RUMCars Forum

General Category => Invalid Carriages & other related conveyances => Topic started by: Stuart Cyphus on October 11, 2008, 11:32:37 AM

Title: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on October 11, 2008, 11:32:37 AM
 I've been adding to the conveyance collection again!  ::)  This time, to join the Model 70, Harding Consort & BEC Scoota which have already passed though my hands, and the Argson Electric still here, comes a 1963 Wrigley Electric Chair, located in Cheltenham and due to arrive here sometime on Monday.....

  :o  (http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z211/stuartcyphus/wrigley.jpg)   :o

 Even though I'd always said "No more Electrics", I've always fanced one of these and this is the only complete one out of only two that I know of.  Read all about it in Conveyancer issue three, due out 1st March 2009.
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Jean on October 11, 2008, 06:14:48 PM
Stuart, is there any connection with your Wrigley Electric Chair and our three-wheeled farm truck  r made by Wessex Industries (Poolle) Ltd of West Street, Poole, Dorset in 1960?  That of course has a Villiers 125cc engine.  Jean
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on October 11, 2008, 07:26:53 PM
 Yes, it's the exact same company, with my chair also being made at Poole. In later years the company moved to Wantage, Oxfordshire, & Dad has a 1974 version of your truck, built at Wantage. We've also recently came across a chap (have his detauils if anyones interested) who's started a Wrigley Register, primerily for their trucks & rotavators. I don't think he's ever heard of the Wrigley Electrc Chair. Yet.  ;)    Do you want this on the RUM Register Jean or is it enough that I've got it?
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: P50 on October 12, 2008, 10:42:16 AM
Oddly enough if you said to the layman you had just discovered a rare '63 classic with alloy wheels and a private plate I don't think they'd have that contraption in mind.

Congratulations Captain Cyphus. You have officially been awarded the RUM golden Schmitt gear selector retaining nut (under the oil filler which everyone removes and suffers horrific repercussions). This is in respect of being utterly away with the fairies and awarded for being eccentric of the year!

Good show!
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Bob Purton on October 12, 2008, 11:49:59 AM
Ditto.. but equally if you said to the man in the street that you had acquired an "electric chair" they would also conjure up an image of something quite different! Shocking!!
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Jawmedead on October 12, 2008, 12:18:13 PM
Well done foer saving it Stuart. A Peel without its skin! and much rarer.  ;D
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Jean on October 12, 2008, 06:24:59 PM
I think that it is sufficient for you to have it on your Register which, after all, is far more comprehensive than mine as far as "Conveyances" are concerned.  Of course you may put it on the Register if you wish, if it is road going, it ticks all the boxes which more than I can say for my Wrigley Truck which was never intended for the road.
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on October 12, 2008, 08:54:11 PM
Congratulations Captain Cyphus. You have officially been awarded the RUM golden Schmitt gear selector retaining nut (under the oil filler which everyone removes and suffers horrific repercussions). This is in respect of being utterly away with the fairies and awarded for being eccentric of the year!

   ;D  I accept the award with humble thanks.  :-*  My life is now compete apart from one day hopefully bagging the Grot award at a future National.

 Just spent today with the Trojan Owners Club touring the countryside around Oxford in a 1924 Trojan Utility. Solid beam axles, band brakes, two-stroke engine, 23mph flat out along the A420....  I think I've just fallen in love again!   ;D 
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: AndrewG on October 13, 2008, 12:04:11 AM
That looks an intriguing conveyance.  But isn't it a piece of crap design, or is there some hidden trick to using it?  It looks like it needs a particularly athletic driver to clamber over the (apparently fixed) handlebar and manoeuvre his legs into position.  It'll be 'his' legs as it can't be combined with the skirt that any self-respecting lady would want to be able to wear at the time it was made, particularly when meeting the vicar.  And isn't athleticism something of a long shot for a user of such a conveyance?

It looks a lovely device to have, but I can guess why only two got made....

Andrew
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on October 13, 2008, 11:38:52 AM
 The chair has landed safely about 10 O'clock this morning & is actuklly in better condition than I was expecting! Naturally all the paint has gone (stove enamel aluminium apparently) & everything is bone-dry but nothing a few days in the shed can't cure. Could do with a new set of rear mudguards if one is totally fussy, but all-in-all, not bad at all concidering its been unused since 1969 ! Look out for the odd extra photo going up as & when.....    ;D

 To answer the questions so-far asked, the handlebars lift out at seatbase level to aid getting in & out but I must say the bar's a little close for comfort when you're actully seated in it, partriculery when fishing for the brake handlle!  :o  - 'Mornin' Vicar....
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on October 13, 2008, 04:27:21 PM
 A couple of new photos to keep you all going.....   :D

(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z211/stuartcyphus/S7301594.jpg)

(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z211/stuartcyphus/S7301596.jpg)
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: P50 on October 13, 2008, 05:28:44 PM
No numberplate light. That's illegal!

I think you should replace the electric motor with an Honda OHC 49cc and use it a daily driver. (are they Scootacar mk2 back lights?)
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: AndrewG on October 13, 2008, 06:54:21 PM
.....the handlebars lift out at seatbase level to aid getting in & out......
Aahh!  That explains it. 

I do hope there is some way of locking them back in - it would be horrid to go over a bump and find one had a pair of loose handlebars in one's hands, like something out a Keystone Cops film.

And are those angled tubes behind the footrests a sort of anti-tip-over protection along the lines of the Acoma front baby wheels?

Andrew
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on October 13, 2008, 08:10:04 PM
 Alas Andrew, those handlebars do just sit loose in their holder, so a Keystone impersonation is perfectly possible. Health & Safety? What was that in 1963?   I'm also starting to think that what I thought was a brake lever on the bars might actully be the main stop/go lever. When you pull the lever, it pushes out a sort of contact at the base of the main tube which rubs on something or other in the gloom of that hole.

 Those angled tubes are indeed stablisers. The left-hand one is broken & a bit twisted (I think someone picked it up from there). As can be seen fron the attatched picture, some of the smaller (as in narrower) Wrigley trucks also followed the same styling.  :)

(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z211/stuartcyphus/606c_1.jpg)

 Scootacar Mk 2 rear lights? Oh dear. If they are, that means I've got yet another vehicle where the sum of the parts are worth more than the whole.  ;) & I'll have to put an armed guard on it when I show it.....

 When I get the Chair running, it should be capible of 3 mph & have a range of 7 miles. Hmm, sounds good to me......   ;D
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Bob Purton on October 13, 2008, 09:42:03 PM
Dont worry Stu pot, Mk2 rear lights can be bought new, not a rare item like mk1's are!
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on October 16, 2008, 06:26:59 PM
...are they Scootacar mk2 back lights?

 Rear lights on the Wrigley were made by PMG, are they a match for Hunslet's finest?....

 Wired up a battery for it today. Some faint clickings were heard coming from deep within the control box. After 45 years there's life in the old dog yet,  :D   stay tuned for future instalments of the Wrigley comeback show......
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Jawmedead on October 16, 2008, 06:33:19 PM
AHA.  Now there's something to chew on. Hope the bubble doesn't burst and you get all gummed up.  ::) ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: marcus on October 17, 2008, 10:05:50 AM
Stuart, how are you going to attach a drum kit on to it ?!
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Inaheinkel on October 18, 2008, 02:22:30 PM
Hi Stuart

I knew you were into some odd stuff.

Eddie Mays  last used this electric chair 15th August 1963

This was the last execution in New York prior to the death penalty being declared unconstitutional in New York.

John
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Scootacar_mk1 on October 21, 2008, 07:31:25 PM
Dont worry Stu pot, Mk2 rear lights can be bought new, not a rare item like mk1's are!
Not sure you can get these new anymore!
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Bob Purton on October 22, 2008, 06:20:50 PM
You may be right, I just check with the company that sold them and they are no longer on the list.
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on November 01, 2008, 03:23:39 PM
 THE WRIGLEY LIVES!   :o 

 After much fiddling about earlier today, the Wrigley burst into life at just past 11am....

(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z211/stuartcyphus/S7301740.jpg)

 Nothing wrong with that is there!  ;D  8)  Now all it needs is a bit of a wire-brushing and some silver paint round the frame....
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Jawmedead on November 01, 2008, 04:15:10 PM
Poo, I can smell the burning wires from here.  ::) ;D Well done Stu.
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on November 11, 2008, 10:20:43 PM
The latest report.....   ;D

(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z211/stuartcyphus/S7301745.jpg)
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: marcus on November 12, 2008, 08:22:29 AM
Well done! Not really a bubble car, more like a chewing gum car !
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: cuscus47 on November 12, 2008, 11:06:33 AM
Nice job Stuart.   8) Are you on your way for a MOT?
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Jawmedead on November 12, 2008, 01:09:41 PM
It's good of the council to put a line down the middle of the pavement for you to follow!  ;D
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Bob Purton on November 12, 2008, 04:25:09 PM
"A bit like a chewing gum car" Marcus? Now I'm worried, our local council has a white van that automatically scrapes gum off the pavement and flicks it in a big dustbin, look out Stuart, I can see it coming! Seriously Stuart, well done for getting it going, how far can you go on a single battery charge?
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: AndrewG on November 12, 2008, 10:43:33 PM
Stuart, that looks great - though you could look a little more like you're having fun.

Does it just look like it darts to one side every time that front wheel merely sniffs a bump, or does it actually steer like that?  Your knuckles look slightly white from a distance......

You can pull up alongside P50 drivers, making comments like "what possible need can there be for such a huge vehicle?...."

Andrew
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Stuart Cyphus on March 18, 2015, 03:48:25 AM

You can pull up alongside P50 drivers, making comments like "what possible need can there be for such a huge vehicle?...."


 (Holy thread resurrection Batman!)   :o

 At long last, proof, if it were needed, that there are indeed some things in life smaller than a Peel P50....   ;)
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: richard on March 18, 2015, 06:36:27 AM
You won't get away with that surely Stuart !
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Peel replica, Steve Fisk on March 18, 2015, 08:40:53 AM
I've not seen this thread before , interesting read need more of this on the forum, I didn't know chairs like that existed and now I want one!
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: richard on March 18, 2015, 08:54:47 AM
It's got 03.48 hrs all over it  ;)
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Big Al on March 18, 2015, 09:10:20 AM
Personally I think its more interesting than a Peel. Davros meets Old Sparky. THere ought to be a few more of these and speed trials in a vellodrome.
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Bob Purton on March 18, 2015, 09:59:13 AM
With a name like Wrigley they really ought to have made BUBBLE cars but alas, not.  Something to chew on.  ;D 
When this thread was started there was no category for IC's and related conveyances and I think Stuart here is trying to sneak under the radar or throw down some sort of prosthetic gauntlet. Am I going to move it to the correct category? Am I heck as like! After all the grief I got last time for just doing my job! Well played Stuart. I will get you back though! ;) ;D  This is not to say that one of the other moderators will not do the right thing.
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Big Al on March 18, 2015, 10:26:58 AM
I think a Wrigley microcar might be overblown. Did they have the gumption to stretch that far?  ;D

Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Barry on March 18, 2015, 10:33:45 AM
Obviously my Braune now sits nicely within the Microcar category - just need to get it registered for the road :)
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Big Al on March 18, 2015, 11:43:38 AM
Must be a microcar. It has a tartan interior!  ;D

That is a nice looking example. I like it. Hopefully an economical collecting area, but one of merit and interest. Bit like older Garden Tractors. Not really fashionable yet, but I can see the interest.
Title: Re: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Peel replica, Steve Fisk on March 18, 2015, 01:10:37 PM
When were these cars built ?
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Big Al on March 18, 2015, 03:12:40 PM
That could depend upon which thread your reading this on. Steve would like the answer for grown ups, please. :o
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: cuscus47 on March 19, 2015, 07:11:42 AM
Stuart very quick to show the wheelchair motoring along , but shortly after was seen being rescued by Mike Shepherd after the battery gave up  ;D

I really do not understand this photo or the comment.  Is it pertinent to Stuart, Mike or the Wrigley?  Can someone explain?

There are quite a few similar IC's to the Wrigley, such as the AC Epic , many Meyra's, the Custer Chair, Voltman E100, Stevens, and Elka.  Electric as well as petrol.
Title: Re: Stuart's latest purchase.....
Post by: Big Al on March 19, 2015, 07:48:32 AM
Yes, please do. Ahem.

I like it. First of all, Ian, may I mention my manky Meyra was made your merry Meyra a year ago May.
The Custer Chair sounds more like a threat. Beware of Indian Enthusiast runs! I wonder if it has a little bighorn?
The Voltman is even more scary. Is the pole extra? I assume the driver leaves the chair behind, as he is levered up, towards the second story window, or other suitable target.
Elka, Yiddish for 'oath to god'. Hmm, not seen one, but they might be on to something.
For those who might be confused, this is called humour.