1952 King Midget Model 2--SOLD (Maine) - $0
1952 King Midget Model 2 For Sale or Trade
This is a nicely restored, drively quality second model of the Ohio-made King Midget, a two passenger convertible offered either fully assembled or as a kit, powered by the 7.5 horsepower Wisconsin AENL engine. This car comes with door panels and frame for convertible top. WHen restored, this car has a aluminum floor installed.
This model firmly established King Midget's reputation and incredible ability to perform extraordinary feats. It could carry more than its own weight, it could pull exceptionally heavy loads, it had the agility of a mountain goat; all over arduous terrain with durability and economy for thousands of miles. It began as the 500 pound car for $500. The Model 2 King Midget was a basic vehicle with a hand start cable on the left, outside behind the seat.
The International King Midget Car Club describes this unique microcar history as follows: "n its day, the King Midget was billed as the "World's Number One Fun Car." It still is for those lucky enough to own one. Such fans then and now helped establish Midget Motors’ significant niche in the annals of automobile history. In 1946, two aviator friends, Dale Orcutt and Claud Dry formed a partnership to build the automobile they believed America needed. In that postwar period, it was commonly thought that World War II debts would plunge the US back into depression. Yet there would surely be a pent-up demand for new automobiles since none had been built during the war. The solution was thought to be small, inexpensive automobiles. General Motors, Ford and a host of new companies set out to provide them, including Midget Motors. When the postwar economy boomed, the big companies dropped their small car programs and the new microcar companies folded—all but one—Midget Motors. Claud and Dale took a unique approach to the auto business; the time-honored path of small town entrepreneurs. They started small, creating a self-sustaining business and then used that business to build the car of their dreams. A modest, simple car “… a school boy could afford.” Lacking capital, they bootstrapped a small parts and publishing business into a car company. And they made it work. They built on Claud’s Used Aircraft Directory, evolving an ad service called the Midget Motors Directory for small engines and surplus, some of which was their own merchandise. They drew plans for microcars, scooters and the like, and offered the plans and parts to build them. The business was immediately profitable. Plans for a simple car that looked like a quarter midget quickly morphed into a kit containing the key parts. Claud’s wife named the car “King Midget”. A small building was acquired where Dale built a growing array of components for the car as well as Super-Cycle motor scooters. About 500 Model 1 King Midgets were built and a comparable number of scooters. Demand for the King Midget really took off when Tom McCahill, the legendary automotive journalist, drove and praised the King Midget in 1949. Simultaneously customers requested a two-seat version, and great effort went into designing a new car, as well as a new factory to produce both King Midgets and scooters. The partners took out a mortgage to build the factory, but continued to operate the business on cash flow, building only when orders with deposit were in hand. The 1951 two-passenger King Midget that came to be called the Model 2 was an immediate success after great publicity including the cover of Popular Science magazine. Demand overwhelmed the new facility, particularly when an order for hundreds of cars came from Mexico. The factory was doubled in size, soon paid for and Midget Motors continued to operate on a cash basis. It is estimated about 1,500 Model 2’s were built. Continuous improvements were made to the King Midget and it became the focus of production. The Midget Motors Directory inspired the partners to charge a small fee for their brochures. Those pamphlets, advertised in the home mechanic magazines, inspired endless quarters and dollars to pour into the small Midget Motors headquarters, as well as enough orders with deposit to keep the factory’s 20 or so workers busy. Nearly all cars were sold by mail order. Claud ran the business while Dale ran the factory and both worked on improvements and innovations, some of which were patented."
