CHUPACABRA

“The Chupacabra” This is a 1959 Onan Cycle Car I found on Sherman Island (about 35 miles past Courtland). I had heard about a speedster that a farmer’s wife was making her husband get rid of rusting away in a barn. It took a while to find where the barn was. (no addresses on mail boxes around that area) I got to know Javier a little after meeting with a shot gun in his hands. I told him I would give it a good home. We came to an agreement and winched it up on my truck. The Engine: Onan CCK 22 hp, 2 cylinder opposed twin, Delco alternator + electric start. Used on farm Pumps + Generators. Also in Speeders (small railroad inspection cars), three wheeled Westcoasters delivery trucks, (they also made carnival rides). I have been working on it for a few weeks and I've had it up to 38 in second gear and 58 in third before it started getting real twitchy. After driving it around town (mostly at night) It has been described as: “Illegal, Unsafe, Dangerous, Scary Cool, Minimalistic, Sketchy, and Lethal” When I asked Javier about the Onan he told me he always wanted a cycle car so in the early 60s he built it out of parts he had laying around, He was racing one of his neighbors on a track they set up in a field when taking a corner it bucked him off and his arm was broken. It sat in a corner until sometime in the 80s when he dragged it out and got it running again. He said he was way out front of the same neighbor when it bucked him off again and kept going across the field until it hit his wife’s favorite goat and killed it. His wife kept screaming that it was a “Chupacabra ! Chupacabra !” and didn’t even care that his leg was broken. Javier said he never liked that goat, except with barbeque sauce on it.