Description

This is our Cutlass Rollfast. The name comes from the bicycle and aircraft that this was made from. The bike is a Snyder Rollfast and the aircraft was a Cessna 172Q Cutlass. Here's the story.

On Friday, June 29, 2012, a derecho hit the Mid-Atlantic region. The results were disastrous. N96747, a 1984 CESSNA 172Q Cutlass, was flipped onto it's back as a result of this storm. The plane was totaled by the insurance company. The flight school that owned the plane kept it to salvage parts from it. After the school was finished with the plane around 2016, it was time to remove the plane from the airport and send it to the scrap yard. I said "Wait"! I said that I wanted a section of the fuselage to make a sidecar for a bike or motorcycle. They all laughed at the idea. But I did get the section that I wanted. I interviewed many builders to find the right person to do what I wanted. About the year 2020, I was introduced the Steve Weddles. Steve was the man that could do what I wanted. I basically gave him free rein to be creative and build an awesome sidecar and attach it to a 1950s Synder Rollfast bicycle that I had. The build took just over a year. This is the result. It is not finished yet. We still have some little things to do. Steve and his sister Jean delivered the bike to me on August 14 2022 in Jean's 1960 VW Single Cab. I had the sidecar mounted on the opposite side of the bike so it would be a righthand drive bike. Steve also incorporated several items I had from a 1941 Boeing Stearman that include the seat belts and a map box that is mounted behind the seat in the sidecar. Pictured here is the plane, the plane on it's back, the section of the fuselage that we started with, the delivery vehicle, and the almost finished product.

The rear part of the sidecar was cut down a lot from the old fuselage. Steve hand formed the sheet metal for the rear of the sidecar to resemble a 1920s Bugatti racecar. The metal he removed the the fuselage, he used to make the chain guard for the bicycle.

Rollfast bicycles have a long and complex history that has close ties with two different companies. The D.P. Harris Hardware and Manufacturing Company originated the name in the 1890’s, and later teamed up with the H.P. Snyder Manufacturing Company in the early 1900’s. Snyder was the primary manufacturer of the bicycles, while Harris provided some of the parts and marketed them. During the Great Depression, Snyder began manufacturing bicycles for other retailers such as Montgomery Ward who sold them under the Hawthorne name. Some sought after Snyder built Rollfast bicycles are the V-200 model and the Hopalong Cassidy bicycles. Snyder built Rollfast bicycles well into the 1970’s.

Award History:
2022
The Saints of Kulture's Choice Award - Laytonsville Cruise In August 19
Top 5 Bicycle Award - Simple Transport 15 August 20

Click here for a slideshow of other vehicles in the collection

Here are our other sidecar rigs.



Here are a few retractable sidecars:



Here is the Canterbury Belle sidecar boat rig. Constructed circa 1960, both bike and boat measured about eight feet in length, and could carry two people making the combined capacity four people! Deemed too expensive for mass production only five examples were built.







Serial Number List:
A 1959
B 1960
C 1961
D 1962
E 1963
F 1964
G 1965
H 1966
I 1967
J 1968
K 1969


This bike is equipped with a Travis Motorwheel Bicycle Engine

Click here for pictures and info on motorwheels

Click here for information on a rare Briggs & Stratton Midget Mobile in the collection

Sidecar, sidecarrig