Robert McCulloch tried his hand at many other business areas, including attempts at starting his own line of cars and developing a helicopter for home use.
Most spectacularly, however, he bought the London Bridge and moved it to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, a city he had founded while exploring oil fields in the area.
This purchase did not come out of a sudden impulse, though. The London Bridge of 1833 was gradually sinking into the River Thames and had been for sale by the London Council for quite some time when Robert placed his bid of 2.4 million dollars in 1968.
Completing the project took three years. Each block was marked and numbered, then shipped through the Panama Canal, unloaded in California, and transported to Arizona. The bridge was reassembled by matching the numbered stones.
When the attraction finally opened in 1971, Robert McCulloch had not only given his city a unique landmark, he had also set a new world record for the World’s Largest Antique. Robert McCulloch died on February 25, 1977. But the brand that bears his name proudly lives on, giving garden-owners around the world a boost of power where it’s most needed.
For further reading on McCulloch and the evolution of chainsaws, “Chainsaws: A History” by David Lee (Harbour Publishing) is recommended.