Hi Guys,
By now most of you know I love sidecars. I especially like the British chairs of the late 1930's, which were designed to be lugged around by Panthers, BSA singles---whatever: low-power, reliable engines. They were utilitarian transportation for a population fighting a Depression: sound familiar? Back then they had sport sidecars, but most were "family" units, and had big windshields and folding tops--or even hard-tops in some cases. They got better mileage than an Austin "7", and the insurance and license was lower.
Once we in the developed nations of the world admit that we are hogging (sorry, H-D lovers) a large percentage of a dwindling pool of gasoline, the price will go up. Mileage will become more important, and although the strides in automobile mileage have been interesting, I think that a properly designed bike/chair outfit will be able to top a car for mileage, just due to weight, if nothing else.
It seems to me that what we need is a "Model T" of the sidecar world. No frills, basic utility, the ability to remove the car and ride the bike on weekends if you want, and room to haul groceries, or whatever, at about 75 mpg, in town. It needn't go 100 mph, and it needn't look like it came out of Buck Rogers.....what it would have, I think, is a low price, low maintenance, good mileage and simplicity, so the owner can repair it.
Hmmm.......I'd buy stock in something like that....but then, maybe that's why I don't have any money....