It was a bright and sunny day when I was driving to a gentlemans house to look at an old mail truck for my wife. I had no idea what I would come away with.
As I pulled into the drive the mail truck was right out in front, but i noticed several other vehicles in back that caught my eye. Including Vespa motorscooter, old Honda scooters, even an old Lambretta or two. Then something odd caught my eye. It was larger than the rest and it was a combination of Orange color and Rust. It had grass growing up all around it and I noticed it was on cement blocks. As I got closer I saw it "CUSHMAN" right across the tailgate of the pickup bed. Very interesting machine I said to the gentleman, to which he replied "yeah I got that thing in trade for something or another cause I thought it was odd".
1965 Cushman Lobster Left Side as purchased
Thats when it hit me..."Hey this thing has two wheels in front and one in the rear, and the pickup bed is in FRONT of the steering wheel". I just thought I would ask what he wanted for it because I love ORPHAN motor vehicles and this one was about as orphaned as I had ever seen.
1965 Cushman Lobster Rear as purchased
He told me that since I was buying his old mail truck he would throw in the LOBSTER for $400 dollars extra. After looking it over and realizing that not only was it odd looking but it was very close to being a complete vehicle, I decided to go ahead and load it up in the mail van (which was intersting in itself).
1965 Cushman Lobster Right Side as purchased.
Now it was getting later in the day so picture this. 3 big men loading an old Cushman Lobster into the back of an older Postal Van. Yes it did look rather odd driving the 200+ miles back home and I did get a few odd looks to say the least.
Lobster "KOHLER" Engine
Once getting the vehicles home we unloaded and I again went over the old Cushman. I am pleasantly surprised to see that there is NO cancerous Rust and NO Major dents and it was not only close to complete but it is 100% complete down to the original tailgate chains, and the headlights underneath.
After going over the Lobster I have found that the motor is free and has good compression and even the steering cable is still in good working condition. The only thing that will need replacing is the left front wheel which looks as if it had sat in a bucket of water and is rusted completely through and can not be repaired.
I am currently looking for and purchasing parts to do a complete ground up restoration in this rare little vehicle, and will have the bed be able to be interchaged with 1. a Hot Dog Cart, 2. An Ice Cream Cart, and 3. a Beverage Cart. I will also be adding historical notes as well as the restoration process of this cart onto this blogsite so as to help anyone that may own one of these rare Cushmans.
If you know of the History or have any information on the CUSHMAN LOBSTER please feel free to contact me. Not only for me but for anyone interested in these rare vehicles.
