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Rare Microcars:
The Small, The Tiny, And the Utterly Absurd


"QUANTUM SHOT" #880
Link - article by Avi Abrams




Bigger than your bike, smaller than your typical European parking space

A product of traffic and parking problems in high-density urban areas, small cars have a lot of redeeming qualities. They are endlessly practical, often cute and mostly easy on your wallet. While you'd need to sacrifice much of your space and comforts, you'll have a reward of being considered ecologically & street "smart". Some of the models can go 40 km per liter (100 miles per gallon), which is advertised as "almost cheaper than walking".

Of course soccer moms will still need vans and macho guys will still need a Hummer statement, but if you live in the urban area where parking space could cost you as much as $250,000 - then these little critters may be just the right ticket for you. They certainly speak to our sense of esthetic and evoke a strong desire to hug them and pat them on the back.

A Smorgasbord of Various Mini-Cars

These are probably the strangest-looking: "Gaitans" from Spain - "Gaitan Auto-Tri Huevo 125cc 1953" on the left and "Gaitan Auto-Tri 125cc" (1953) on the right:


(images via)


One of the three-wheeled Gaitans even served as a miniature ambulance! -


(images via)


Belgian micro-car Minerva "Frog" 150cc 1953 (left) and Trottolina Castagna from 1953 (right):


(images credit: "Dwergauto's" book by Jan de Lange 2000, via)


This strange green "cube" comes from Luxemburg, an MDI AirPod (2009) - on the right is the MDI AirCar van:




Strange one on the left is "Paddle 360" from 1960s Japan. On the right are two of small-ish "jeeps": rare picture of "Mobius One" (2010) from Kenya, and "Jago Samuri" (1987) from UK:




Another weird one: "MT Mototriciclo" from Spain (left) and a pretty widespread "Gryfia" from 1963 Poland (right):




Here is a pretty ugly one: Larmar 249cc (1946) from England... on the right is 3Da Rocha Aruanda (1964) from Brazil:




Some strange mini-trucks, two from Italy - ISO Isocarro 400 (1960) and three-wheeled Ercole - and the one on the bottom right is "Motalli City Carga", seen in Portugal:




The Reva is the electric city car from India:




This is a modification of Polski "Fiat" - a swanky convertible:


(image via)


"Smart" car is everywhere these days. But have you seen "Smart"-based crane?


(original unknown)


Here is a "Smart"-based Jeep-like SUV... This is the Crosstown Concept, shown at the 2005 Frankfurt show:




I've personally spotted a few "little ones" on the streets in Amsterdam: this is the "Canta" model (more info):


(images credit: Avi Abrams, Dark Roasted Blend)


A smorgasbord of small: here's a Pasquali three-wheeled tandem two-seater from Italy:



One of our readers writes with more info: "I've discovered that the full name for the yellow three-wheeler is "Pasquali Riscio"... They offer a single seat version and a tandem two-seater. Not sure how to tell which is which from the outside, unless you can see the seats clearly through the windows! Pasquali mostly make farm tractors and mowers, so I think that the Riscio is their only road vehicle."

Help us to identify these models:










Even smaller Minis -




This is a Milieu R made by the Japanese firm Takeoka. More info - on the right is its electric updated version, more info:



3-wheeled "Ape", produced by Italian Piaggio company:




Primitive Shopping Vehicles - better than shopping carts

Some of them can be very small - but perhaps you'd like to have something more substantial than this:



1972 Norsjo Shopper (Sweden) was perfect for the elderly (and the teens!) to drive around with their groceries. You can see how really primitive these were inside... moped-like, no dashboard. Top speed - 60 kph.


(images credit: Microcar Museum)

Here is one account: "The Norsjö Shopper was still quite common here in Sweden when I was growing up, at the end of the eighties. With an engine of less than 50cc, delivering a single horsepower, it was classified as a moped and could be driven without a license by anyone 15 or older. By that time it was mostly used by elderly ladies living in the countryside, though, except for a few that got in the way of the popular pastime of moped-tuning and got turned into three-wheeled deathtraps."

The smallest of all is probably this bike, made by "Honda". Can it be folded even further to fit into your laptop bag?




Amazingly, there was almost the same concept as far back as 1951 in the Soviet Russia. Here's proof:


(image credit: Tekhnika Molodezhi, 1951)


The Ugliest of the Bunch

Probably the ugliest micro-car of all comes from Soviet Russia (a car specially designed for the disabled and the elderly) - called "Invalidka" (almost a "wheelchair") from Serpukhovski Moto Zavod:



(top image: art by Yury Dolmatovski)

Seen in a Russian movie -




This car was the easiest to secure (nobody would want to steal it) -




The Smallest Tank (not really meant for groceries)

For one of the smallest tanks, check out French Renault FT17 (from 1918) - first tank with a fully rotating turret. This little armored wonder was definitely smaller than most SUVs on the road today. Strangely, it was used by the Germans during World War II, modified with a stubby 75mm gun.




Another miniature bad-ass vehicle (widely used in Vietnam) was Ford Mutt - basically a quarter ton jeep with rugged overhead valve engine and a rocket launcher on top. The sort of a vehicle that Indiana Jones would love.


via

Here is a similar idea, employed in the Soviet Army in the 1970s:




Here is a 2011 Smart Tank Concept sporting a full set of tracks and a camouflage scheme from the German Army:


(image via)


Amazingly, even with four articles in this series, we did not cover all microcar models... One good source for collectors is Microcar Club page and Wiki's List of Microcars by country of origin. Also of interest is Minutia - MicroCars Club Magazine. Stay tuned from more coverage of unique vintage automobiles.


(image via, original unknown)


The American infatuation with the large cars (see evidence here and here), introduced the idea of the "backseat romance", which could not be properly fulfilled in these little vehicles (with the notable exception of Mr. Bean who is entirely capable of fully changing his clothes while driving). Europe and Japan continue to manufacture sub-compacts, with very few of these models seen overseas. Nevertheless, world's ecological situation may dictate another set of rules for all motorists, and we'll live to see another "Golden Age" of micro and "bubble" cars in our future.

Article by Avi Abrams, Dark Roasted Blend.


READ THE PREVIOUS PART HERE ->


Also Read Part Two ->

Don't Miss Part 1 of This Series ->




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YOUR COMMENTS::

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Trying to stuff the military items in at the end was really half-assing it. The M-151 Mutt was *surprise* a normal size 1/4 on truck... just like the Jeep it replaced. Carrying anti-tank weapons (106mm recoilless rifle or TOW missle launcher) isn't surprising at all. A mention of the type of Soviet vehicle, plus the fact that it was armed with a rocket pod usually carried by a helicopter was obviously too much to ask for. The Smart car at the end wasn't a concept, either. It was a private conversion using a Smart Fortwo and the running gear of the equally tiny German Wiesel AWC.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Easy bro!

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Blogger Laurinda said...

Thank you for all the microcar pics- I'm a fan! I've owned compacts, & currently have a first-year Yaris (sub-compact)But I wish I could get away with a Smart Car, ot other fabulous micro...

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Really nice posts! Will you write posts about "tiny planes"?

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Anonymous José Couves said...

I'm missing the brazilian ones! The Gurgel line (Gurgel BR800, Gurgel Walkmachine and Gurgel Xef) and the Dacon line (Dacon Nick and Dacon 828).

The Gurgel was the only 100% brazilian car manufacturer.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Inside the Pentagon building itself, they use a golf-cart based ambulance. As for micro tanks, you should check out the Ontos.

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Blogger Felonius Monk said...

My 6th Grade teacher owned an FT17. He would give rides in it at Fun Night every year.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Choro-Q's!!!

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Anonymous Jim-Bob said...

The last picture is of a shrunken Mini derivative. Ironically, it's a Riley Elf. I wonder what the story is as it looks like a good job.

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Blogger Janne H. said...

You forgot the Messerschmidt micro cars, produced after WWII!

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was looking for a reference to the Isetta. The only car I ever saw where if you are in a front end collision you are trapped in the car. (One door and it opened from the front.)

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Blogger folti said...

Umm, that rocket launcher pod was not used by the Soviet Army at all. They had more than a few proper rocket artillery designs in their service, so they didn't need that hackjob.

Because that's nothing than a launcher pod for the S-5 unguided rocket (looks like the UB-32 model), originally used by various Soviet aircrafts, grafted onto a civilian truck. It's practically a technical, IIRC built during the Balkan Wars in the 1990s. The S-5 is a long time favorite by insurgents, rebels and other less then well equipped forces, and you can dig up lots of similar creations, where the UB-32 and other pods have been grafted to a whole lot of different vehicles, to make some makeshift MLRS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-5_rocket

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Blogger Abdul-Azim Hasib said...

The ugliest mini car of all time is probably one of the better looking cars here.

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