This article is from the 2009 Spring Issue of "King Midget Newsletter." Is is written by Don Miller, the
owner of the King, and was accompanied by a photo of his car here at the shop.
Friends and Relatives pitch in! By Don Miller
My interest or fascination with King Midget must have begun in the late 40s
and early 50s when I was about 10, while looking through the old magazines given
to me by my uncle Herman. He was my mother’s oldest brother, and was always
working on some mechanical project of one type or another.
Most of the magazines were Popular Mechanics, Science and Mechanics, and Mechanics Illustrated.
I found the Mechanics Illlustrated to be the most fascinating to me. I especially loved to look at the ads that proclaimed:
you can drive this car for only pennies a week-King Midget, King Midget Motors Corporation, Athens Ohio. I wanted one so bad
I could taste it!
As the years went by, I never
really gave up on the hope of one day having one, although the idea seemed more and more remote. One day several years ago,
my cousin Gary Guy and his wife Judy, now living in Florida, were here visiting and mentioned that they had bought a King.
I’m sure that I expressed my interest in the little cars with some enthusiasm! Gary and Judy contacted
my wife, Leslie, and I this last summer to let us know they were again in the area. They’d made
the trip to collect two Kings they had located here in Illinois, and had finally
been able to purchase. One was a Model 2, which they planned to keep and restore,
and the other a Model 3, which would be for sale. Needless
to say, this rekindled a smoldering desire in me to own a King. They brought both
cars by our place on their way back to the Sunshine State, and after a little
good natured haggling on price, we unloaded the ’67 Model 3, and at long last,
I owned a King Midget! Although the rear wheel cradle and engine cradle looked
as if they had been redesigned and reengineered by Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy, after putting
in a battery, rinsing out the fuel tank, backing the brakes off so the wheels would turn and taking the carb off several times,
I’ve been able to drive it around our country roads here in Illinois. That
was last summer, and at present the car is pretty well dismembered for some long-needed
repair work. My wife and I were very fortunate to find—through
Cousin Gary—Lee Seats, who has helped us with parts, and also a wealth of
information. We hope to have the car back together, at least enough to drive,
this spring or summer. It’s very encouraging to find there is a group of people interested in the same vehicle
that I have been nearly all my life. Completed March 2009
