It may be small, but it sure is adorable. Check out the 1946 Brogan Doodlebug, the creation of a prolific Ohio inventor.
Frank Brogan clearly had a thing for motor vehicles, and he liked them on the small side. As a sideline at B&B Specialty Co., his machine shop business in Rossmoyne, Ohio northeast of Cincinnatti, he built automobiles and trucks, several lines of motor scooters, and even a folding-wing airplane—all of them remarkably tiny. Probably the cutest of them, in our view anyway, was the 1946 Doodlebug, a miniature two-seat roadster designed by Brogan especially for women.
The Doodlebug was laid out on a three-wheeler chassis with the single wheel at the front, articulated so the vehicle could turn within its own length. Yes, it was tiny: Wheelbase was just 66 inches; overall length 96 inches; width 40 inches; curb weight 450 lbs. It was basic, too. There were no provisions for a top or side curtains.
Either a Briggs & Stratton single or an Onan twin engine could be mounted in the rear of the chassis, providing 10 horsepower. No transmission was deemed necessary, while a centrifugal clutch of Brogan’s own design eliminated the need for a clutch pedal. According to the info supplied to the workbench magazines, the Doodlebug could cover 65 to 70 miles on a single gallon of gas and travel at 45-50 mph. The list price was $400, but as the story goes, Brogan halted production at 30 cars when he found he was losing $100 on each one.
Numerous would-be automakers in the ’40s and ’50s tried to crack open the microcar market in the USA, and none of them got anywhere. That could be due in part to the nation’s changing landscape. A micro-sized shopping car makes some sense in dense urban areas, with homes and stores close to one another. But at the time, Americans were flocking from the cities to the suburbs, where sedans and station wagons were the far more practical choice.
Brogan also offered a tiny truck version of the Doodlebug for light package delivery (below left). A few years later in 1951, he designed an improved three-wheeler with the single wheel at the rear called the Broganette (below right). When the car industry didn’t work out, Brogan refocused his attention on golf carts and scooters and became one of the pioneer go-kart manufacturers.
Thank you for letting us know about another unknown.
I wonder how secure one would feel, being so close to the ground, no side support (doors nor armrests); making turns at even slow speeds may be somewhat concerning in those go kart like vehicles.
This is why I come here. Not only do I love all the information, I find that you are also a very good writer and that makes it even better.
First, thank you for your interest. This crazy stuff is a lot more fun when you have others to share it with. Next, thanks for the kind words. I try to write simply and to the point.
Perhaps this idea is not so crazy. Having lunch at my neighborhood supermarket I saw a couple in a golf cart drive on a side street to the store, pick up their groceries, and head back.
Looks like the Dodge’em cars I rode in at the state fair as a kid.