[image]Thousands of tourists, like Jack Price of Mt. Vernon, Wash., carry home the Carnation name on snapshots.[/image]
ONLY auto of its kind, the early 1900’s “horseless wagon,” built by Carnation Company last summer to deliver its dairy products inside Disneyland has become one of the most photographed objects in this photographer’s paradise. Half the picture albums of the nation at the present rate will include its shiny red and white likeness, if it survives the stream of tourists who slide behind its old-fashioned steering wheel for a snapshot.
[image]BUILDER of the “only auto of its kind." Ray Groom shows a Disney drawing used to construct the horseless wagon. At his elbow is the Z-inch stack of engineer drawings used.[/image]
[image]HAND-MADE parts are checked against specifications by Groom and Frank Renta, body shop.[/image]
[image]GROOM and shop foreman Dean Klippert sand lemon wood steering wheel from a 1902 car.[/image]
[image]MONTH’S search produced these coal oil, brass headlamps found by Groom in an antique shop: the bulb-type horn came from a Horseless Carriage Club member.[/image]
Carnation decided to build the authentic “horseless wagon" in order to match the style of its 1890 ice cream parlor and turn-of-the Century Main Street. Although every part is historically correct, the auto is like no actual model ever built. Ray Groom, Los Angeles FM & IC division fleet superintendent, and his garage crew built it from Walt Disney drawings. They used parts from early motorized buggies and hand-made ones where the real thing couldn’t be found. Another unique feature is that it is built 3/4 scale. The wooden spoke wheels and size 30 x 3 1/2, high pressure tires came from a 1910 auto. High fenders, running board and hood were patterned on a 1908 Ford. Other hand-made parts include the cherry wood dashboard, gas and spark controls, radiator and brass band rails.
