cooled engine that was located in the back of the vehicle. For more details on the King Midget cars, one can visit the King Midge Owners Club website where they have photos and information on all the models.

The below is just me 'thinking out loud' as to how a newer King Midget car could be made.

As for a transaxle, I think one that is from a rickshaw or other similar vehicle would be great. They are not a big vehicle but neither is the King Midget. I think it would improve handling since it would power both back wheels instead of just the one (which causes the little car to pull to one side). 

For the transmission, I think a CVT from a high end scooter would be great. It would have the economy of a manual transmission and the ease of an automatic. Since the newer KM would be a lightweight vehicle, I think it could work. There might be some who disagree but this is just me thinking out loud. 

Or an alternative would be the engine and transmission from a Secma Performance vehicle which small and light weight (I am not sure how it would compare to the KM but I think it is similar in size). The KM is rear engine and rear wheel drive. I believe the Secma Performance is also rear engine and rear wheel drive (I have to check again to be sure).

Perhaps one could make it an electric vehicle? One could use the rickshaw transaxle and use an electric motor attached via a CVT. One could have the batteries under the hood? It would be a lot of batteries (or have a small gas engine under the hood attached to a small generator that powers the motor? - similar to the diesel electric trains?). 

Of course all of the above is just what I think could happen. I don't have a degree in anything that would be related to the above (I have a degree in theology but none of the courses covered in designing or building a car).  If anyone tries the above, the success would be on them and how they adapt my ideas to reality (it would be neat if someone did try). 

TomLeeM

2024 / 01 / 13