Elgin Update
Hi Guys
I now own what appears to be the holy grail of Elgins: the 1.25 hp . Actually, after searching around for quite a while, I found two of these about a week apart. Both are complete and in very nice ( but not perfect) cosmetic condition And each one had been stored for 15-20 years.
I gave each one my usual stringent overhaul ( check spark and compression/ dust it off) and poured gas into the tank. One pull and each started and ran. What a great feeling ( after lots of the usual no spark, carb fouled , needs work, letdowns). These little guys are really fun: simple, dependable and lightweight/what’s not to like?
And now the questions.
These were made from 1946 to 1951. It appears that there are no serial number records for these,so it’s hard to find out what year they may be; but does anyone know how many were made in total? And were any changes or improvements made during the production run?
More questions on Elgins generally. Does anyone have any stories about who the main West Bend engineers or developers were for this Elgin motor line creation? It seems like there should be some good stories about this unique undertaking by West Bend : a whole new and distinct motor line commissioned by the eventual seller. To me this was vastly different than just rebranding a pre-existing product like Gale or Wizard.
Also I’ve seen pictures of the reddish brown 2 hp models ( and I have one) but I have also acquired two of the side throttle 7.5 hp models and these are a clay brown, not reddish. Any general observations on when the green Elgins turned brown or what these seemingly unique side throttle 7.5 s are all about?
I will try again to post some pics and videos, but under a separate posting.
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