| LuLu Cyclecar | |
|---|---|
 1914 Lulu Cyclecar from Cycle & Automobile Trade Journal | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Kearns Motor Truck Company |
| Also called | Kearns-Kar |
| Production | 1914–1915 |
| Assembly | Beavertown, Pennsylvania |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Cyclecar |
| Body style | roadster |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | Farmers |
| Power output | 12-hp |
| Transmission | 3-speed selective |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 96-inch |
| Width | 44-inch |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Kearns Trio |
The LuLu cyclecar was produced by the Kearns Motor Truck Company in Beavertown, Snyder County, Pennsylvania from 1914 to 1915.
History
The company was founded by Charles Maxwell Kearns in 1903. Kearns was the son of a buggy maker and had a gift for invention but little more than a grade school education. He began by first mounting an engine on a buggy and progressed to more elaborate designs and heavy trucks.
The LuLu automobile was manufactured at 25 vehicles per week in 1914. Billed as "more than a cyclecar", it had a four-cylinder monobloc engine and three-speed gearing. It sold for $450, (equivalent to $13,688 in 2023).
Kearns Automobiles
The first logo for the "Kearns Kar Kompany" frames the words in the outline of the grille of a 1907 high wheeler runabout. The logo for the company boasted the car as being "Valveless, Gearless, and Clutchless". The engine for the first vehicles was an air-cooled 3-cylinder "porcupine head" two cycle engine. The vehicle's transmission was a friction drive, consisting of a flat spinning flywheel mounted on the engine which was set at right angles to a rubber lined steel drive wheel which slid from side to side on a drive shaft mounted in parallel to the rear axle. Sprockets on the end of the drive shaft relayed power to the rear wheels via a pair of chains, one per wheel..
Cyclecar
The introduction of the LuLu cyclecar in 1914 marked a change in engineering for the vehicle. The two cycle engine was discarded in favor of the more reliable 4-stroke engine and a clutch and 3-speed transmission replaced the friction drive. World War I caused the company to cease production. However, after the Great War, the company resumed production but shifted to making trucks, including fire trucks.
References
- ^ Kimes, Beverly Rae; Clark Jr., Henry Austin (1996). Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 (3rd ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9.
- ^ Campbell, Jim (2005). Snyder County. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-3740-3. - Page 15