Cub Commuter

The Cub was built by Swi Tong Corporation in Taiwan, exclusively for the American market, and sold there by Convenient Machines, Inc.; every source read agrees that it was made in Taiwan, though Bike-urious’s “built by Convenient Machines” blurs seller and maker.source 1source 2source 3source 4 Where in the United States Convenient Machines was, and what Swi Tong’s name was in Chinese, have not been found. It was sold in 1982, and no later year is recorded.source 1source 2 Bike-urious counts it among several attempts in the 1980s to sell Americans cheap personal transport after the oil shock of 1979.source 3

The sales copy promised an aerodynamic shape that gave outstanding mileage at highway speeds of up to 50 mph, room for two, and low costs to run, maintain and insure.source 1

Underneath, a steel frame carried a glass-fibre body, coil springs at each corner, rack-and-pinion steering and hydraulic brakes on 10-inch wheels. A 400 cc air-cooled single at the back turned the rear wheels by way of a three-speed gearbox with reverse, and had an electric starter.source 1source 2 It was 2,311 mm (91 in) long and 1,321 mm (52 in) wide, and weighed 272 kg (600 lb).source 1source 2 The Weiner museum gave its top speed as 50 mph (80 km/h); the Lane Motor Museum gives the same in its table but 55 mph (89 km/h) in its text, and 80 mpg (US).source 1source 2

What kind of engine it was is not settled. The Weiner museum called it a four-stroke; the Lane museum calls it a two-stroke, made by a “Tarapan” that no one has identified; and Bike-urious calls it a Fuji two-stroke.source 1source 2source 3 Its power is not reliably recorded either: the one figure in the museums’ tables is evidently misplaced, so no power figure is given.source 1source 2

The Lane museum says it struggled to gain a foothold, held back by its limited top speed and its unconventional design.source 2 No production figure has been found.source 1source 2

A 1982 Cub Commuter belongs to the Lane Motor Museum, Nashville.source 2 One was in the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum and was sold in RM Auctions’ sale of that collection at Madison, Georgia, on 15–16 February 2013; its lot and price have not been found, nor whether it is the car now at Lane.source 5 In about 2013–⁠14 two project cars were offered for sale together in Putney, Vermont, for $1,800 the pair, and one was said to be serial number 1.source 3source 4 No club or register has been found.