Rocket PoweR, InteRstellaR tRavel and eteRnal lIfe

Chapter Four
THE HUNGERFORD ROCKET CAR
While there is only one Hungerford rocket car, there
were other rocket cars. The Hungerfords in the 1920s
knew about developments of rocket-powered automobiles,
sleds, and aircraft. Daniel Hungerford told Marvin
in the 1960s that, “rocket cars were being tested in
Germany with some success and we couldn’t see why it
couldn’t be tried here as well, so we decided to build a
working model.” This was in the early fall of 1929.
Our idea as we went along was to construct a second
pilot model if the first one was as successful as
we thought it would be, then we considered trying
to build a rocket ship which might reach the Moon,
but we never got any further on this than having a
picture painted by a sign painter we knew. It was
bout this time that we had our stationery printed
and this is where ‘interstellar’ fit in.
Floyd and I then decided that if the rocket or rockets
worked out as expected, we’d go into the business
building cars with rocket engines. Our idea
was to construct the first one in a sort of cigar shape
. . . and then work the other one up as a conventional
sort of design.
We never drew any plans or diagrams for this
because we never got as far as the second prototype.
We simply spent all our time trying to promote
the car we had.
What I visualized was a car of about the Buick size
with the rocket exhaust pipe or pipes running
under the frame of the body and with the tail protrusions
directly under the rear bumper. Of course,
the gasoline tank would have had to be placed
somewhere up front under the hood or under the
seat to avoid any conflict with the exhaust mechanism
at the rear.
We’d call the car the Hungerford Rocket and if we
built one or two of the conventional appearing cars
and could interest some people around the area—
Elmira, Horseheads or Binghamton—to back us,
we’d look for a small factory and begin serious production.
76
The Hungerford brothers learned from other inventors’
work. Igor Spajic (1998) notes the influence of Hermann
Oberth’s Rakete zu den Planetenraeumen (The Rocket into
Interplanetary Space) published in Germany in 1923
and translated into English. Another Central European
experimenter was the Austrian Max Valier (1895–1930).
Author of several works on astronomy and space travel,
including Auf kuehner Farht zum Mars (1928),
Raketenfahrt (1930), and Der Vorstoss in den Weltenraum
(1923). 77 Valier worked with solid-fuel vehicles before
turning to liquid fuel, an explosion of which took his
life. Perhaps the Hungerfords encountered Valier’s
printed work. Certainly his name was prominent in the
print media. In any case, they telegraphed Valier’s
widow after the death claiming, perhaps somewhat
immodestly, “We are inspired by the vastness of his
ambition and will carry on.” 78 Marvin observed that the
Hungerfords stuck to low octane gasoline rather than
the “liquid oxygen” that proved fatal to Valier.
Marvin suggested that the first automobile owned by
the Daniel and Floyd was a second-hand 1911 Cadillac,
“update[ed] with a newer body”. Another Cadillac followed
with the same treatment. 79 In 1918 Daniel
Hungerford’s Overland touring car was destroyed by a
train on the Erie tracks at First Street. 80 Acquaintances
recall a 1924(?) Model T Ford speedster and/or 1924
Model T Ford touring car, 1933 Plymouth, 1936 Nash,
a 1930s Terraplane and, the last car operated by
Hungerford, a 1935 Pontiac. 81 In short, the Hungerford
rocket car was a special machine never intended
to replace its more quotidian cars.
For their one and only rocket car, the Hungerfords
started in September 1929 with the acquisition of a
1921 Chevrolet 490 touring car. The brothers and their
colleagues in the project eliminated the body but
utilized the chassis and running gear. In brief, the
vehicle could be operated using the original engine,
transmission and rear-wheel drive. For rocket propulsion,
the car was accelerated using the Chevrolet
engine. Once underway the gasoline-fueled rocket
Daniel and Floyd Hungerford: Rocket Power, Interstellar Travel and Eternal Life, by Geofrey N. Stein. New York State Museum Record 4, © 2013 by The
University of the State of New York, The State Education Department, Albany, New York. All rights reserved.
21