At the dawn of the Mustang era, Ford shipped a pre-production car to the Dearborn Steel Tube Company to experiment with it, and they decided to shorten it by 16 inches, fit a custom fiberglass body and turn its 260-cubic inch V8 into a 302, creating probably the most unique pony car ever built. It’s so small, they had to move the fuel filler opening to the trunk lid.

After taking it on a promotional road show, Ford planned to send this one-off to the crusher. But its designer, Vince Gardner stole it and walled it up inside of the back of a warehouse. He didn’t try to sell it and he didn’t leave a trail. He also didn’t pay the rent for the warehouse where the Mustang was discovered six months later. Since they already paid out the claim for it, an insurance company took possession and one of its executives purchased it from the firm.

Today it’s owned by Bill Snyder, who first saw it on a Ford travelling show and fell in love the moment he laid eyes on it. Why Ford never put it into production it is still a mystery.

Just accepted into the 2014 Ault Park Concours d’Elegance is this Sears 1909 Motor Buggy. As with everything Sears sold, this vehicle could be ordered directly from the catalogue. Pictured below is the Model L that included such amenities as fenders, a top, running boards, and pneumatic tires. This automobile was manufactured by the Sears Motor Car Works factory in Chicago, Illinois.

The engine has a 2-cylinder air cool, direct-opposed engine with 4” diameter bore and horsepower of 14. Top speed is 20 MPH.

According to searsmotorbuggy.com, the Motor Buggy could be picked up in Chicago or delivered by rail to your closest railroad depot. All that a new owner needed to do was uncrate it, do some minor assembly, add fuel and oil and drive it home.

In 1957, Automotive designer Robert Cumberford and cartoon artist/creative visionary Stan Mott created the very first Cyclops II. It was made from a single rectangular piece of metal bent into a “U” shape. Sections were cut out for windshield and backlight. It had a huge Lucas P-100 headlamp centered in the front. The Cyclops was introduced in Road and Track’s March 1957 issue in an article titled ‘Beyond Belief.’ The car was road tested in the September 1957 Road and Track issue and in the last fifty three years has been featured in twenty two articles. Part microcar and part go-kart the Cyclops II has become a fixture of American motoring history.

In 2010, father and son team, Glen and Matt Thomas built a representation of the Cyclops II from scratch. It was a project, which started with the picture of Stan Mott in the original, a three view drawing of the Cyclops II and the road test article with the overall dimensions. Glenn developed a layout using a go-cart drive and steering type system. They built the car in their garage using simple tools such as circular saw, drill press, hand jigsaw and a 110 Mig welder. The rolled panels were accomplished using a homemade roller, which consisted of a pipe sitting on wood. The basic materials are 16-gauge steel and 3/4-inch plywood for the floor.

The Cincinnati Concours d’Elegance Foundation is proud to announce that this faithful reproduction of the iconic Cyclops II has been accepted into the 2014 Ault Park Concours d’Elegance to be held on June 8, 2014.