Javillac
El Volkswagen Beetle, the Citroën 2CV or the Ford Model T are some of the first examples that come to mind when thinking of a cheap car intended for the masses. However, already in the 1910s it surpassed all these models, not in commercial success, but in terms of an unbeatable price, which even today has not been equaled again.
The company in charge of manufacturing this vehicle was the AO Smith Corporation, currently known for being the largest boiler manufacturer in the United States, but more than a hundred years ago its activity focused on the production of parts for baby carriages and bicycles, having special success with the latter.
In 1914 the company acquired the rights to produce a wheel powered by a small gasoline engine intended to be mounted on bicycles, and that it had been invented in the United Kingdom in 1910, and that the brand would market as the Smith Motor Wheel, and which initially had only one horsepower.
For the year 1915 the company presents a car that has all the characteristics of a cycle car of the moment, and that it would sell for a ridiculous price of between 130 and 150 dollars of the time, which translates into $2.200 and $2.600 today, so it houses the record for the cheapest car in the world even today.
WHAT WAS THE CHEAPEST CAR IN THE WORLD?
If you have to describe the car in a few words, you can use terms such as basic, simple or directly shabby, because the Smith Flyer, which was how the model was baptized, lacked the slightest bit of luxury.
The Smith Flyer It was little more than a wooden board with two seats, steering and four fine wheels, plus a fifth that was located in the back of the car and that was the one that had the small engine. 
Although the small car made a contemporary Ford T look like a luxury vehicle Its operation was quite curious. When the Smith Flyer was stationary, its rear wheel was raised. In this position, the engine was started and when it began to run smoothly, the wheel was placed on the ground using a lever and the vehicle began to move. The maximum speed of the car was 25 miles per hour or 40 kilometers per hour.
By 1919 the company sold the production rights of this car to Briggs & Stratton, which would manufacture the cars and engines, implementing various improvements in the latter to get them to develop two horsepower.
In 1925 the rights to the car were acquired by a company called Automotive Electric Services Corporation, who continued to make the Smith Flyer, but now under the Red Bug name (Red bug) with gasoline engines until they ran out, it was then when they were replaced by electric motors, being able to distinguish these by lacking the characteristic fifth wheel. The manufacture of the model lasted until 1930. As a curiosity, this electric motor was the same as the Dodge of that time as a starter motor.
Meanwhile Briggs & Stratton continued manufacturing gasoline engines similar to those of the Smith Flyer, being used in machinery such as lawnmowers.
In recent years the Red Bug was sold in countries like France and the United Kingdom, and was widely used as a means of transportation at resorts and amusement parks. When its production ceased in 1930, the Indian motorcycle brand seemed to continue manufacturing the model, but this never happened.
Despite its low price not too many units were sold, and even more so considering that for $250 you could buy a Ford Model T, which despite still being a very basic car, was much more of a car than a Smith Flyer. 
