Weird Car

The Zundapp Janus- one of the worst cars ever

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Time Magazine one of the world’s most respected magazines has voted today’s car, the Zundapp Janus one of the ’50 worst cars ever made’. We found this interesting little pink car in Germany at the Sinsheim Auto & Tecknic Museum. The car was actually German, it was built in Nuremberg and this model is from 1958. The vehicle was made by a motorbike factory after motorbike sales fell off during the 50’s. The company thought (wrongly) they should get into the car market. Probably the best bit of this car was the rear seat, it faced backwards so you could see people behind you frustrated with the single cylinder twin stroke 14hp engine running at a snail like pace and the fear of seeing much faster and better cars rear ending you. The car had two doors, one at the back and one at the front making it really difficult to see which end was which. Safety on the Zundapp Janus wasn’t an option either- there was none. 6902 of the vehicles were produced in the 18 months or so production before the factory was sold to Bosch.

Nissan’s Flying Feather

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The Flying Feather was the brainchild of Yutaka Katayama in the late 1940s’ He Ryuichi Tomiya, Ryuichi Tomiya designers at Datsun in Japan went to work on a small vehicle that used mainly motorcycle parts and very basic, but netherless a functional and reliable means of transport. They came up with this interesting little vehcile. Unfortunatly it didn’t really get into full production but some 150 or so vehicles were produced in various stages in the mid 1950′ by Suminoe Manufacturing, which was an affiliate fo Nissan.  The vehicle was probably a bit to basic, which people were not quiet ready for in Japan. Similar style vehicles became popular a few years later This lovely example of the Flying Feather is on display at the Toyota Automotive Museum in Nagoya, Japan.

A duck out of water

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The amphicar wasn’t quiet sure what it wanted to be a boat or a car, so why not be both. Built in the early 1960’s in Germany the Amphicar was the only civilian passenger amphibian car ever to be produced (I wonder why) selling a little over 3000 units. The car had a top speed of 70mph on land and an impressive 7mph on water. It had twin nylon propellers and a special two part land and water transmission which was built by the makers of the Porsche transmission. When the car was on water the front wheels acted like rudders. The engine was based off a four cylinder British Triumph engine and produced 43 hp. The vehicle came in four colours, white, red, blue and green as in the photograph which we took at the  Sinsheim Auto & Technic Museum Germany, about an hours drive from Stuttgart.

The Cony Guppy Sports- the name says it all

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The Cony Guppy Sports is one of the more unusual of the mini vehicles. Built by the Aichi Machine Industry Co. Ltd in Japan, which later went onto be part of Nissan. The vehicle featured some cutting edge items for its day including four wheel independent suspension, a torque converter for clutches gear box operation, but it didn’t quiet have what it needed to catch on, maybe because it just looked wrong or the 11hp two stroke once cylinder engine made it more like a lawn mower. What you can’t see from the picture the vehicle is actually a small ute, you could put something about the size of a slab of beer in the back. The vehicle only 5000 units and wasn’t’ very popular although collectors will pay good money for them today. This photo was taken at the Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagoya Japan.

Back to the future with the De Lorean

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The De Lorean would have to be the most famous of the whacky cars which went into production. Maybe it was because of it’s starring role in the hit movies Back to the Future or maybe just because of what it was. Built in 1981 for 3 years in of all places Northern Ireland the DMC-12 featured gull wing doors, a fiberglass underbody and brushed stainless steel panels. About 9000 of the of the cars were produced at the Dunmurray Factory it is believed over 6000 still exist in the hands of collectors and are cemented as a icon of the 80’s. The car has become so popular in recent years DNC Houston announced a few months ago it would bring the vehicle back into production with about 20 being built each year, the first one rolls of the assembly line this year. They will sell for just under $60,000 us and have a few modern touches but all the 80’s design cues that people have come to love. This vehicle was photographed at the Toyota Mega Web classic car collection in Tokyo Japan

BMW’s baby Isetta

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After the second world war there was a great need for small cheap transportation and there was a boom in what we now call microcars. The Isetta was one of the most successful being originally designed in Italy but being built in several European countries and even Brazil the vehicle was infact licensed to the car manufactures from Iso SpA. in Italy which was more familiar with making fridges and scooters. BMW made the car its own and did some innovative design changes and today it is the classic Isetta including making it more reliable. The thing that made the car so popular you only needed a motor bike license, because under the skin that’s really all the vehicle was. Transeum took this photograph of this lovely example of the Isetta at the amazing BMW museum in Munich, Germany.

Cousin IT drives one – and I can see why

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Everyone’s favorite spooky family the Adams Family’s weird Cousin It drives a KR200 Messerschmitt and you have just got to look at our photo to see why. It is bizarre! Messerschmitt were a famous German aircraft manufacturer but after the war they were not allowed to produce any more aircraft so they got into the car/bike business. The vehicle had a rear mounted 191 cc Sachs single cylinder two stroke engine and three wheels, and handle bar steering. It had a top speed of just over 60mph with good handling but the brakes were another thing, many needed brake upgrades just to make the machine stop. Later the company made 4 wheel version, and they also made prefabricated houses before being allowed to manufacture aircraft again in 1968. Cousin It wasn’t the only celebrity to drive one of these funny little vehicles, the King of Rock n’Roll Elvis Presley also had a red one in his extensive automotive collection. We took this picture at the Toyota Automotive Museum in Nagoya Japan where they have a huge showcase of iconic vehicles.

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The Canta Microcar starting at 11,500 euros – wow!

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Well looking at our photo, you might think we have done some bad resizing, but no this is the actual shape of the Canta Microcar. We found this little red vehicle parked on a footpath in Amsterdam and thought it was too good to pass by without taking a photograph. There is really only enough room for a single occupant, and not a real big on either. The vehicle is produced by a company called Waaijenberg Company, and the vehicle is very popular with people who have a disability or an illness that affects their mobility. The Canta measures a tiny 1.10m wide, 2.30m long and 1.65m high. Conveniently this measurement also happens to be the maximum measurements for a disabled vehicle for which no driving license or parking permit is required. The car is usually only seen in the cities and strangely unusually red, the car has a 45kmh speed limit. Now you might think small, and slow, it’s going to be cheap, well you are wrong the starting price is around 11,500 euros, and with various ad ons the price can rise to 17,000 euros, but if you are disabled you can get some help from the city and they will subsidise some of the cost.