pauln Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Micro Cars! Wow! Just wow! Be sure you spend a moment looking at all of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Thanks for the link. A couple of those, I'd like to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 The GOGOMOBILE a blast from the past ................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 OB, You've actually seen some of these? Very cool. I wonder what the MPG was with 15hp and 239CC displacement? Amazing that it could get up to 65mph. These selling now would go like hotcakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Top Gear did a report on the World's Smallest Car a while back... TheP-50. Here is the video... it is hysterical... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I drive a Matchbox to work, yeah yeah, I know I should drive American, but those Hotwheels are all to flashy for me. The mileage is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 leaded or unleaded, jb? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I think they stopped making kids toys out of lead in the 1920s and stopped using asbestos in toys the early 1960s. That said its so un-PC to I have to admit but I love to own one of these "restored" today (below). I know its not fast, nor does she handle well, she has curves. Hell I don't have the garage space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Hell with PC... having a beaut like that is worth the gas prices, even if only brought out for special purposes. Hoo-hah for the Pimpmobile! Those are awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Cool. The Goggomobile Dart looks like a lot of fun. Small, lightweight, no real protection from a big heavy SUV but no less than a motorcycle or scooter. So why not make an extremely light roll cage, maybe one designed to roll when bashed into by an SUV or bounce off whatever tried to crush it. Or flat out strong enough that a semi could run over without crushing the car's occupants. Maybe a ramp like shape so overly huge vehicles would just kind of roll over it? Or roll over on themselves. Enough tiny cars and they could have their own lanes like a bike lane or an HOV lane and should qualify for HOV lanes with even one person. Especialloy 400cc which is a 1/3 of a good sized motorcycle. A couple of seats. Room for a couple of bags of groceries. Add a good car stereo and what more do you really need to drivve to work? Especially if could get up to and sustain highway speeds. I know, it's more fun to get up to speed faster than the other guy but did you ever notice all these people that are in such a big hurry to get where they're going just so they can hang out and waste time? Something like the Goggomobil Dart even looks like fun. Though I'd probably not be able to get in or out with the top up. And it's a little too cute so the wife and daughters would want to drive it all the time. Memories OB? Did I see you in the circus back in the 70's? Just how do so many clowns cram into such tiny cars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Memories OB? Did I see you in the circus back in the 70's? Just how do so many clowns cram into such tiny cars? You callin' me a Clown? ................................... We wore mud flaps ................ EH !!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Or flat out strong enough that a semi could run over without crushing the car's occupants. You would _think_ this would be a good idea, but they tried this once. Remember the big, heavy cars builts like tanks? Like JB's Caddy? Bulletproof, right? Problem with those is if they do get into a serious accident and the bodies and frames don't give and absorb the energy of impact - the occupants do. Internal organ damage was huge with these types of vehicles, and it is why modern cars have crush zones that look like soda cans after a wreck. The more energy that can be absorbed by the vehicle is that much less that is transmitted to the occupant, and the greater chance they have of walking away, or not suffering serious injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Well I was actually thinking something like a ramp that the SUV or semi would literally run over or get rolled over onto it's side - while the car would not stop so fast. Ie in head on collision this car would keep moving foward while the semi would roll over the top - and then would only work if at least one wheel could roll over this imossible to build car. It would probably have to be a squat wide pyramid sort of thing which would not be able to deal with hitting a fixed object such as a tree or a wall. Not sure there'd be any way to do this as the main goal is fuel efficient. It would have to be too low in the ground in all directions. So no sensible way possible to get rid of the sudden stop as I'm not sure enough can be done inside the car to aborb the impact of stopping suddenly. I understand the concept of the crush zone. Another crazy idea is to somehow but the airbags on the outside for the crush zones, again not very practical as then it would have to deploy before impact to be effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFP Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 I think they stopped making kids toys out of lead in the 1920s and stopped using asbestos in toys the early 1960s. That said its so un-PC to I have to admit but I love to own one of these "restored" today (below). I know its not fast, nor does she handle well, she has curves. Hell I don't have the garage space. Yeah... I'm with jacksonbart... Gimme some serious ground-pounding iron (or in my case, some sort of plasticy stuff!)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Thanks for that site, pauln, it really brought back some memories! My father was in the Canadian Army and we lived in Germany in the late '50s. Dad bought my mom a Victoria 250 Roadster for Christmas and we travelled a bit around the country with it, plus local driving. My brother and I were very small at that time, so there was room for all four of us in the "3-seater" car. It ran fairly well, but was understandably sluggish going up steep hills. It was amusing to see that the site called it a "one-eighth Corvette", since it was made of fiberglass and had a single-cylinder engine. Much later, in 1977, I bought a 1971 Corvette, which wasn't any roomier inside, but went up hills much better. There were a lot of Messerschmitts on the road then, as well as the Isetta "bubble-cars", as they were called. For a while, it was very trendy to have a big black-painted plywood key (standing 2 feet tall or so) attached to the back of the Isettas and the Fiat 600s, so they'd look like a big wind-up toy. About 15 years ago, I read that the older Germans actually despise the micro-cars, since they remind them of a time when the economy was so bad, that's all the Germans could afford to drive. War is expensive, especially when you lose... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.