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Motor Car Replica - Ford Quadricycle, 1896
Reg. No: ST 026696
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- Summary:
- This replica of Henry Ford's first car was built in 1963 by Tom Myers for the Ford Motor Company of Australia. Ford commissioned the Quadricycle replica to mark the centenary of Henry Ford's birth in 1863. Myers ran the engineering firm Vivian Expositions in Wellington Street, Clifton Hill, Melbourne but due to a tight production deadline, much of the construction of the replica was done by Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) at their engineering workshop. Ford Australia initially wanted a static vehicle but then proposed using a modern engine. Due to engineering problems involved with disguising a new engine, a replica of Ford's original two-cylinder, four horsepower, 750 c.c unit was built by TAA. Vivian Expositions specialised in sectioning mechanical items for display purposes including new model Ford car mock-ups and display vehicles. Most of the Museum's sectioned exhibits were prepared by Vivian Expositions over many years in the 1960s and 1970s.
Ford Australia used the Quadricycle for promotional purposes which included road trips to Adelaide and Brisbane. In 1970 Ford donated the replica to the Museum and Myers drove it from Clifton Hill to the Museum in Swanston Street on 29 July 1970. In 1976, the quadricycle was flown to Singapore to be the centrepiece of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Ford operations in Malyasia and Singapore, again driven by Myers who demonstrated the replica at Shah Alam Racing Circuit in November 1976. Ford borrowed the vehicle again in 1980 for the Melbourne Motor Show. In 2008, following a long period of storage at Scienceworks the replica was reactivated to mark the centenary of the Model T Ford and driven at Scienceworks as well as the Lake Goldsmith Rally in November 2008. - Acquisition Information:
- Donation from Ford Motor Co (Aust) Ltd, 1970
| Discipline: | Technology |
More information
| Tagged with: | internal combustion engines, motor cars |
| Themes this item is part of: | Engineering Collection, Transport Collection |
| Primary Classification: | ROAD TRANSPORT |
| Secondary Classification: | Motor Vehicles |
| Tertiary Classification: | motor cars |
| Maker: | Vivian Expositions Co. Pty Ltd, Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia, 1963 Maker of Replica. |
| Past Owner: | Ford Motor Company of Australia Ltd, Australia, 1963-1970 |
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