Eshelman - Children's Cars

Children's Cars

In 1953 the Cheston L. Eshelman Company, which had produced light aircraft immediately after World War II and then pleasure boats (including the spectacular "Rocket Boat", built from surplus military aircraft wing tanks), lightweight garden tractors and other implements, began producing a tiny air-cooled, one-cylinder automobile, the "Sport Car", in two versions: a basic $295 15 MPH "Child's Sport Car" (CSC) for two children and powered by a two-horsepower Briggs & Stratton #6 engine, and the $395 25 MPH Model 2 "Adult Sport Car" (ASC) for one adult which featured the three-horsepower Briggs & Stratton #8 engine, battery-operated head and tail lamps, seat-cushion upholstery, and trademark chrome "rocket" emblems on its flanks.

A factory brochure advertised 70 MPG fuel consumption and claimed the car was

Ideal for short trips. When it's too far to walk—to the shopping center, to the beach, to work—this little car is the perfect 'runabout'. Even the children can use it about your property. It's so easy to operate and sturdily built. Add an Eshelman trailer cart and it's perfect for hauling and light delivery.

Both models were 54 inches (1,400 mm) in length, 24 inches (610 mm) wide, and 23 inches (580 mm) in height. With its heavy plate-steel platform frames, the CSC weighed 225 lb (102 kg) while the Model 2 ASC (with its larger engine and added accessories) weighed nearly 250 lb (110 kg).

In the earliest models, power from the engine (which was mounted in front, started by rope, and operated with a hand throttle) was transferred by a long drive belt to a simple lever-operated forward/reverse transmission between the rear wheels. This transmission was under the bench seat, and drove power to serrated, cast iron "gears" which drove the wheels through contact friction atop the 2.25x10 semi-pneumatic tire treads. Braking action was accomplished by reversing the transmission.

This unsatisfactory system resulted in heavy tire wear and was soon replaced by a drive belt from an engine-mounted centrifugal clutch to a jackshaft under the seat, and from there by forward-only chain drive to sprockets on one or both rear wheels. The brake pedal mechanically applied paddles to the rear tire treads. Several basic colors were offered (and at least one two-tone combination), with contrasting-color interiors on Adult Sport Car models.

In 1955, vice president Richard M. Nixon was photographed at a gasoline pump "fueling" a Child's Sport Car in a March of Dimes "Fill 'Er Up for Polio" publicity campaign while holding the pump nozzle at the car's rear. Actually, most Eshelman cars were fueled under the hood.

There were a few Eshelman dealers—and customers could take delivery at the Baltimore factory showroom—but business was largely conducted by mail order.

The Sport Car was mostly advertised through postage stamp-sized advertisements in home-crafting and scientific magazines (and occasionally in coffee table magazines) and delivered to buyers in cartons by truck freight. However, the Eshelman company soon found that some customers were disappointed at first sight of the cars' tiny size and were repackaging and returning the cars to the factory. To counter this, the Eshelman company soon implemented a no-return purchase policy.

The cars were popular as gifts, advertising premiums and promotional novelties. US Congressman Francis E. Dorn campaigned for re-election using a specially lettered 1954 Eshelman Child's Sport Car.