In the early 1960’s, my dad had the firdt dealership in Ohio/Indianna/Pennsylvania. he saw the where the market was heading but did not see the Volkswagon Beetle as the future. oops.
I have a friend who owns a Microcar Museumsouth of Atlanta.
He has scads of 3 wheelers in there if you’re in the southeast and want to stop by.
And he owns Double Bubble! Fun guy!
My neighbour had a succession of Reliants. One night it blew over in a gale, parked outside the house.
The engine was based on the old 750cc Austin Seven lump from the 1930s, and Reliant engines powered 750 Formula racing cars here at one time in the '60s and '70s.
As indicated above, the car tax and insurance on these was cheaper and they could be driven on a motorbike licence. Many British people did not became affluent enough to run a car until the early '70s.
Tell him I love his website.
Contrary to popular belief, they made a 3 wheeled version of this for the British market which taxed cars based on the number of wheels.
The Isetta was initially not popular in Great Britain until a three-wheeled version was introduced. The three-wheeled version was taxed at a much lower rate than the four-wheeled version. Isetta of Great Britain continued to produce four-wheeled Isettas, but only for export to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
(about an hour later and still only partway through)
[looking pale] He’s expanded his collection since my last visit a couple years ago. Lemme guess: he’s not married. [/looking pale]
Magiver, check post #5.
Two hours later and I’m dozing off. I don’t know why they fascinate me, since I couldn’t fit into any of them.
so much for skimming first. Missed it completely. Dang, the one thing I know about cars and I didn’t get to post it first.
The Isetta opens in front. That’s why I like them. Wish I had a big garage and the money to fill it.
As Urkel cool the Isetta is, the Iso Grifo is the man’s masterpiece. And it’s larger than a refrigerator. Bizzarrini on the mechanicals. Giugiaro on the body. And a 427 Chevy in the middle. It is automotive perfection.
The Messerschmitt was featured in the movie Brazil. Very cool car.
I have seen a few of these Zap electric cars around town: http://www.greenpacks.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/2009-xebra-sedan.jpg
And we have a locally produced 3-wheeler!!! Much much cooler than that silly Chinese Zap with the tricycle gear: http://www.arcimoto.com/
It looks like a Corvette that mated with a Camaro. A Cormaro. It even sounds Italian.
Referring you back to its pedigree, it was gorgeous and fast. Unlike a Reliant. Even my Plymouth Reliant, an insanely generic car, but which was so up front about its mediocrity that it should’ve had “C-A-R” stenciled on its side. Loved it. The most honest car I ever owned
34 posts in and no mention of the Grinnal Scorpion? There are a couple of hundred in the US, according to Grinnal, though there’s no official import channel.
Jebus, I noticed I still have that window open and I’m only up to the King Midget.
For any UK bikers, what categories do you have on your licence? Does it include A and B1? According to the DVLA a 3-wheeler is a class B1. My regular car licence has categories B and B1. This implies that both bikers and cagers can drive 3-wheelers but not each others regular vehicles. Is this right?
The Carver is pretty fun: Top Gear - The Carver - YouTube
Oh, that one. I remember it from my childhood.
Like you, during the last months I’ve seen in Paris several three wheeled cars (two rear wheels), but none of the pictures in this thread match. They looked recent, so probably aren’t collector’s cars (and besides, if they were, I wouldn’t have seen them only during the last year, and several times during this year).