Photo: MAXmotive/Classic Cars
For many of us alive today, the name Crosley rings exactly zero bells.The brainchild of industrialist Powell Crosley, the company was active for just a few years, between 1939 and 1952, and was in the business of making incredibly small cars.
For what it’s worth, Crosley might be better known for being the first to use the term sport utility for one of its cars rather than for the actual machines it was making. Also, Crosley was the first carmaker to use an overhead camshaft engine on a mass-market vehicle, and produced anything from sedans to sports cars and even a tiny Jeep-like contraption like the one depicted in the gallery above, one called Farm-O-Road.
All this didn’t stop the company from going out of business in 1952, but some of its ideas seemed interesting enough to others. A San Diego GMC dealer by the name W.B. Crofton got the rights to both the overhead camshaft engine, and the Farm-O-Road design, and set out to make more.
What came later became known as the Crofton Bug, but despite the machine's cute looks these didn’t last for long either, and just around 200 of them were built between 1958 and 1964. That makes them rare, and as with anything rare, there’s always a market for them
The vehicle depicted in the gallery above is a Brawny Bug, a higher-end variety of the line created by Crofton. It was designed, just like the original Farm-O-Road, to be used primarily in farm work, despite the tiny engine powering it: a 53ci that is only good for 45 horsepower.
The interesting thing about it is that the engine is controlled by a compound transmission, made up of the main three-speed and a 2-speed auxiliary one that essentially gives the Bug two reverse speeds in addition to the forward ones.
Fully restored to a shiny new look, the Crofton Brawny Bug is selling for a price others are only willing to pay on older muscle cars: $24,250.
All this didn’t stop the company from going out of business in 1952, but some of its ideas seemed interesting enough to others. A San Diego GMC dealer by the name W.B. Crofton got the rights to both the overhead camshaft engine, and the Farm-O-Road design, and set out to make more.
What came later became known as the Crofton Bug, but despite the machine's cute looks these didn’t last for long either, and just around 200 of them were built between 1958 and 1964. That makes them rare, and as with anything rare, there’s always a market for them
The vehicle depicted in the gallery above is a Brawny Bug, a higher-end variety of the line created by Crofton. It was designed, just like the original Farm-O-Road, to be used primarily in farm work, despite the tiny engine powering it: a 53ci that is only good for 45 horsepower.
The interesting thing about it is that the engine is controlled by a compound transmission, made up of the main three-speed and a 2-speed auxiliary one that essentially gives the Bug two reverse speeds in addition to the forward ones.
Fully restored to a shiny new look, the Crofton Brawny Bug is selling for a price others are only willing to pay on older muscle cars: $24,250.
Google News