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• Auction House:
  Donington Auctions
• Sale Name:
  Collectors' Motorcycles, Cars & Horse Drawn Carriages - Featuring the Private Museum of Racing Driver Bryan Thomson
• Sale Date:
  20 Jun 2021 ~ 2pm (AEST)
• Lot #:
  45
• Lot Description:
  1920 BRIGGS & STRATTON 'FLYER' (later known as the Auto Red Bug) two seat motorised buckboard cyclecar
  Engine Number 965
• Provenance:
  Herman Teeter, Richmond, Indiana; James Altman, Arnold, Philadelphia; Mervyn Kroll, Queensland; Allen Smith, Queensland; Private collection, Goulburn
• Notes:
  Originally sold as an inexpensive, lightweight two seat car by the AO Smith Company in Milwaukee between 1915 and 1919, Briggs and Stratton purchased the rights for the design in 1919 and relaunched the vehicle as the Briggs and Stratton Flyer. The simple ash and hickory framing combined rudimentary coachwork with suspension, the fifth, driving, wheel being mounted on a pivot at the rear and arranged in-unit with the single cylinder engine. A lever allowed the engine to be lifted up for starting and lowered to move forwards, and speeds of 15 to about 45kmh per hour could be achieved. Popular in the early 1920s, by the 1930s the model was supplied with an electric motor instead of the petrol version. This example's original owner in America sent the engine back to Briggs and Stratton in 1961 to be reconditioned at a cost rather higher than the original US$125 purchase price and had the rest of the car restored professionally in Florida. A number of small adjustments were made at the factory at the owner's suggestion including bracing the fenders, which also act as brake drums, and lengthening the control cables. The car was exported to Australia by Queensland Ford Model T enthusiast Merv Kroll in 2008 and spent time in Queensland with one other custodian until joining the vendor's private transport collection in Goulburn NSW. Documentation includes the earlier history of this vehicle and an Australian Government Import Approval from 2008. It has recently been recommissioned and is running and roadworthy, should one be game enough! One of an extremely small number of documented original Briggs & Stratton Flyers to survive.
• Estimate:
  A$15,000 - 18,000
• Realised Price:
  $0.00
• Category:
  Automobiles & Accessories

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.