Royal Enfield made the Patrol Car for Indian; Here's a good look at how they did it

1959 Indian Patrol Car, made by Royal Enfield.

A 1959 Royal-Enfield-made Indian Patrol Car is for sale on eBay. These three-wheelers are rare in the United States, at least, and I've not seen this particular motorcycle up for sale before. It's located in Spring Valley, Calif., near San Diego.

This ad is especially interesting because the photos show the frame bare of bodywork, giving us a good look at how these things were put together.

Indian Patrol Car has wide floorboards, hard tail.

I've written about the Indian Patrol Cars before. Made by Royal Enfield and sold in the U.S. badged as Indians, they had three-speed transmissions, with reverse. The gearshift was on the tank.

There is no sign here of any rear suspension whatsoever (oof!) but the floorboards were very wide. the seat, if it had one, would have been a big, comfy sprung saddle.

Two spark plugs, one cylinder.

The motor was a Royal Enfield Bullet 350cc engine, but this one sports dual spark plugs. Is it really a dual-plug head, or is the right-side spark plug just there to close the hole for the decompressor?

Rear axles meet at final drive housing.

My great curiosity is whether the rear wheels had any sort of differential arrangement. The housing for the rear sprocket gives me no clue.

Tank is set up for gearshift.

This motorcycle is said to have good compression and a clear California title. Imagine how difficult it would be to find a gasoline tank set up to take the shift mechanism (unfortunately not included here).

Maybe the eventual buyer of this machine would like to fill us in on his project? I hope so.

Simple toggle switch atop headlight housing.