Arunabout is acar body style popular in the 1910s, based on the horse-drawnrunabout carriage.
It was popular in North America from 1900 to about 1915. It was a light, basic style with no windshield, top, or doors and a single row of seats. Runabouts eventually became indistinguishable fromroadsters and the term fell out of use in the United States. The approach has evolved into the modern "city car".
Runabouts originated as a type ofhorse and carriage body.
In 1881,Rufus Meade Stivers produced runabout bodies using a patent held by Joseph Tilton.[1] Stivers, a blacksmith and wheelwright, produced the runabouts in his carriage manufactory on East 31st Street, Manhattan, established in 1851.[2][3]
According toThe Carriage Journal,
The special feature of the runabout was that the body was hung low by usingcranked axles, and the side-bars were attached to legs at the top of the crank. The original runabout was made without a top, and, besides hanging low which made for steadiness, it was roomy and comfortable.[2]
Stivers patented the "runabout" name and threatened to sue other manufacturers for infringement. However,buggies called "runabouts" were produced by other manufacturers and soon applied to many different shapes without regard to the original meaning.[2]
The runabout was a light, inexpensive, open car[4][5] with basic bodywork and no windshield, top, or doors.[4] Most runabouts had just a single row of seats, providing seating for two passengers.[4][5][6] Some also had arumble seat at the rear to provide optional seating for one or two more passengers;[4][6] those without rumble seats may have had a trunk platform, a box, or a fuel tank instead.[6] They differed frombuggies andhigh wheelers mainly by having smaller wheels.[4]
Early runabouts had their engines under the body toward themiddle of the chassis.[4] This sometimes made maintenance difficult, as on theOldsmobile Curved Dash where the body had to be removed in order to access the engine.[7] TheGale runabout dealt with this problem by hinging the body at the rear of the car such that it could be tilted to access the engine.[7][8] Some later runabouts had the engine in what became the conventional position at the front of the car.[4]
Runabouts were popular in North America from the late 19th century to about 1915.[4] They were designed for light use over short distances.[9] By the mid-1910s, they became almost indistinguishable fromroadsters.[10]
Notable examples of runabouts include the Oldsmobile Curved Dash mentioned earlier, which was the firstmass-produced car,[7] and theCadillac runabout, which won theDewar Trophy for 1908 by demonstrating its use ofinterchangeable parts.[11]
The 1964 GM Runabout was athree wheelconcept car first exhibited atFuturama II, part of the1964 New York World's Fair. The car was designed specifically for housewives and had detachableshopping carts built into it.[12]
The term "runabout" is still in use in the UK, denoting a small car used for short journeys.[13]
n.1 a small car used for short journeys
Runabout. A general term for a light two-passenger car of the early 1900s.
Under RAC observation three cars from stock were completely dismantled, their parts intermixed, and three new cars assembled, all working flawlessly — a feat that won Cadillac the coveted Dewar Trophy.
The Oldsmobile merits its niche in history as the first true example of mass-production, some 3,750 being turned out in 1903 alone... Despite the Oldsmobile's known reliability, the makers' handbook launches out on the first page of text with the alarming suggestion: 'Let us first remove the body'!