The Solar midget car was a type of

midget car racing Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on mo ...

vehicle produced by the Solar Aircraft Company immediately following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The first midget car to be mass-produced, the vehicle was designed by Elmer Ross using a car body designed by Curly Wetteroth;White 2001, p.53. the car was developed as part of the company's 1944 Craftsmanship Contest;Bangs, Scholer.
Solar Develops Muffler Unit To Meet Lightplane Complaints
. ''Aviation News'', volume 5. McGraw-Hill, 1946. p.20. production was approved in October 1945, with twelve pre-production vehicles being constructed as a manufacturing test; they utilised aluminum frames and stainless steel bodywork. The twelve pilot kits sold rapidly; full production was approved; at a cost of $670

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

each, over 100 vehicles, primarily using

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

flathead V-8 power, were sold during 1946. However, the rival

Kurtis Kraft Kurtis Kraft was an American designer and builder of race cars. The company built midget cars, quartermidgets, sports cars, sprint cars, Bonneville cars, and USAC Championship cars. It was founded by Frank Kurtis when he built his own mid ...

midget designed by

Frank Kurtis Frank Peter Kurtis (born Kuretich; January 25, 1908 – February 17, 1987) was an American racing car designer. He designed and built midget cars, quarter-midgets, sports cars, sprint cars, Indy cars, and Formula One cars. He was the founder of ...

proved superior to the Solar vehicle in competition, and at the end of 1946 Solar ceased production of the midget car kits.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Midget car racing Vehicles introduced in 1945 {{Classicpow-auto-stub