1957 Henney Kilowatt

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What’s Old is New!

Over 50 years ago, the Eureka Co. was into production with its own electric-powered auto, the four door, sub-compact Henney “Kilowatt”.  The Henney Motor Co. was located at the Eureka plant in Bloomington, Il.  The company was then known as Eureka-Williams.  The Kilowatt utilized a Renault Dauphine body.  The car was advertised as “silent, dependable, simple, versatile, uncomplicated, undemanding, and completely electric”.

With inexpensive and plentiful gasoline the trend was towards larger and larger cars with tailfins, long hoods, and trunks.  The tiny Kilowatt was an idea before its time.   It was marketed for in-town use as a second car, ideal for shopping, commuting, or pleasure driving and for business use in deliveries, meter reading and similar activities, including those inside large plants, since the Kilowatt emitted no fumes.

The Kilowatt featured a heavy-duty traction type electric motor, connected directly to a single gear housing.  No cooling system was needed, of course.  Nor did the motor require generator, spark plugs, air cleaner, carburetor or exhaust system.   Air conditioning was not an option. Power came from heavy duty storage batteries with 72 volts for the motor and 12 volts for lights, horn, and signals.   After a normal day’s driving, the batteries could be recharged overnight with a 25 foot electric cord.

Because of the weight of the batteries, the Kilowatt had a torsional stabilizer at the front, special heavy duty coil springs around direct acting shock absorbers at each wheel and advanced new air stabilizer on rear wheels.

The Kilowatt was advertised as being able to “accelerate briskly to legal limits” on crowded city streets.  Because at idle it did not consume power, the Kilowatt could sit out traffic jams without diminishing the batteries.

The electric cars of today still have some of the same challenges of the Kilowatt:  weight of the batteries, limited mileage on a single battery charge, and life expectancy of the lead acid batteries.

As previously mentioned, the bodies of these cars were supplied by Renault.  The body serial number is 1177780 which is the numeric sequence for a 1957 Renault Dauphine thus the reason this car was titled as a 1957.  Also, on the ID plate is a motor serial # WT40-5 which indicates it is the 5^th motor by the Eureka Williams Company.

This car will come with complete documentation of the restoration both receipts and photos, a book “The Henney Motor Company”, an original letter from the Eureka Williams Company dated March 28^th, 1961 including the enclosures of the brochure “The Henney Kilowatt” and fact sheet—all original, and a Operation document-copies only.

THIS IS THE ONLY OPERATING HENNEY KILOWATT IN THE WORLD!

Note: If you’d like to view this vehicles restoration process, please click HERE.

Priced at $49,950

If you have  a classic car you’ve always dreamed about owning or a restoration project you need help with, Auto Collectors Garage is here to help. We have over 100 years combined experience restoring everything from iconic American classics to vintage European racers. Fairlanes, T-Birds, Jaguars, MG’s, Maseratis and more.  Call us today and let Auto Collectors Garage take care of your classic car needs.