Oscar became an invention of two retired military men with time on their hands. John Ford and Bill Terry, both originally from Tennessee, came up with the idea to convert the antique car John was building in his garage into a 1910 replica of the George Dickel Whisky delivery truck. When John asked his 16 year-old daughter what she thought of the car she replied, "He's so ugly, he's cute... I think you should name him Oscar.
Oscar is as hand-crafted as it gets. The car was built from the ground up using only American parts. One year and $9,000 later, John and Bill will display their dedication and passion for Dickel when they drive Oscar 2,400 miles across the country from Vacaville, CA to Tullahoma, TN, to present Oscar to the George Dickel Tennessee Whisky distillery.
Oscar's body, made of 20 gauge sheet metal and supported by motorcycle wheels, weights in at 1140 punds and is powered by a single cylinder, single overhead valve, 16-horsepower Tecumseh engine. His weight and horsepower produce a .0141:1 power to weight ratio which is transferred to the ground by a three-speed Peerless transmission. The electrical system is 12 volt direct current with circuit breakers that self-reset. This means Oscar is a key start. He also has a traverse spring suspension (one leaf spring that runs across the vehicle like the Model A's and Model T's used to have.
The engine was converted to propane for safety and engine endurance. There's a five gallon propane cylinder that gets roughly four usable gallons and approximately 50 miles per gallon. Both the engine and transmission have been modified with oil coolers and associated oil pumps operating off the jack shaft (a 3-way U-joint to another 3/4 inch shaft along side the transmission). The transmission is a Ford 3-speed that came out of a snub-nosed van. Oscar has two clutches: one is a 4.7 inch centrifugal clutch mounted directly to the engine; the other is a magnetic clutch on the jack shift for a complete power disconnect actuated by the foot-operated clutch pedal in the cab. Oscar is even equipped with a hydraulic caliper for any emergency brake, which is mounted on the outside of the transmission.
Oscar is completely road legal. He sports high and low beam headlights as well as turn signals, brake lights (including the safety feature of a third center brake light over the rear cargo doors), clearance lights and even back up lights. The steering wheel is a little 10-inch with a half-inch dish in it. Oscar is also equipped with seat belts, a safety tinted green glass windshield, a horn (foghorn), a CO2 fire extinguisher system and a single 90 degree sweep windshield wiper.
The guys were forced to include a few modern touches like the 4-wheel disk brakes instead of read drum brakes, and moving the 1977 Tecumseh 16-horsepower OHV air-cooled engine to the back of the vehicle so there would be room for their feet in front (John stands over six feet tall). Otherwise, their creation is a true hand-crafted work of art - from the gleaming black paint job, curly maple wood trim, leather seats and padded cloth top, to the old-fashioned Dickel sign pained on the side.
John and Bill will drive Oscar 100 miles a day at an average of 35 mph, switching drivers each day while being followed by their neighbor and friend Ray Sugai, who will be driving the chase vehicle. They will leave Vacaville, CA on April 1 and arrive in Tullahoma, TN at the George Dickel Tennessee Whisky Distillery on April 24.