Del Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 We have such a wide range of experience and knowledge on here, that I'm hoping someone might know the answer here! Someone on a classic/retro car forum that I'm a member of has 'inherited' this unusual item, but is having real problems identifying exactly what it is. It appears to be some kind of 1970s kids toboggan/sledge for dry slopes. Basically, you sit in it at the top of a big hill, release the brake, steer the front 'wheel' with the handles and try not to die before you reach the bottom... The wheels seem to be from (or closely related to) James Dyson's ballbarrow, and there's a similar modern thing called a Ball Rider, but we're no closer to identifying this particular one. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted October 11, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 11, 2017 Can't help you identify it, but it looks like fun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Looks like fun, I wonder if it's a home brew, using wheelbarrow wheels? The quality of the welds looks a bit sub-standard, and I think I spot a bike brake lever, two car brake pedal rubber covers as a back brake, and the steering bars are probably wheelbarrow handles. Could be a small backyard manufacturer, but my money is on a lunatic with a welder, two wheelbarrows, and a thirst for danger! Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozexpatriate Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 I'll make the observation that Googling "ball rider" can result in some NSFW images. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 (edited) As Peter said, could it possibly be a homebrew? Those "wheels" definitely look like wheels from the original Kirk-Dyson ballbarrow ... and edited to say - that seat looks suspiciously like some of the chairs that we used to have at school. Might it have been a school chair in a previous life? Perhaps this was a school project? How on earth did we survive? Edited October 12, 2017 by Robert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 ....a lunatic with a welder, two wheelbarrows, and a thirst for danger! We call them "engineers". 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
40F Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Prototype C5 ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 A bit more from the OP (c & p from his other forum thread): I seem to remember them being on Tomorrows World back in the late seventies or early eighties. My uncle won the thing in a competition in the early eighties I think. Anyway he tried it once, and decided that it was too dangerous to use then put it in his garage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 As Peter said, could it possibly be a homebrew? Those "wheels" definitely look like wheels from the original Kirk-Dyson ballbarrow... that seat looks suspiciously like some of the chairs that we used to have at school. Might it have been a school chair in a previous life? Perhaps this was a school project? How on earth did we survive? While a job by a small welding outfit is possible, I too tend toward the school project idea. We did things like this at the school I attended, which had a kart building and racing team and dabbled in banger racing; all under the heading of 'vehicle maintenance'. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to see that the 'Testislide' is going to present significant hazard. The steering looks like it would rapidly and unpredictably act divergently, and if the rear brake had enough capability to act on the rear wheel it would quickly lock it making the whole thing very tailhappy indeed. But for the young of my time this was of no account. The message at school was pretty clear, we must expect our country to put us in uniform and to be sent to some foreign field to cause serious inconvenience to others, and possible be seriously inconvenienced ourselves. A significantly less risk averse time in my estimation as a result. We got significantly injured and no-one thought much of that, and some time after I had left a boy died in one of the school karts. (Several others had done for themselves on the roads - typically on two wheels - and the narcotics trade saw off a few more, among my immediate contemporaries.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hilux5972 Posted October 12, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 12, 2017 A colourful version of the Batpod? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 (edited) A couple of electric motors and some sort of gyro stabilisation system could make this ball-rider a bit of a laugh. Not sure how it would perform in winter with a decent layer of snow/ice, though. Wonder if I could give it a home.....? Edited October 13, 2017 by Horsetan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 ....Could be a small backyard manufacturer, but my money is on a lunatic with a welder, two wheelbarrows, and a thirst for danger! TVR ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 I would say rather further up the food chain, in that the bends in the tubing look to have been "engineered" rather more than a typical school project might result in. While I am doubtful that it is a Mattel product, it looks to have involved spare balls from said wheelbarrows, and probably a small scale manufacturer. I'd try it on a hill...mind, I'm an engineer as per ^ (and I used to race GT Snowracers downhill, including at the local ski hill after hours. The best that can be said is "amazingly enough, they were sober...") James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted October 15, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 15, 2017 Early prototype for this? http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/technical/modernmechanix/ModernMechanix1936-06.jpg.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Early prototype for this? http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/technical/modernmechanix/ModernMechanix1936-06.jpg.html I like the fact that the rider appears to have no legs . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 I like the fact that the rider appears to have no legs . A natural result of driving something like that at 300 mph? Or this one? http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/technical/modernmechanix/ModernMechanix1931-08.jpg.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Crawford Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 An old friend's daughter used to own similar, I think it's a DIY kit... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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