For bigger kids
Almost every child, especially in Germany, has at a tender age straddled a Bobby-Car. With a happy grin the rug-rats of several generations have propelled themselves joyfully… but at a sedate pace… across the living room carpet under the watchful eye of cautious parents. The first Bobby-Car saw the light of day in 1972. It was invented… as Wikipedia notes… in order to help children learn to walk. It has a kind of seat in which the child can sit as on a motorcycle. By swinging its legs, the child can move the car. Today, numerous accessories exist such as connecting rods, light running tyres, trailer, etc. As well as being manufactured in different colours, it also comes in variants such as a police car or tow truck. Special editions have been made to honour well known German cars, such as the Mercedes-Benz SLK, Audi TT, Smart and Volkswagen Beetle. In cooperation with tyre manufacturer Fulda a model having real tires rather than the usual hard plastic variety was produced. Adults, too, have bestridden Bobby-Cars and undertaken exploits like downhill racing… the ‘official’ German speed record of a Bobby-Car was set on 28 April 2003 by Marco Fischer from the Bobby-Car Club Coburg, who achieved a speed of 108.2 kilometres an hour.
But then there are other ‘bigger kids’ like Stephan Kuehler… when he mounts his ‘Roddy’ the watchers see him zoom off in a cloud of dust.
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- When Stephan Kuehler mounts his ‘Roddy’ the watchers see him zoom off in a cloud of dust. The electrically powered micro-racer can easily reach thirty kilometres an hour and this is indeed a top speed limited for the series version of the ‘Roddy’ for insurance purposes.
The electrically powered micro-racer can easily reach thirty kilometres an hour and this is indeed a top speed limited for the series version of the ‘Roddy’ for insurance purposes. “With the right gearing ratio it is probable that we could get to sixty, maybe even more, but we didn’t dare push Roddy that far”; says Kuehler with a grin as he dismounts. His profession has to do with real automobiles… he is a designer for Kia, working for years on the body styling of recent models. “My colleagues and I are all really dedicated car freaks and fans of racing and karting”, he explains, “And at some point we came up with the idea of building a hot-rod with an electric motor.”
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- The term ‘hot-rod’ has its origins in the United States where is came to stand for tuned and pared-down old-school racers.And the Roddy takes its inspiration from this tradition with its flowing lines and upright mesh radiator grille.
Old-school inspired
The term ‘hot-rod’ has its origins in the United States where it came to stand for tuned and pared-down racers which often were designed to remind of the classic 1932 Ford model, the ‘little deuce coupe’ memorialized in song by the Beachboys. And the Roddy takes its inspiration from this tradition with its flowing lines and upright mesh radiator grille.
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- The Roddy is powered by a 750 watt… almost one horsepower… electric motor.
Roddy is powered by a 750 watt… almost one horsepower… electric motor. “That may not sound like much but it is one horse at work”; says Stephan Kuehler. The little engine gets its power from three lead gel batteries which were actually meant for installation on motorbikes. They permit a driving autonomy of about one hour and fifteen minutes although any rider pushing the Roddy permanently at full tilt will inevitable limit the range of his e-Bobby-Car. The Roddy is built like a classic racing machine with the carosserie mounted on as aluminium space frame. A modified gokart suspension makes for good road holding. The rider crouches in the saddle, with his feet stretched forward to the foot-rests. The steering-wheel is mounted horizontally and there are paddles under the wheel as accelerator and brake controls.
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- Each tiny hot-rod can be given the paint job the client prefers and so not Roddy will look exactly the same as any other. All of this has its price… the hand crafted electro-speedster will set the buyer back 6,900 Euros.
Limited edition
Building a Roddy involves about a hundred hours of construction work, all done by hand by Kuehler and a bunch of equally enthusiastic helpers. “Currently we are building number three and number four and already we have twenty pre-orders” Kuehler reports. Each tiny hot-rod can be given the paint job the client prefers and so no Roddy will look exactly the same as any other. All of this has its price… the hand crafted electro-speedster will set the buyer back 6,900 Euros. Stephan Kuehler is already having thoughts about the extras he could offer… “A leather covered steering-wheel and a leather upholstered saddle might be a good idea”, the designer speculates.
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- Until now the Roddys have all found German owners but soon the baby hot-rod will be given an international introduction.
The clientele, according to Kuehler, is very mixed. “There are business executives and there are race drivers. One racer rides his Roddy in the pits at race events”, Kuehler reports. Until now the Roddys have all found German owners but soon the baby hot-rod will be given an international introduction. Kuehler and his friends have certainly picked the right setting… the Roddy will be presented to the public during the next 24 hours race at .
