Tag: Microcar
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Off-Road Fiat 500 Derivative
This might be both the strangest and coolest Fiat 500 derivative ever! It seems Ferves stood for FERrari VEicoli Speciali and these used some Fiat 500 and some Fiat 600 parts. Sadly, this one lacks the rumored-to-be-available four-wheel drive system. If you really need to finish out your microcar collection, this seems worth the trouble, including…
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Euro-Emissions Oddity: Aston Martin Cygnet
The European Commission planned to adopt corporate average emissions standards in 2012 and that scared some small makes. Aston, sitting all-alone (post-Ford), decided it needed an emissions champ to offset its core product. Thus was born the ill-advised partnership with Toyota and a Toyota/Scion IQ-based Aston microcar. Needless to say, we can’t wait until there’s…
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Rare in the US: Fiat 126
The 126 was Fiat’s early 1970s replacement for the aged 500, which had been around since the late 1950s. These never officially came to the US, so they’re rare here. This car’s 126p designation means this Italian-engineered microcar was made in Poland. Yes, this is a microcar and it gets extra points for its rear…
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Pre-War (Barely) Crosley
We’ve posted a few Crosleys over the years, but this is the first time we’ve seen a pre-war Crosley for sale. The Crosley was designed to be the most affordable four-wheeled transportation available, and it shows. What that means today is these are cool little microcars for weekend drives (though perhaps not on the freeway).…
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NSU Plus Pallet Equals Major Win!
Here we have an NSU Prinz project with no wheels or tires attached to a wooden pallet. It was previously in a barn fire, so it has street cred. The seller was apparently going to make it into a junior rat rod with a Yanmar diesel engine in place of the original inline two cylinder…
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Dream Kei Car: Suzuki Alto
Here’s a cool little Suzuki Kei Car with AWD and a 660cc, three-cylinder, turbocharged engine! Does it get any better or more quirky that this? Well, yes, there are some retro-chic Nissan Kei Cars, but this thing just exudes late 80s/early 90s awesome, and it’s a special performance edition, to boot. Needless to say, we’ve…
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Der alte BMW
Most enthusiasts are well aware of the BMW 2002, which has always been sought out for its driving experience. The 2002 was basically the ultimate version of the “BMW New Class”, which started with the 1500 in 1962. Before that, though, BMW had the 700, which was a rear-engined, near-microcar. Despite the rear engine, the…
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The Flintstones’ Autobianchi
Yes, here we have yet another bottom-feeder mircocar. Autobianchis were ‘upscale’ microcars based on Fiat 500s back in the day. They had unique sheetmetal and upmarket interiors, at least as compared to basic Fiats. This Bianchina Transfomabile is a coupe with canvas sunroof, which is the ‘transformable’ part. This one was used as a display…
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Lowest-Value Isetta Currently Available?
We’ve commented many times recently that microcars have been hot, especially since the Bruce Weiner auction in 2013. BMW Isettas, once only curiosities, and generally available for $20K or less in any condition, suddenly can bring more than twice that in perfect condition. So, why does this Isetta have a buy-it-now price of $2,850? Well,…
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Microcar and Wagon Rolled into One!
Microcars are just plain cool. Some day, I’ll squeeze one into the garage – it’s just a question of when and what. Something like this little Crosley Station Wagon could do nicely. This example, however, might be a bit more of a project than I want. That being said, this appears to be a fully…