During the pandemic lockdown, 78-year-old David Junck, a retired Boone County farmer, did something no one has done in more than 130 years: He built a nearly exact replica of the world’s first functional self-powered electric vehicle.

From wood-spoke wheels to a fringed-surrey top, Junck’s replica not only looks like the first electric carriage built in the late 1880s by Des Moines inventor William Morrison, it also sounds and moves like the original.

On a recent 90-degree day, the carriage’s four hard-rubber wheels shuddered as Junck drove across the farmyard in Boone County where his great-grandfather had lived at roughly the same time Morrison was working in Des Moines.

The electric motor and lubricated gears of Junck’s machine were so quiet that the only sound was the creaking of wood as the carriage swayed at each bump.

Morrison’s electric carriage made its public debut in 1889 at the Seniom-Sed – Des Moines spelled backward – parade held on Labor Day.

Morrison was born and educated in Scotland and lived in Parsons, Kan., before arriving in Des Moines in the mid-1880s. Old newspapers describe him as a watchmaker and a chemist, “a mysterious man who didn’t eat meat – only nuts, vegetables, fruits and puddings.”

The inventor’s lifelong interest in electricity came to fruition in Des Moines, where he spent years perfecting the lead-acid batteries that propelled his carriage.

In 2021, Junck purchased similar lead-acid batteries, “like you’d use in a golf cart,” to propel his carriage.  

But he did build the carriage and the vehicle’s mechanics from scratch. “There were no blueprints, no plans I could refer to,” he said, noting that while Morrison built as many as a dozen electric carriages between 1888 and 1900, none are known to exist today.

Junck created his replica from the ground up, using old photos and articles from newspapers and magazines for guidance.

To figure out the size and seating, explained Junck’s wife, Leone, “he set up chairs here” on the floor in the shop “and wrote down the dimensions.”

The motor in Junck’s carriage is a direct descendant of the trolley motor Morrison used. “They use that same motor today in sailboats and utility vehicles slightly bigger than golf carts,” he said.  

Junck figured out the gearing system based on the size of the wheels and the fact that Morrison’s carriage could travel 20 mph. “It’s not complex math,” he said. “Having farmed and built auger systems, it’s just multiplying and dividing.

“Another difference,” he added, “the original carriage was one-wheel drive. I built a slip-clutch, so you have half power to the second wheel.”

Junck’s wooden wheels were made by “an Amish guy in Hazelton” who added spokes to hubs taken from a 1920s Dodge, he said.

Morrison was among the first to use rack and pinion steering, and when Junck couldn’t find any ready-made mechanism, he created his own rack and pinion mechanism. 

Junck’s electric carriage was completed in early March, about 10 months after he’d started, although back surgery prevented him from working part of that time.

Not counting his time, the retired farmer said he spent between $7,000 and $9,000 on materials to create the vehicle.

The idea for the project came from Bill Jepsen, a  friend and car buff in Boone who wrote about the Morrison Electric in “Iowa Automobiles,” a 2007 encyclopedia of Iowa-made vehicles.

Junck has been restoring old cars since 1981 and has a collection of about a dozen cars, tractors and trucks, including two antique fire trucks. His first restoration was a1931 Graham Paige sedan purchased at an estate sale.

Until now, his most unusual vehicle was a 1921 Detroit Electric, which he acquired and repaired a decade ago.