Charles Thomas, who graduated from the GM Institute of Technology in 1935, had a vehicle in his mind that did not exist before and which he was convinced would set new standards in the industry. Charles Thomas found a job at Pontiac after his studies, and yet the desire was greater to build his own car than to work for the US car company. In the middle of 1936 he quit his job. He teamed up with fellow student Norm Richardson and they both started building their Rocket Car in a garage in Batavia.
The design for this car was the thesis of Charles Thomas for his graduation from the GM Institute in 1935. The engine was a '36 Ford flathead with Ford 3 speed. The front suspension is custom independent swing arm using coil springs, the ends of a '36 Ford axle, some sort of pieced together hydraulics and '36 drums. The rearend is also independent created from a '36 banjo, custom half shafts, and swing arms with coil springs.
He similarly improved on the rear-view mirror by turning it into a sort of reverse periscope that, according to the patent he obtained for it, was to incorporate a cabin ventilator and radio antenna
The vehicle, with innovations such as a rearview periscope and independent suspension, is officially called the Thomas Rocket Car. It was designed by Thomas and put together by a friend and welder, Norman Richardson, in a rented garage
Publicity at the time touted that the car had no fenders, no running board, no separation in the center of the floor, no visible door hinges and practically invisible wheels.
“It had a periscope, because back then if anybody remembers the older cars they were torpedo shaped in the back – you couldn’t see anything backing up – so a slow periscope went up and you looked in a mirror and you could see where you were backing up,” he said.
Thomas went on to a successful career as chief designer in Buffalo with the Amphibian Car Corporation then finishing his career with the maker of the Playboy automobile, but kept the Thomas car and drove it for some time. Reportedly, Mrs. Thomas demanded they get rid of the family’s daily driver after a stalling incident on a set of railroad tracks. By 1977, Gary Alt of Lockport found the vehicle rusting away in a field in Batavia, NY, and decided to store it in his barn until a group of Batavians spearheaded a restoration project in 2015.
Now this unusual – and fully restored – classic automobile, once promoted as “The Car of Tomorrow,” and “the floating ride,” will be unveiled at The Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum
https://motafrenz.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Cruise_Control/Vol_25_1_CC_Aug18.pdf
