Rocket PoweR, InteRstellaR tRavel and eteRnal lIfe

igged this Pump for you – we have developed a new
High Speed Turner 1725 R.P.M.” 92 Later, in pointing to
the positive influence the rocket car had had (contrary
to Marvin’s suggestion that the overall effect on the
world was a negative), Hungerford noted the “Gould
Pump Co. built high speed pumps only as a result of the
pump they built for us. Up to that time the pump they
built . . . was turned by Hand Crank Speed about 200
RPM. Their new pump was a Herring bone – type Cam
and was direct driven from the end of the motor shaft at
1725 R.P.M.” 93
Marvin noted that “cams and gears” inside the rocket
engine were “specially made of bronze after it was
found that the cast iron would break. The carburetor
was neatly connected with the bottom pump which carried
the fuel, cutting into the main gas line.” He also
recorded that the Hungerfords rigged the service and
emergency brakes with a “series of pulleys” to operate
together, assuring “dual braking power if and when
needed.” 94
While the first rocket car body consisted generally of
a basswood frame covered with cardboard and perhaps
linoleum, the single door on the right side was of sheet
steel (remaining on the car in 2013). Marvin reported
that the car at various times was painted black, white,
and silver. 95 Dummy tanks eventually were fitted along
the sides of the body. Crossed, illuminated flags and
even motorized toy tops on the roof gave a science fiction
appearance in the 1940s. Marvin reported “two
small portable seats”; there is only one such seat in the
car at present (2013).
Hungerford told Marvin the time, labor, and parts
probably made the cost of the rocket car about $50,000.
Marvin noted that the vehicle “traveled thousands of
miles, and as one year succeeded the other, the car that
had begun as a 1921 Chevrolet took on an identity more
and more its own.” 96
The rocket car was soon named as Shirley Lois “The
Moon Girl” for Daniel Hungerford’s daughter. With the
Hungerfords’ first run on Elmira streets, November 2,
1929, the Chevrolet engine—not the rocket—powered
the vehicle. 97 Daniel later observed that “License plates
and insurance was [sic] not so difficult as now, so we
used our car plates and without insurance for testing,
etc., for a time – being very careful not to get in trouble.”
98 Marvin said the Hungerfords were “hoping we
wouldn’t be caught. And we never did, but we decided
that it was bound to happen sooner or later . . .” What
followed was a dilemma for the County Clerk’s office,
which after consulting with the state’s licensing officials
in Albany, issued a registration for a “rocket type” vehicle.
99 In 1932, the license plate number was “4J-74-78.” 100
In 1964, Hungerford described the operation of the
Moon Girl to Marvin, who wrote:
a motorcycle sprocket was mounted ahead of the
flywheel which, in turn, connected with a chain
which was attached to a connecting apparatus.
Once the chain was attached, the clutch of the car
became inactive and the gearshift could be used
without the clutch. As Daniel Hungerford explains,
“Once the car is converted to a rocket vehicle, you
shift your gears without clutching and it takes off
much like a standard car. By the time you shift into
high, a valve between the main gasoline line and
the carburetor is activated by the driver who simply
throws a switch, cutting in the spark coils. And
then you really start moving as the rocket power
takes over.” 101
Hungerford said another time,
. . . we always used the clutch in the Shirley Lois –
and shifted the gears regular, as you will see by a
quick look at same – get in the Rocket – and check
for your self [sic]. The sprocket head of the Fly
Wheel is 3 times larger than the sprocket on the
pump shaft. 2000 R.P.M of the engine gives 6,000 to
the pump – peripheral speed of pump cams 5”
diam. – 2- 70,000 [90,000?] ins. Per. minute once the
chain is installed. The pump runs all the time the
Engine - does 102
Perhaps the earliest image of the rocket car, likely dating
from late 1929 or early 1930, shows the names
“Botsford” and “Albee” in addition to “Hungerford”
painted on the side. “Albee” was John Albee. According
to an undated note with no attribution attached in the
files of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, John Albee of
Freeport, Long Island, New York “worked with Dan
Hungerford and owned our [the Curtiss Museum’s
Curtiss] Oriole [airplane] . . . . Helped Dan build rocket
car[.] Also Davis [sic] 2 cyl [sic] opposed was used in the
Bleriot he bought in 1913 . . . ” 103
The 1930 federal census listed a 20-year old John R.
Albee as a chemist who worked at the local Dairymen’s
League Cooperative Association facility and resided
with his parents in Elmira Heights (the father being
League division superintendent). For the 1937 Elmira
city directory (the last of his listings), John Albee was
shown as employed by the Dairymen’s League in New
York (City) while maintaining an Elmira address. The
1955 and 1960 Nassau telephone directories listed a
John R. Albee living at Freeport. The Social Security
Death Index indicated Albee (1909–1984) last lived at
Zephyrhills, Florida.
J. Emory Botsford, whom Hungerford identified as a
colleague in the rocket car project, was listed in the 1916
Chapter Four: The Hungerford Rocket Car 23