Micro Cars

JHamilton · 21 Jan 2013, 18:20 (Ref:3192351)

fieldodreams and I went to the Bruce Weiner Micro Car Museum in Madison, GA. It is the largest collection of it's type in the world but will be going up for auction in its entirety next month. It is a great collection and was a lot of fun to go see.

http://microcarmuseum.com/

Here's a couple pics I snapped there:

**Aysedasi** · 21 Jan 2013, 18:58 (Ref:3192374)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I gotta get me one of those!!!

That has to be for Garage 56 at Le Mans in 2014!!!

GORDON STREETER · 21 Jan 2013, 23:21 (Ref:3192472)

When I was at school in the late 50s one of the teachers had an Isetta "bubble car" (that's what we called them) and we all used to watch as he got in it as he was almost 7ft tall

Also in my village there was a guy that had a Messerschmitt (the one with tandem seats) and we used to pick it up and put in in the village hall doorway sideways with about an inch to spare.
We never knew how he used to get it out as it took four of us to put it in there !

nicanary · 22 Jan 2013, 11:29 (Ref:3192666)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

When I was at school in the late 50s one of the teachers had an Isetta "bubble car" (that's what we called them) and we all used to watch as he got in it as he was almost 7ft tall

Also in my village there was a guy that had a Messerschmitt (the one with tandem seats) and we used to pick it up and put in in the village hall doorway sideways with about an inch to spare.
We never knew how he used to get it out as it took four of us to put it in there !

I recall Harry Schell and his accomplices doing this with a Vespa 400 back in the day - it was placed in a hotel room from what I remember.

**Aysedasi** · 22 Jan 2013, 17:14 (Ref:3192801)

When I was very small, my bedroom overlooked the railway lines and we often saw Isettas trundling past being delivered to somewhere..... Bubble cars they were to me too.....

nicanary · 22 Jan 2013, 17:23 (Ref:3192807)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

When I was very small, my bedroom overlooked the railway lines and we often saw Isettas trundling past being delivered to somewhere..... Bubble cars they were to me too.....

Ah, the good old Suez Crisis and how we all panicked. We were made to believe they were the future, just like electric cars are today.

**Aysedasi** · 22 Jan 2013, 17:25 (Ref:3192808)

I'd still like one - bubble car, I mean........

nicanary · 22 Jan 2013, 17:40 (Ref:3192815)

A lad at my first workplace had a Heinkel and courted his wife-to-be in it. Presumably the relationship wasn't particularly "physical" at that stage.

Wouldn't mind a Messerschmidt Tiger myself - flying machine in more than name.

**Aysedasi** · 22 Jan 2013, 18:24 (Ref:3192830)

I don't know, just fitting in one of those things with a lady sounds entirely physical to me.........

Dave Brand · 22 Jan 2013, 19:36 (Ref:3192863)

Looks like a fascinating museum . . . too bad it wasn't open the day we visited Madison!

GORDON STREETER · 23 Jan 2013, 08:57 (Ref:3193081)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicanary

A lad at my first workplace had a Heinkel and courted his wife-to-be in it. Presumably the relationship wasn't particularly "physical" at that stage.

Come off it when you're young and nubile anything is possible !

JHamilton · 24 Jan 2013, 02:08 (Ref:3193500)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Brand

Looks like a fascinating museum . . . too bad it wasn't open the day we visited Madison!

Yeah, it was very cool. The only disappointing thing was he didn't have his Peel P50 on display. He did have a Peel P50 'sport' out, but that's not as cool to me.

JHamilton · 24 Jan 2013, 02:16 (Ref:3193502)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I gotta get me one of those!!!

That has to be for Garage 56 at Le Mans in 2014!!!

I know but I bet traction is an issue.

It is a Chevy 502 big block with a ginormous blower. Here is the placard:

fieldodreams79 · 24 Jan 2013, 03:48 (Ref:3193529)

^ Yeah, my old man said he bet that Isetta had more horsepower than the rest of the cars in the museum combined.

The whole place was good stuff!

Chris Roden · 2 Feb 2013, 00:17 (Ref:3197827)

We had a Bond Minicar in the family when I was a kid. It had to be the soft top version because at 6' 4", Dad wouldn't fit in the hardtop.The brakes failed going down a steep hill and we had to run into the back of a parked A55 butchers van to stop. The Bond was a write off, the A55 had a broken reflector.

In my teens, the local RAF lads used to buy up any bubble cars, Isettas were favourites, they would use them for (non MSA!) racing on the airfield runways.

**Aysedasi** · 2 Feb 2013, 02:25 (Ref:3197887)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

Come off it when you're young and nubile anything is possible !

I need to look both of those up.........

**skycafe** · 9 Feb 2013, 02:58 (Ref:3201550)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHamilton

fieldodreams and I went to the Bruce Weiner Micro Car Museum in Madison, GA.

I am seriously envious! I happened upon a microcar show a few years ago, cool little things and I really liked that people had adopted them. My kind of people! Peels are actually being produced again. At 6'2", I am not really sure one is for me...but I do want a huggable car.

Did you know that the Iso Isetta finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd on the Index of Thermal Efficiency at the 1954 Mille Miglia? That 1000 mile race on the public roads of Italy where those Ferrari, Lancia, Porsche cars ran, also the playground of the mighty Isetta!

http://www.autowallpaper.de/Wallpape...le-miglia-.jpg

**Aysedasi** · 10 Feb 2013, 11:42 (Ref:3202362)

Unbelievable!

nicanary · 10 Feb 2013, 14:40 (Ref:3202407)

That Isetta set off at 9.00pm the night before the "serious" boys were flagged away at breakfast time the next day. It finished at 7pm the next day, having averaged 70kph. I hope they had ear-plugs.

There's a wonderful photo in Wimpffen's picture-book of a certain Ivo Fanciullini in a self-built tiny GT car powered by a 250 Moto-Guzzi 'bike engine. He reached Rome 6 hours after the winners finished the race. I like optimism and enthusiasm.

**skycafe** · 10 Feb 2013, 16:17 (Ref:3202436)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicanary

That Isetta set off at 9.00pm the night before the "serious" boys were flagged away at breakfast time the next day. It finished at 7pm the next day, having averaged 70kph. I hope they had ear-plugs.

There's a wonderful photo in Wimpffen's picture-book of a certain Ivo Fanciullini in a self-built tiny GT car powered by a 250 Moto-Guzzi 'bike engine. He reached Rome 6 hours after the winners finished the race. I like optimism and enthusiasm.

"I like optimism and enthusiasm"

Me too! The Fanciullini was also called a Martinella. I have not seen a photo.

These guys in the little cars must have had grand adventures, imagine when the big cars came blasting through!

JHamilton · 11 Feb 2013, 19:45 (Ref:3203035)

I just thought I would let yall know the auction is this weekend in case there are any phone bidders out there.

http://www.handlewithfun.com/lot-search.cfm

**BertMk2** · 13 Feb 2013, 18:08 (Ref:3204148)

There's a collection of micro cars near me:

http://www.3wheelers.com/hammond.html

Some odd stuff there!

**dtype38** · 15 Feb 2013, 18:06 (Ref:3205435)

Love these little cars. Remind me of the Bubble car and Bond Bug that used to be round our way when I was little.

Anyway, not much to add.... exceptof course the new 10-10ths Smilie:

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Micro Dynamics sequential shift light	Joest956	Racing Technology	2	23 Jan 2008 23:22
Stop the ban of cars older than 10yrs! and classic cars	pitcrew	Classic Cars	9	16 May 2007 00:38