Just A Car Guy: Baker

Showing posts with label Baker. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

1926 Baker 22-40 with a LeRoi engine

https://bids.aumannauctions.com/auctions/43040/lot/6751620-baker-22-40-tractor

Saturday, May 05, 2018

the famous 1904 Madison Square Garden car show

https://onceuponatown.tumblr.com/page/107

Friday, April 07, 2017

in 1912 a lot of electric vehicles were being HEAVILY advertised to women, in the woman's section of the newspaper.

I've mentioned before that electric were marketed to women because a normal car back then (1912) needed a crank start, and that means they needed upper arm strength to fire up a cold engine... in the era before starters would roll the engine over, and precision carbs would make the induction efficient, and the choke was made obsolete, and the cylinders no longer had to be primed, and the oil had to be changed every 3 or 4 hundred miles. Brass era cars were not user friendly, except the electric cars.

All 4 of these, are electric, and in the Chicago Tribune, Dec 15th, 1912 issue
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1912/12/15/page/58/article/paper-toys-for-jack-kneiffs-boys

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

way back in 1902-03, racing was pretty dangerous and wacky... they didn't have a lot of power, or advancements, but they could drive through walls unscathed

Back in 1902-03, Walter C. Baker built three streamlined electric racing cars. Called “Torpedoes,” these all-but-forgotten electrics should be remembered for four good reasons:
1) They allowed Walter Baker to become the first man in history to break the 100-mph barrier in a motorcar;
2) the Torpedoes’ bodies were remarkably streamlined, decades ahead of anything similar;
3) because Walter Baker regularly crashed his cars, none of his speed marks went into the record books. Even in his own day, he became known as “Bad Luck Baker;” and
4) what probably saved his life in all those crashes were plain, simple shoulder harnesses, an idea again much too modern for the times.

Baker mounted 11 batteries plus a 14-horsepower electric motor behind the seats and ran double chains to the rear axle.

On Memorial Day 1902, May 31, the Automobile Club of America held speed trials on the streets of Staten Island, N.Y. Baker intended the Torpedo to set records that would overwhelm the makers of steam- and piston-powered machines. Rumor had it that the Torpedo was good for 120 mph, which at that time was roughly double the World Land Speed Record.

Baker chose to drive the Torpedo himself. His passenger and brakeman was the company’s chief mechanic and electrician, E.E. Denzer. Baker and Denzer covered the flying kilometer in 16 seconds, running exactly 100 mph, and they were still accelerating when Baker lost control crossing a set of trolley tracks.

His steering went limp and, as Denzer yanked the brake lever, the car left the road and smashed sideways into the crowd. Two spectators were knocked flat but not injured. A third died instantly. The Torpedo spun 180 degrees, then stopped.

Baker and Denzer stepped out unscathed and were immediately arrested for manslaughter. But the police released them just as quickly, because the crowd had crossed protective barricades. Despite the accident, Baker had set a new record for the flying kilometer, albeit unofficially.

Then, in Aug. 1903, Baker entered both Torpedo in a special event for electric cars near Cleveland. A man named Chisholm drove one, started on the pole and was doing fine, until he got sideswiped by a Waverly Electric. Chisholm crashed and knocked down four spectators. No one was badly hurt, but Walter Baker, who’d been driving the second Kid, decided to hang up his goggles and stop running into people.

http://www.torpedokid.com/?page_id=41
https://www.facebook.com/thetorpedokid
http://www.rokemneedlearts.com/carsindepth/wordpressblog/?p=1028

Looks like Tim has the makings of a book, as he's spent 7 years researching to compile 75 pages of information on the topic of the Baker Electric Torpedo.

He hasn't printed it yet, but you can read it on a Kindle. Yes, I've pointed out to him that people who like old cars like other old fashioned things like hardcopy books. I don't think he's going to actually have any of thousands of book makers actually print some copies of his material into a book though.

I would. Once you've done that, you've created a lasting monument to your efforts of research and will forever after be known as an author.

https://www.collierautomedia.com/web-stories/1902-when-the-worlds-fastest-car-was-electric

when racing in 1903, your competition was going to look nothing alike... compare that to nascar today and it's one body for all manufacturers and makes

cars racing at the Glenville Race Track in Cleveland, Ohio September, 1903.

Paul Rainey's four cylinder French car,
Konigslow's two cylinder auto,
Baker "Torpedo Kid",
Olds "Go-Devil"