If you owned a hot rod whose top speed was 80 mph, you might want to find another cart to cart around in. Unless that cart is a factory-built 1910 Maxwell Q-4.

Matthew Litwin does a nice job scaring the bejeezus out of me when he writes about this Brass Era barnstormer in the November 2007 Hemmings Motor News.

It's a race car with leaf spring suspension only. The 16-gallon copper gas tank sits directly behind two cramped leather seats. And, like all the Brass Era cars, it's open bodied. If you hit a bump you fly up. If you hit a tree, you fly forward. But don't worry. The giant steering wheel, which gives you a healthy bicep workout, will stop you cold. Think of it as a safety feature. For the thing your body would have hit.

The whole idea of a Brass Era race car makes me laugh nervously. Nevertheless, it looks like a fun car -- to putter around in.