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profitable by carefully matching their production to sales. They had produced a unique car of their own design and constantly introduced improvements and refined their design. The new owners had a different vision; they vastly increased production but the anticipated increased sales did not follow. By 1969 the company was forced into bankruptcy. Production manager Vernon Eads bought the remains of Midget Motors under the name
Barthman Corporation. He moved the base of operations to Glouster, Ohio, just north of Athens where he could rent space cheaply. He opened a plant in Florida, but after a fire there the company closed in 1970. In 1991, Skip Weaver of Sunapee, NH started making parts and buying and selling King Midgets. In 2015, he registered the trademark, and owns all rights to the name "King Midget" and their likeness. Moving from Sunapee to Clermont, Florida in 2002, since 2022,he is operating in Hinsdale, NH, hoping to manufacture whole cars in the near future.
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266:. A fire at his newly built Florida plant destroyed the only body mold. The 1970 run was 15 cars, including the only three Commuters ever built. The costs of rebuilding after the fire, combined with new safety and emissions standards, were more than Eads could bear, and he closed the company in 1970.
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was also available in assembled form, powered by a 6 hp (4.5 kW) Wisconsin engine. Since adding a differential would have increased the cost, the car was driven by the right rear wheel only. It used a centrifugal clutch designed by Orcutt. The pair began to develop a two-passenger micro car
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was introduced. On a new, 76.5 in (1,940 mm) wheelbase, and now measuring 117 in (300 cm) overall, it was still smaller than a
Crosley. It now had four-wheel hydraulic brakes and was powered by a 9.2 hp (6.9 kW) Wisconsin single cylinder engine. The unit-body, which was
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Midget Motors' primary methods of advertising their cars were through small advertisements in popular magazines that appealed to home mechanics. The ads were tiny but effective; they showed a midget car and some earlier ads contained the phrase "500 lb. car for $ 500.00". The ads brought in a steady
137:. Dry and Orcutt were inspired by their experience flying the Civil Air Patrol to create a car based on aircraft construction principles. By 1948, they began to use the name Midget Motors Manufacturing Co. In about 1956, Dry and Orcutt changed the name of their company to Midget Motors Corporation.
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Although the founders had maintained their independence, by the 1960s they were approaching retirement age. In 1966 they accepted a buy-out offer from a group led by Joseph
Stehlin, backed by investment bankers and the owners retired, remaining as consultants. Over the years they had remained
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Today, more information about the King Midget is made available by members of the King Midget Car Club, which offers books on the history of the cars, an annual gathering of fans and owners, and information about spare parts, repairs, vendors, and restoration. In recent years, an increased
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was in production, the company began to offer the option of a two-speed automatic transmission that included a reverse. This transmission, developed and patented by Orcutt and Dry, was soon to be included as standard equipment and was used on all subsequent models.
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or reverse, but it was light, strong, and available for just $ 500. In 1955, a custom model of the Model 2 was introduced. It lasted through 1957, with the price remaining under $ 550. By contrast, a four-passenger 1952 Crosley CD
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produced between 1946 and 1970 by the Midget Motors
Corporation. The King Midget company started out by offering a kit to build a car, but soon added completely assembled cars and later only offered completed cars.
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stream of interested customers. Some of the magazines featured articles about the car and several pictured the car on their front cover. This method of direct selling continued for most of the life of the company.
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engine, while the
Trainer used a 3 hp (2.2 kW) Briggs and Stratton. Both had an automatic clutch with a geared, reverse transmission in the drive train. They were discontinued in the early 1960s.
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Company founders Claud Dry and Dale Orcutt, airplane pilots turned car designers, first sold the King Midget as part of their Midget Motors Supply operations in
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engine, and also converted the car to a 12-volt electrical system. Midget production lasted through the 1960s, and eventually almost 5,000 were built.
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in 1947. In total, nine separate prototypes were built until the designers met their goals of simplicity, lightness, and economy. The result was the
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appreciation has developed about the qualities of the King Midget's efficient use of materials, fuel economy, ruggedness, and ease of repair.
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welded for increased strength, was continued throughout to the end of production. The 1958 price approached $ 900. (The much bigger
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After Vernon Eads bought the remains of Midget Motors, he created plans for a new model, the
Commuter, a one-piece
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offered either fully assembled or as a kit, powered by a 23 cu in (0.4 L) 7.5 hp (5.6 kW)
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and all-terrain vehicles that were to become popular later. The Junior was powered by a 2.5 hp (1.9 kW)
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started at $ 1775.) In 1966 more power was added when the company switched to a 12 hp (8.9 kW)
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was a single-passenger kit designed to resemble a midget racer. The kit included the
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Rothenberg, Al (November 15, 1966). "One
Cylinder Success Car".
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Bloom, Larry (March 8, 1970). "A Bumpy Road to
Success".
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Wisconsin AENL engine. With a 72 in (1,800 mm)
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Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
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King Midget: The Story of
America's Smallest Dream Car
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404:the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide (2007-09-04).
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474:. King Midgets West, Arroyo Grande, CA 2007.
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453:. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Coy, 2008.
222:In the 1950s, Midget Motors developed the
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406:"HowStuffWorks article on King Midget"
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214:as low as $ 1002. Soon after the
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460:. "Concours d'Ordinaire".
44:Midget Motors Corporation
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449:Flory, J. "Kelly", Jr.
408:. Auto.howstuffworks.com
270:The King Midget Car Club
516:Cars introduced in 1946
451:American Cars 1946-1959
22:King Midget (Model III)
466:(March 1993): 115–119.
181:magazine in 1951, the
262:car that resembled a
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153:The first generation
97:1-cylinder air-cooled
485:King Midget Car Club
297:Akron Beacon Journal
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470:Vahsholtz, Bob.
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187:convertible
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118:King Midget
81:convertible
536:1960s cars
531:1950s cars
500:Categories
444:References
412:2011-11-05
264:dune buggy
260:fiberglass
87:Powertrain
49:Production
506:Microcars
195:wheelbase
191:sidevalve
122:micro car
109:automatic
421:cite web
232:go-karts
149:Vehicles
107:2-speed
68:microcar
36:Overview
244:Model 3
228:Trainer
216:Model 2
183:Model 2
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167:Model 1
159:chassis
129:History
79:2-door
253:Kohler
224:Junior
120:was a
93:Engine
279:Notes
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315:LOOK
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