Wendax: Possibly The Worst Cars Ever Made

"Jonee" (Jonee) 01/22/2016 at 12:44 • Filed to: Wendax, Microcars, Worst Car Ever

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Some failures become famous because they pushed an envelope too far, or tried to innovate too soon. The Tucker, the NSU Ro80, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! We remember them like we remember Icarus. Too bold and avant-garde to survive this mundane existence. We respect bold failures because they’re not the result of ineptitude, but of trying too hard. They teach us valuable lessons by showing us our limits, and shedding light on correct solutions. Today’s subject is not one of these stories, however. That’s not to say that the vehicles produced with the Wendax badge weren’t bold, or innovative because they were, sort of. They had a Volkswagen Transporter before Volkswagen. And they were one of the very first to offer a cheap passenger car after WWII. Unfortunately it was complete and utter garbage.

These days we take certain things for granted with new cars. They’re generally safe. They’re efficient. They’re designed and built by people with experience engineering and manufacturing automobiles. They’ve been tested so they work like a car should. For example, you know turning your car on won’t cause it to shake itself to pieces. But, there was a time when you’d buy a car and you had no idea that it was really engineered on the hunches of some guys who probably didn’t even own a car themselves. There were plenty of sketchy little cars built after WWII in Europe. It was kind of an anything goes era where anyone who had the room and access to materials could build and market a car. The worst ones, like that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , usually never made it to production. But, a few harebrained designs actually did. And, the worst of the worst was apparently the Wendax.

Wendaxes (Wendaxii?) were built by the Draisinenbau company in Hamburg just a few years after Germany’s surrender making them one of the first postwar cars built in the country. It was not an auspicious start. Draisinenbau had been around since the beginning of the 20th century building handcars and other railcars for European railroads.

These are called draisines like the first bicycles because they were invented by the same guy, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Anyway, some of these rail cars look a lot like cars and were powered by small, air-cooled engines.

They’re for track maintenance or ferrying workers around and, during the war, were actually armored. Tatra built armored draisines like this one for the Polish army.

After the war, with Germany’s infrastructure largely demolished, there was no market for railcars, so Draisinenbau had to look for new ways to scrape by. They repaired trolley cars, and built wicker furniture. The company’s owner, Dr. Alpers, a former lawyer who had taken over the company in the 30’s, had a connection to a pipe manufacturer. Getting raw materials at that time was a Herculean task, so you took what you could get, and Draisinenbau began manufacturing whatever it could think of made from strong steel tubes. Tube furniture, tube doors, tube park benches. The future was tubing. Then one day in the spring of 1947 fate stepped into the Draisinenbau factory in the form of the awesomely named Professor Mobius.

According to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , my go-to resource for these things, the professor was the inventor of the one-man torpedo during the war. I know the Italians used manned torpedoes in the Mediterranean, but these usually had a two man crew, so Mr. Mobius really must have made a breakthrough. Now the head of an engineering firm, he needed a car and he wanted Draisinenbau to build him one. Cars were pretty hard to come by in those first postwar years, so it wasn’t unusual for folks to build their own, or commission one. Money, obviously, was also tight, so Mobius wanted something economical, but he didn’t want to sacrifice style. He had penned his own design for a little open roadster that could be powered by a 150cc scooter motor. To keep things simple, he envisioned only one powered rear wheel. He also apparently wanted “oppositely acting steering.” I have no idea if that means what I think it means, but it sounds insane. There doesn’t appear to be any existing photos of this car, but Professor Mobius was apparently delighted with it. It took the workers at Draisinenbau the better part of six months to construct it, and it got Dr. Alpers thinking. If they could make something that impressed a professor, the general public should be easy.

They started by putting back into production a little commercial trike they had built for a short time back before the war started. It was the first vehicle called a Wendax, the name taken from Wendenstrasse , the street the factory stood on. Dr. Alpers had the design updated to look a little car-like, at least from the front. It also got a proper steering wheel instead of handlebars, and an upgraded suspension with swing arms and torsion bars. It was better than competitors and would be the first, and last success for Wendax when it comes to road vehicles. It went on sale in July of 1948.

A bunch were bought by the Hamburger Abendblatt , Hamburg’s daily paper, for delivering newspapers, and a few people bought them just as transportation. Emboldened by this success, the folks at Draisinenbau set about designing a more capable commercial vehicle.

No one was building a light, 1.5 ton truck, and Draisinenbau had just procured a bunch of 4 year old VW engines that had been abandoned in North Africa by the German army. So, the head draisine designer, Heinrich Paartz, who had no experience at all with road vehicles, penned a simple pickup truck and set about designing a novel front wheel drive system. This is how it’s described in Deutsche Kleinwagen as translated by Google:

It consisted of two interlocking claws that were designed spherically, and two ball bearings on the wheels that resonated. Struck the wheel, the joint turned in the middle. Compared to the other front-wheel drives, this design is said to be particularly wear-resistant.

I’m not an engineer, so I can’t totally picture what went on, and I haven’t found any photos of it, but it sounds fascinating and I guess it worked. The truck’s body was made of wood with sheet metal tacked on much like the railcars. In a sign of things to come, Volkswagen sued them when the trucks were marketed with the phrase “Powered by VW.” They were just sore since their own pickup wouldn’t be out for several months.

While putting the finishing touches on the not VW Transporter, Alpers and Paartz began work on the car that would be Wendax’s downfall. An automobile so bad, it doesn’t even turn up on the usual worst car lists because no one seems to want to believe it existed. It was called the Aero WS 700 with that number having no relation to anything about the car whatsoever.

Inspired by the car they had built for Prof. Mobius, it was a sleek roadster and isn’t all that bad looking. It kind of looks like the shape you’d draw when starting your sports car design before refining it into something interesting. Its shape was dictated by a heavy wooden frame and how much they felt like bending metal around it. With funds spread thin from building the trucks and trikes, parts had to be sourced on the cheap. The engine was a 400cc 11.5 horsepower two-stroke Ilo unit that was designed to power a large circular saw which Ilo had a surplus of. Like the Mobius car, it drove one rear wheel by chain. It was actually mid mounted making this car the first MR setup in a road car, beating the Matra Djet by more than a decade. For weight purposes, it was put on the right side, opposite and behind the driver which meant that the shift linkage, which was a chic for the time three on the tree, snaked awkwardly across the car. With no experience engineering anything like it, Paartz and the railcar guys never got it quite right and the Aero WS 700 rarely stayed in gear. Not that is was very drivable when it did.

Cars usually power two wheels for a reason. Even the thought of accelerating caused the Wendax to twist violently and jerk to the right. It was probably the only rear wheel drive car to suffer from torque steer. And forget about traction if the road was wet. Alpers couldn’t afford to hire proper test drivers, or anyone who knew how to engineer a car, so the workers at Draisinenbau used trial and error to dial things in until the car was barely useable in order for it to be displayed at the Hannover Export Fair in May of 1949. They actually loaded it onto the prototype Transporter for the 100 mile trip.

In 1949 the public was automobile hungry, and the Wendax made a big impression at its debut. The bench seat, column shift, and white steering wheel were considered elegant touches on an economy car. Its price was about that of the Beetle and, even though it only had half the power of the VW, its looks were much sportier. Dr. Alpers also promised delivery in 4 weeks as opposed to months for the Volkswagen. It was this promise of a quick turnaround that brought in literally hundreds of orders making the Wendax a smash success before production ever began. Das Auto reported, “Great interest met the little Wendax Aero two-seater with pontoon body whose rear engine mounting, however, not particularly like us.” They had no idea.

The truck also got a good reception and its share of orders which allowed Alpers to expand his workforce to 300 as production of the first vehicles started. The cars and trucks, like the draisines before them, were built by hand, however, and even with more builders than ever before, Draisinenbau only managed to produce 2 cars and 3 trucks a month. This put a big crimp in the 4 week delivery plan. It didn’t dampen any spirits, though, and Alpers enthusiastically began planning a second car to be competition for the new Borgward 1500 that had been at the fair parked next to the Wendax.

This time Dr. Alpers designed the body himself by drawing a basic 3 box sedan and calling it a day. The sedan was over 4 meters long making it a full-sized car, a pretty ambitious undertaking for a company that had barely produced a couple dozen road vehicles total. And, as they were developing it, the few cars they had already built started having some issues.

First of all, they were only delivering cars to dealers who had paid full price. No cars were going to individuals who had paid a deposit at the fair. And with the rate of production at a trickle, those folks had little hope of ever seeing a Wendax Aero WS 700. Which was probably for the best. One dealer described his experience with the cars thusly, “After 3000 kilometers the couplings had to be reassigned, clutch and brake pedals broke off while driving as they butt-welded on a pipe goods. Due to a miscalculation in the fuel system, the tank of the small car could never be run dry, ten liters always remained. In a WS 700 should be broken from its hinges after 2000 kilometers mileage even the doors.” Yes, the pedals snapped like twigs, and the doors fell off. And, it didn’t even have doors! Impressive. I think they mean the engine cover, or bonnet. The workers at Draisinenbau never built something that had to stand up to the stresses of bad roads. Rails are always smooth, I guess. In addition, the car had been advertised as having weighed only 1500 pounds, but the wood frame actually made it 300 pounds heavier and the old saw motors just couldn’t cope. So, cars were returned and instead of building new ones, the Wendax staff was busy fixing broken cars.

Only 19 Aero WS 700’s ended up being built and, unsurprisingly, there are no survivors. And that was pretty much true from the moment they left the factory. But, the complete disaster that was the little roadster didn’t stop Dr. Alpers and the beleaguered employees at Draisinenbau from pushing forward with the big sedan. In March of 1950 they had a prototype which they began showing to wary dealers. They promised that production was set to begin in an all-new, expanded factory in 4 weeks and that they had secured orders to export the cars to Sweden and Holland. This was all complete bullshit. Most suspiciously, Wendax was promising a 5,000 km warranty when most car makers offered double that. Still, the car looked alright. It was bigger than a Beetle and offered more amenities for about the same price.

It also had some sweet chrome trim and a hood ornament that Dr. Alpers spent more time designing than the rest of the actual car. Seriously. He apparently spent days scribbling script “W’s” until he got it perfect.

The body was still a wooden shell with a metal skin, but that wasn’t unique. Early Lloyds even eschewed the metal part. Their cars were wood and vinyl. The car was called the WS 750 and this time the number signified engine size. Ilo had just come out with a new 25 horsepower, 750cc two-cylinder two-stroke that engineer Paartz mated to his front wheel drive set up from the Transporter. The car also got ATE hydraulic brakes on all 4 wheels, so it was a pretty forward thinking machine under its primitive body.

Dr. Alpers was sure he had a winner and even ordered a coupe variant built to display at shows.

That one’s actually not too bad looking. But, like Icarus, Wendax was soaring too high. Nothing had changed at the factory since the Aero debacle. The new car was heavy and poorly constructed. To make matters worse, Ilo’s new motor, like the car they put it in, hadn’t been sufficiently tested and, because of a tiny flywheel, vibrated like an out of control sex toy. At 40 mph the car shook violently. Neither Ilo nor Draisinenbau had the funds to do anything about it, so the car went into production as is with its builders hoping no one would notice it trembling itself apart.

It debuted at the Brussels Motor Show in January, 1951. The guy who Alpers had somehow conned into being the Belgian distributor was ordered to not let anyone get too close to the car, so he made up a story about losing the key. He apparently also couldn’t remember what city the car was manufactured in. One German magazine that was at the show wrote: “such exhibits add to the reputation of the German auto industry abroad unprecedented damage. It would have to be found a way to prevent the issue of such inferior products abroad.” When it went on sale, Das Auto called the WS 750 “unfit for transport.” It was no better than its predecessor.

Alpert and Paartz desperately tried to come up with fixes and improvements. Paartz redesigned the chassis to fit a 1.2 liter Ford Taunus engine, and also came up with a clever hydraulic assist system for the shifter. But, the company was heavily in debt. A final blow came when the Blendax toothpaste company filed suit claiming the Wendax name was too similar. After around 70 WS 750’s buzzed out of the shop, car production shut down at Draisinenbau for good. One car did manage to survive somehow, though. For some reason, a single WS 750 had a relatively long life serving as a Hamburg taxi. It’s appropriately preserved in as found, non-running condition in a German museum.

Interestingly, no one was laid off at the factory. Railcar production had picked up again as Germany rebuilt itself, so Draisinenbau thrived up until the 80’s building draisines and trolleys.

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Klaus Schmoll > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 15:25

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You never fail to edutain me. Keep up the good work! I love reading your articles!

As a German who reads a lot of vintage car magazines, I always think that I know of all the obscure stuff... until you come up with something I have never heard of again.

Jonee > Klaus Schmoll 01/22/2016 at 15:31

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Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it, and the others. I’m an American who reads lots of old German car magazines and it never ceases to amaze me all the weird cars there were in that era.

MTY19855 > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 15:42

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Must have been an incredible time and place to be an engineer. Take parts, whatever they are from wherever you can, and make something useful from them. Like Junkyard Wars on a national scale.

Klaus Schmoll > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 15:43

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It’s probably what happens after a war with all that destruction. A lot of people will try to make something with nothing, some achieve great things, some fail catastrophically.

How’s your LeCar/5 after the fender bender? Did fix it? Did the insurance give you any headaches?

Gary Yogurt > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 15:47

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Damn, thank you. If you had a website, I’d pay to be one of the ad-free elite members. If I weren’t already married, I’d ask you to speak at my wedding. (About Hanomags or something.)

Jonee > Gary Yogurt 01/22/2016 at 15:51

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Haha. Thanks. If there’s a wedding #2, I’ll be ready.

RallyWrench > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 15:53

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Fascinating and educational as always, I’m happy to have learned about another obscure car I’d never heard of. Thanks! You should compile these on a site somewhere in case Kinja loses them.

YALE70 > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 15:54

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Where the fuck is Jason when you need him.

ndotm > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 15:55

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The Model 47, with its luxurious plank back supports, was the Maybach of handcarts.

Jonee > Klaus Schmoll 01/22/2016 at 15:56

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Exactly. It was the same after the First World War as well. At some point I’ll have to broach that subject.

The Le Car is doing ok, thanks for asking. Amazingly, the insurance company was pretty generous, so I managed to find a parts car to replace much of what was damaged plus extra stuff like doors and the hood. I’ll post an update soon. It’s back running and driving and I’m about to get started on the body work.

sklooner > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 15:56

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I can’t believe Vince lied to me

Jonee > YALE70 01/22/2016 at 15:58

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He shared it to the front page. I think he’s now desperately trying to find a draisine to test drive since there are no Wendaxes left.

Jonee > ndotm 01/22/2016 at 15:59

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I wonder if there was a deluxe model with 2 planks.

MultiplaOrgasms > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 16:12

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I assume they’re nowhere near the shittyness of the german post-war economy cars usually featured in your articles, but what is your opinion on these two fuckers that didn’t make it into production?

mike89 > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 16:14

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Fascinating. The WS 700 reminded of another oddball, the Volugrafo 46 ‘Bimbo’, which was also one-wheel-drive, unless you bought the Sport model : that one had a second identical engine driving the other rear wheel.

http://www.banovsky.com/archive/volugr…

matmanx1 > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 16:16

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Very interesting article about a car I had never heard of. Some of the (faulty) engineering that went in to these cars is quite fascinating. Thank you for the excellent piece.

protodad > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 16:24

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Cool, its almost like Torch started his own car company.

Jonee > protodad 01/22/2016 at 16:33

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Ha!

Jonee > MultiplaOrgasms 01/22/2016 at 16:50

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Love those fuckers. I find it interesting that neither made it to production considering what else was out there. The Hanomag was every bit as good as a Lloyd and better looking. And the 331 is just adorable. That car not being a ponton body would have looked obsolete the second it left the factory, but I’ve always read they didn’t want to build an economy car, and then they went and licensed the Isetta a few years later which saved their ass.

tapzz > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 16:54

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Yes! another entry for my imaginary 1949 only car museum.

It was the most revolutionary and evocative model year in the history of the car, and the Wendax is yet another indication why.

Jonee > tapzz 01/22/2016 at 17:10

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I’d visit that museum. It’s definitely a fascinating moment in automotive history. Designers were trying to move into the future with little idea of what they were doing, yet.

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 17:20

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Blazin’ Saddles!

The return of Weird Wheels! Awesome piece Herr Eisen! Very entertaining as always!

One wheel drive... What were they thinking?

I’m still not convinced it beat the Matra. One cannot take an attempt with one wheel drive, a two-stroke industrial saw engine and only this little produced by some sort of a bike repair shop truly serious, now do we? It looked awesome though.

WELCOME BACK! Now don’t keep us waiting this long again!

DoneWithKinja > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 17:28

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It’s adorable..

tapzz > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 17:50

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Exactly- you can literally see every car designer in the world trying to figure out how to do one of them futuristic pontoon bodies all at the same time. Better yet, all the lab misfits and unfortunate experiments ended up on the roads due to the unprecedented demand.

On a different note; could you give us the original German of the Kleinwagen book quotes; I’m particularly intrigued to see whether I can make any more sense of the claw coupling thing from the Originalfassung .

Trevor-What > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 17:54

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What happened to models 42-45? Was one just a stool, then two stools, then three stools, then four stools, until they had a great idea to get rid of the stools and just make a bench?

Jonee > tapzz 01/22/2016 at 18:09

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Yeah, and you had cars that were prewar on the inside and postwar on the outside, and vice versa. At one time, I was obsessed with ‘48 and ‘49 Packards and had one of each.

Here you go. Let me know what you can parse.

Auf das von Paartz erdachte Rohrrahmen-Chassis setzte man den VW-Motor, der hier die Vorderrader antreiben sollte. Dazu konstruierte Paartz einen Vorderradantrieb, wie es ihn bisher nicht gab; er bestand aus zwei ineinander greifenden Klauen, die kugelartig ausgebildet waren, sowie zwei Kugellagern an den Radern, die mitschwangen. Schlug das Rad ein, drehte sich das Gelenk in der Mitte. Gegenuber der anderen Frontantriebs-Systemen soll diese Konstruktion besonders verschleißarm gewesen sein.

REO Jackwagon > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 18:10

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Say what you want about the car, but I’ll bet it had clean windows

MultiplaOrgasms > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 18:14

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Then again, the Hanomag was more of a Beetle competitor (it’s actually almost the exact same size as a modern Fiesta) and the established european manufacturers were very conservative when it came to design. Keep in mind that this

was launched the same year as this

Jonee > MultiplaOrgasms 01/22/2016 at 18:29

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Yeah, the old companies remained very stodgy while the little guys like Borgward and Lloyd and DKW kind of awkwardly stepped into the present. It was too expensive to update at that time and no one wanted to risk building a car people wouldn’t buy.

fredgonk > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 18:41

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Fascinating article. This dreadful excuse for a car reminded me of one of the very early Subarus, which Consumer Reports reviewed — and ravaged — back in the sixties, if I’m not mistaken. Apparently the car vibrated so much, the heater temperature control on the dash would oscillate left and right on its own. Fortunately, Subie went on to build much better cars!

Jonee > fredgonk 01/22/2016 at 18:45

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That’s the Subaru 360 you’re talking about. One of my favorite cars ever. I’ve owned several of them. Here’s my review of it where I mention the Consumer Reports article. The heater control was on the floor, so it might be the light switch bit which I talk about.

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/subaru-360-the…

MultiplaOrgasms > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 18:48

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However Borgward vehicles, while certainly ahead of their time, were always plagued with fairly significant teething problems. I recall the P100 with its air suspension (first in a european car) had some sort of anti roll mechanism that sort of worked but was very slow to respond, as such it often happened that the car would be level through a fast bend, but would start to lean once you got back on a straight.

I don’t consider DKW to be particularly progressive though.

Jonee > MultiplaOrgasms 01/22/2016 at 18:54

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I think the 1000/Meister Klasse/3=6 was a nice transitional design. More forward thinking than a lot of the competition.

tapzz > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 19:31

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I just love those much maligned ‘pregnant hippo’ Packards- the club sedan particularly is just gorgeous. But it was a stylistic mistake from a commercial point of view...

Still not sure I fully understand what that suspension looked like. The description sounds like it just describes some type of CV joint with a steering knuckle on the wheel hub.

They put the VW engine on the tube frame that was designed by Paartz, where it was supposed to drive the front wheels. To make that possible, Paartz constructed a novel, unique front wheel drive method: it consisted of two claws that interconnected in a ball-like shape, and it had two ball bearings on the wheel side that also moved up and down. When the wheel was deflected, the joint turned in the middle. Compared to other front wheel drive methods, it was supposed to be particularly resistant to wear.

I’ve checked other German online sources about the design, but am none the wiser. Maybe it’s some kind of Weiss CV joint?

Jonee > MultiplaOrgasms 01/22/2016 at 19:35

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Yeah, there were all sorts of weird experiments that found their way onto the roads before all their kinks were worked out. Like the front wheel drive on the Wendax. It’s what draws me to these things. Microcars often had wacky solutions to engineering problems. Some found their way into mainstream cars, but most were dead ends.

JAB66 > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 19:46

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OK, this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen and I want one NOW.

Jonee > tapzz 01/22/2016 at 19:47

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Yeah, it definitely seems to be working on the same principles. Which I guess allowed the wheel plenty of movement. It doesn’t really explain the drive part, but I guess it was a shaft with the claw on the end and a claw on the hub?

Jonee > JAB66 01/22/2016 at 19:54

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There appears to be at least two in existence, so maybe you’ll get your chance. It’d make a cool mobile beer cooler. And you ride with the motor right between your knees.

JAB66 > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 20:01

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Seriously, how much more badass does it get than that? None. None more badass.

Jonee > Jobjoris 01/22/2016 at 20:34

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Bugs Bunny, too.

Thank you, sir!

I think they weren’t thinking. Just doing the easiest thing possible.

Typical Matra fanboy. You can’t give credit where credit is due. The Kroboth I wrote about last time was also MR. But, it was a 3-wheeler, so I’ll give you that one.

I have a few others in the hopper, so hopefully the next magnum opus will take less than a month.

Jonee > JAB66 01/22/2016 at 20:35

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Sore ass, too, by the looks of that seat.

Berang > Jonee 01/22/2016 at 20:59

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I imagine the axle joint described probably was of this sort:

I think the Biscuter use a similar design.

Jonee > Berang 01/22/2016 at 21:12

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Yeah, you’re right. I forgot about the Biscuter’s CV joint drive. That was a really clever and simple design that was also pretty durable.

ironvagina > MTY19855 01/22/2016 at 23:39

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It was a great time. No food, the Soviets were just over the border amassing a force to rape your relatives that have not already been raped, all your friends were dead. Everything that you knew and loved was a smoldering ruin, your race was complicit and responsible for one of the most egregious genocides the world had ever seen. Yeah, it was a great time to be an engineer in 1946.

Shanghai61 > Jonee 01/23/2016 at 00:25

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“ ... Dr. Alpers spent more time designing than the rest of the actual car. Seriously. He apparently spent days scribbling script “W’s” until he got it perfect.”

He must have known it was all bullshit. Subconsciously the ‘W’ he designed looked like an ‘M’.

He had named his car ‘Mendax’.

Huh? > Jonee 01/23/2016 at 00:59

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Stick to what you know. Always good advice. I did really enjoy this read, though. Thank you.

Huh? > tapzz 01/23/2016 at 01:09

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Hey, I was born in ‘49 and have not fallen apart yet, well, mostly not.

Huh? > Jonee 01/23/2016 at 01:11

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Regular old U-joint? But primitiver.

ferric oxide > Jonee 01/23/2016 at 01:14

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“Wendax was promising a 5,000 km warranty”

...a whole 3100 miles on a new car? Now that is impressive. Take that Honda and Toyota!

ferric oxide > mike89 01/23/2016 at 01:21

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at a massive curb weight of 275lbs 10 horsepower might actually be enough to be considered sporty.

ferric oxide > tapzz 01/23/2016 at 01:27

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So what actually holds the joint together? Just the frame geometry of the car?

Jonee > Huh? 01/23/2016 at 01:28

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Thanks! Glad you liked it.

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > Jonee 01/23/2016 at 01:56

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Nice article and well-written. Even if it had been made up, still fun to read! :-)

Jonee > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny 01/23/2016 at 02:44

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Thanks! It’s all true, I swear.

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/23/2016 at 02:50

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Haha, if it was being a Fan-Boy that was blurring my judgement I would have said stated that the 1948 Porsche 356/1 was the first MR. But that was a one-off. The three-wheeler part I wouldn’t mind taking into account, I think Kroboth was a more serious attempt. Too bad Gustav himself didn’t think of it as being a car, naming it the AllWetterROLLER ;-)

PNO TECH > RallyWrench 01/23/2016 at 09:57

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Many of them are on Wierd Cars. Click on Jonee to find it. Great little posts to fill odd waiting moments!

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > Jonee 01/23/2016 at 11:10

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Sometimes truth is really stranger than fiction.

MTY19855 > ironvagina 01/23/2016 at 12:27

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Note that the word “great” appears nowhere in my post. But please carry on criticizing statements that exist only in your own mind.

tapzz > Huh? 01/23/2016 at 13:11

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clearly, some examples have stood the test of time 

tapzz > ferric oxide 01/23/2016 at 13:17

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In the case of that Weiss joint, I think that after assembly, the balls keep the claws in place. As to the car- I think it had a transverse leaf spring at least.

Maybe one of the two ball bearings mentioned connected the wheel carrier to the leaf spring, and the other the drive shaft coming out of the joint?

Jonee > PNO TECH 01/23/2016 at 16:59

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Weird Wheels you mean. I put a link at the bottom of the post. And thank you for the endorsement!

miken > Jonee 01/23/2016 at 17:25

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As bad as any of these “cars” might be, I will not criticize them. These are people who were trying to rebuild an entire country from close to a stone age level.

ironvagina > MTY19855 01/23/2016 at 19:27

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Well, you did just compare the rubble strewn hell-scape of post World War II Europe to a reality T.V. show, that’s pretty fucked up don’t you think? If the crux of your witty rejoinder to my comment was that I didn’t quote you verbatim, well then you got me. It’s like sitting across the table from Franklin Pierce Adams at the Algonquin Round Table. I better quit while I'm ahead.

MTY19855 > ironvagina 01/24/2016 at 00:19

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Was that not a valid comparison? Taking whatever wreckage and salvage you can come across, and turning it into something useful?

YOU brought the word “great” into the conversation, twice. Not me.

Steve in Manhattan > Jonee 01/24/2016 at 09:54

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An engineer called Paartz - the Abbot & Costello routine writes itself:

Haf you seen Paartz?

Yah - ze parts is in ze bins!

Nein! Paartz is not in ze bins!

Vel, go und look! Zere is a shhhproket! Zere is a shpark plug!

Etc.

Jonee > Jobjoris 01/24/2016 at 13:59

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Gustav’s 2 wheel roller was also MR. He was obsessed with mid mounted engines. What about the Rumpler Tropfenwagen? Not only was it MR, it could be also be considered the first goccia .

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/24/2016 at 16:27

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Well, with the Rumpler’s two produced vehicles in a shed... I didn’t know it but it beats all of ‘m. Easily. Do a piece on that one!

And Gustav’s Roller: doesn’t a Vespa have it’s engine (just) in front of the rear-axle as well? They even had an official sidecar of that!

Iwaswonderofwonders > Jonee 01/24/2016 at 18:05

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Needs to be white with Ford GT Gulf livery

Iwaswonderofwonders > Jonee 01/24/2016 at 18:08

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This is oddly attractive.

McPherson > Jonee 01/24/2016 at 19:24

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“Everyone out, Reinhart just farted in there.”

McPherson > Jonee 01/24/2016 at 19:25

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Side exhaust for the win.

McPherson > Jonee 01/24/2016 at 19:31

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Suicide doors with no center post; those magnificent bastards.

Jonee > McPherson 01/24/2016 at 19:46

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It is beautiful. I imagine it latches like a cargo van which I’m sure worked perfectly especially when that wooden frame started to warp. Of course, none of them lasted long enough to get to that point. Still, the whole family could pile in simultaneously.

Jonee > McPherson 01/24/2016 at 20:41

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Fisker stole that exhaust positioning.

Jonee > Jobjoris 01/25/2016 at 00:16

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It’s a fascinating car. Only 2 survivors, but they built around 100 apparently. 2 were murdered by Fritz Lang in Metropolis.

Rumpler is an excellent subject and I haven’t really done anything pre-war.

I still consider scooters rear engined even though it is in front of the rear wheel. Which was Gustav’s problem with them. So, his engine was in front of the driver like a motorcycle. I love those Vespa sidecars. I had a Lambretta once, but I’ve never had a Vespa. The Italian scooters are kind of a mess compared to the old Japanese Rabbit scooters I had.

Keith > Jonee 01/25/2016 at 00:45

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EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/25/2016 at 04:09

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Ah, 100 is a huge amount for a pre-war car. So it definitely counts. Not sure if it was good handling Rumpler was looking for though.

I had a 150cc 3-speed Vespa when I worked in Italy for two months. Blue smoke everywhere. Love those, I wouldn’t be surprised if I trade my Ducati for a P150 soon...

mrsachmo > Jonee 01/25/2016 at 18:36

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Heinrich Paartz

tee-hee.

skiwi > Jonee 01/25/2016 at 21:40

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My new Colorado snow vehicle when two wheels is not doable, where do I get one?

Jonee > Jobjoris 01/26/2016 at 03:59

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It was a pretty heavy car and had some kind of steering issue, so I guess it was a handful. But, Mercedes and Auto Union copied the aerodynamics. Rumpler was an associate of Ledwinka and helped design the first Tatras interestingly.

Yeah, that 150 Vespa is a great little bike. You don’t really need the 200 with those tiny wheels.

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/26/2016 at 04:37

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I see a Tatra in the Rumpler. A lot.

I don’t need a 200 for the use either: I’ll only use it within the lovely city of Breda anyway. If it was speed I was looking for I’d upgrade my Ducati for a bigger bore one.

Jonee > Jobjoris 01/27/2016 at 03:19

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Its principles definitely carried over into the Tatras. Pretty interesting.

A friend of mine who collects scooters has a 250cc 2-cylinder BSA scooter. It’s actually scary. I’d like to get another scooter, too, some day. They’re so nice for getting around town. It’d be handy for L.A. what with parking, but the way people drive around here makes 2 wheels risky.

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/27/2016 at 05:03

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I never understood how it is that easy to get a driver’s license over there. Any kind of transportation can be a lethal weapon. Over here you’ve got to do both a written- and a road test. Our junior consultant just failed for the 4th time for his written exam so it’s not that easy. I guess the percentage for passing the road test the first time is about 30%. And most of the teachers won’t let you take that test before at least 25 training hours.

Jonee > Jobjoris 01/28/2016 at 03:43

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We have a written test and a road test here as well. And, a lot people do fail the written part. I had to take one again when I moved to California to get the license here and I failed the first time because I didn’t study. But, they don’t make you take the road test if you already have a license from another state. The driving part is usually fairly easy, but teenagers often fail. Not 70% of them, though. Based on what I see on the roads, I don’t know how these people get licenses. When I got my first driver’s license in 1988, all they did was make me drive around the block. And when I took the written part, my mother was there and she kept pretending to go to the bathroom so she could look over my shoulder and tell me the answers. I think they’re a bit stricter now. Training is not required. They only care that you pass the test. High schools used to always have Driver’s Ed. classes, but I think most of them don’t any more. Probably for budgetary reasons.

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/28/2016 at 05:45

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I failed my first written test as well. For the same reason probably. Driving part I was spot on though: 1st time after “just” 14 lessons. Which really is little over here (I know no one of my age doing that: 20 is the absolute minimum). Motorcycle is another test: I got that after only 7 lessons/hours.

Probably has to do with the fact I drove a lot already on closed parkings/farms, that really boosted my self-confidence. Although I could have “picked” up stuff I had to de-learn first of course.

Driver’s education never came at High schools over here. Never.

Jonee > Jobjoris 01/29/2016 at 03:03

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My mother, the gearhead taught me how to drive, obviously. I picked it up pretty quickly as well. I did take a few lessons from an instructor because they’d give you break on insurance if you did. I think it was only 3 hours max, though.

Some high schools also have automobile repair classes. Do you get those?

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/29/2016 at 06:29

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3 hours! And you’d get an insurance discount. Hahahaha... We only get those if we do an extended day training on a closed track pointing out how to control your car when it slips!

Only at schools for the automotive. Remember: we make a choice for what to get taught very early.

Jonee > Jobjoris 01/31/2016 at 04:27

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Haha. Yeah, it’s pretty much bullshit. And, it only when you’re younger that it works because they charge you more when you’re under 25. I wish our insurance companies offered that kind of discount. It would probably make for safer drivers if they tested your skills and based your premium on your score.

Going to an all automotive high school sounds pretty cool.

Jobjoris > Jonee 01/31/2016 at 16:19

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Yep. We even have employers paying extended driver’s courses for people on the road a lot. One of my ex-GF’s got one. She was working for Merck. An American company for God’s sake!

You can even choose between technical or