Ep. 19 Think Small: The Wonderful World of Microcars
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- čas přidán 16. 06. 2024
- A classic car connaisseur takes a closer look at wonderful and quirky little cars, better known as microcars!
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Enjoy! - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Take care of yourself funny Dutchman
Your a funny man
we should make a fanpage of funny dutchman!
@@benziearada6707 yes
Thanks! 90% Sure I'm over it. Unfortunately I am left with no sense of taste or smell.. Probably explains my taste in cars as well XD.
@@EdsAutoReviews Yo, Ed, a quick tip. I got 'rona 3 months ago, it's super important that you try to use your sense of smell. Many of my fiends had super long recovery time when it comes to smell. I on the other hand tried to smell things like soap, dish soap or perfume few times a day. That kind of practice allowed me to recover my sense of smell in a week or so.
Good news, the funny Dutchman is here
Iso was originally a refrigerator manufacturer, which lends a lot of perspective to how they came up with the design for the Isetta. They also made some really cool and attractive grand tourers with Chevy Small Block V8s and design by Giotto Bizzarrini
I really dig the Grifo, damn
The Iso Grifo is drop dead gorgeous!
@@EdsAutoReviews I saw an Iso Rivolta set up to run Le Mans, but never did, at a car museum in Sarasota, Florida. Gorgeous car
Refrigerator? There was an Australian washing machine maker called Lightburn, who made a micro car called the Zeta in the early 1960s.
The issetta is a bmw
We are not worried about the voice, we are worried about you!
Thanks! 90% Sure I'm over it. Unfortunately I am left with no sense of taste or smell.. Probably explains my taste in cars as well XD.
@@EdsAutoReviews Love your humor, man! Get well soon!
@@EdsAutoReviews lol, good that you’re doing better
@@EdsAutoReviews Also I have a video idea, what if you did a history video on turbine cars, or maybe the evolution of car safety
I'm worried that you have a disease with a 0.0001 chance of death
This channel is a CZcams hidden gem waiting to blow up. Keep up the good work.
Get well soon, my friend
Great channel! Great video!
I could say the same of your channel , never expected to see you around here, i love your channel and i love this one too.
@@randomshyte9989 Thank you!
oh hey! didnt expect you to be here of all people.
Oh, hey, John! A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
It’s just normal for him to be interested in these kind of “haft as interesting”
An episode entirely for Kei Cars is all I need in my life, I'm looking forward to it!
Way too narrow. The narrowest car I have sat into in the last 10 years was a 2012 Kia Rio, and me and my wife were rubbing elbows on the center armrest. That car was 67.7 inches wide. A modern Kei car cannot be wider than 58.3 inches. That's like taking 10 inches out the width of a Kia Rio. Either me or my wife has to rotate our body to sit a little bit sideways to fit that car. To drive like that will be incredibly unsafe :)
The Citroën Ami is the perfect example of what a microcar has to look like nowadays
Looks, yes. Performance, no. Waiting for a road-legal (i.e. autobahn speed and five-star crash ratings) version.
@@jmi5969 Aixam makes one with a 600cc engine that can reach 93kmh officially but a friend of mine managed to get his to ~100. You can't drive on highways though
@@Fred_the_1996 There is an Aixam craze in France.Pretty annoying.These things are slow and noisy and often stinky like the GDR's Trabants.That's what socialism leads to.
@@Fred_the_1996 As far as I know, Aixams are regarded as the worst of the modern microcars while Ligier gets all the love for having a hand in motorsport back in the day.
@@jmi5969 the microlino 2.0
You are a natural storyteller - good job 👍🏻
@Ed's Auto Reviews
In Italy, things were a bit different: since we were (like the rest of Europe) completely and utterly incapable of doing anything before reconstructing what the war had damaged, we found ourselves in a dire need for transportation means and severe fuel rationing. This meant that if you had a Topolino or a Balilla from before the war you either had to convert it to a really cheap fuel called "Gasogeno", which was essentially the Ersatz-processed-coal fuel that was used by the Nazis during the war and was way less efficient than normal fuel, or you couldn't run it at all. If you didn't have a car before the war, or it got destroyed /requisitioned by the State, you were pretty much fucked: you were forced to go on foot until bicycle manufacturers could get on their feet again. But in '46 the Vespa and Lambretta revolution came about: if you had a bit of cash but not so much to buy a car, well... you'd buy a Vespa or a Lambretta. If you didn't even have that, you'd buy a bike (only for it to get stolen because it was more valuable for parts than whole). The FIAT Topolino C, while affordable, was still out of the workers' wages by a bit, and nobody wanted to indebt itself for something that could easily be nicked. It took the FIAT 500 to change all that.
Your voice was just fine as was the video, well done. In the US micro cars are good for urban drivers but America is SO spread out that on the interstate freeways they are not all that safe. I once had a "Smart For Two" and drove from California to Texas--"bad idea" Thanks for your fun and very enjoyable videos........ After that drive I got a full sized pickup truck.
The challenge with modern microcars is how to accommodate Government safety requirements that mandate size and weight. Compare a new BMW Mini with a Rover Mini or a new Golf with a 1975 Mk1 Golf and you(ll see how these small cars have ballooned in size. Minis are still small on the inside. The larger dimensions are due to crash protection, pedestrian protection and safety systems.
You can still build a fairly small car like a Smart ForTwo. But they seem to have limited appeal, even in Europe.
One of the worst cars in that respect is the current Mercedes A180. Looks big on the outside but on the inside it’s really really tight and cramped. The sills are like 8” thick. Two adults barely fit on the back seat, and if you are long prepare to fold yourself in and out.
I really hope the funny dutchman gets better soon.
Mr. Ed (I mean that respectfully-- I'm not calling you a horse), I've watched a few of your vids, and I'm endlessly amused and impressed with your ever-changing presentation techniques (dude, seriously, that "film noire" version for the downfall of Packard absolutely had my eyes glued to the screen and a constant stream of chuckling and other audible expressions emitted from my other facial parts). Pure GOLD! I intend to binge-watch the videos I haven't yet found in my feed, and in the meantime I have subscribed and clicked the bell.
--Enthusiastic Newbie
Missed opportunity:
Mr. Ed (I mean that respectfully--I'm not calling you a horse *of course* )
@@chapa435ify Damn!
Get well soon, this is my new favorite auto channel
Ed, if you ever come to the States, make sure to visit Nashville in Tennessee. Not only is it a great tourist town with tons of music and things to do, it's also the home of the Lane Motor Museum which is one of the quirkiest auto museums around. In addition to having one of the largest rear engine Tatra collections outside of Europe, it also has one of the largest collections of microcars anywhere. And best of all, they drive all of these cars from time to time, just to get them some exercise.
I think the Biro already showed that microcars have been making a comeback over the last couple of years. In cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam they are already quite plentiful, although mostly owned by the more wealthy residents. It's kind of a trendy accessory for them as well I think.
Also, I hope you get well soon!
Funny in France it s generally the low class that use these vehicles.
i've always seen micro cars being a happy medium between both motorcycles and city cars. some come with motorcycle engines and then have the look of a car just shrunken down. always love microcars
The simson duo from the GDR were literally just two simson schwalbe scooters welded togather
close, it was mostly a schwalbe sawn in halves, a park bench welded inbetween and powerd by a MZ125
Once I saw this video, I clicked right away. I watched all your videos in one day!! You do such a great job!!
"Cars are just another mode of transportation."
I officially part ways with my generation here.
If you're in a race track or in a empty highway, cars are an expression of freedom.
But if you're stuck in rush hour traffic, they're just yet another stressful mode of transportation.
He has been interested in cars for 26 years. I've never seen a car as fun looking as the 5:55 Fuldamobil.
Edward - thank you, great channel, great work.
I've driven a Twizy a few times, since my father has owned one. It's an experience...
Saying that doors were only an option should tell you how basic and bare-bones the car is.
I loved driving it, nonetheless. I'm actually planning on buying one myself, one day.
Awesome content as ever. In fact in Brazil the first cars produced in the country were Isettas and they enjoyed a short term success here.
Hope your doing good. Dont let corona get you down. If you need or want to take a break from videos. We all under stand. Keep trucking.
Great comment. Do not push yourself too hard. We will patiently wait for new videos when you get better. GET WELL, ED!
thank you for your work great Ed
The power of a Sachs /Jlo 2 stroke engine is strong in this episode 😁
get well soon and have some rest, my favorite dutchman!
Great video, as you mention it, "Evolution of the Species: minicars" is a topic not for a video but for a whole library for each branch mobility took to this day.
Take good care of you Mr. Ed.
I was already expecting that micro car pun, but it hit me hard.
Why you don’t have 150K subs I don’t know. This is an underrated channel, expect to blow up soon 🔜
I just wanted to say that Messerschmitt, the microcar company, is exactly the same as Messerschmitt, the aircraft company. After WW2, Messerschmitt was banned from building aircraft for a long time. In order to stay in business, they started building and selling microcars.
In the sixties I lived in Paris, and the most popular microcar was the Isetta, designed in Italy but also built in France by Velam.
Thanks so much for all the work and research you do for making your channel so great. Wonderful job!
This channel has been a joyous discovery: good writing, easy to understand (especially for people like me who are not native english speakers), and overall great quality content. Keep it up!
CZcams blessed me with this today. About the most entertaining video about cars I seen in a while.
Hope you're alright! The tagline for 2071, I salute to you!
Love your sense of humor!
You hit 20K! Congrats man, love your channel.
Great video as usual. Thank you and take care!
Ramble on, Ed. Love the videos! I’m with you with the small cars coming back. I bet it will happen.
Thanks for another fantastic episode! 😊👍Great job, Ed! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Hope you recover soon, best wishes! 🍀❤️
I think an episode on steam cars would be an interesting episode...
Very interesting video I love your enthusiasm
I absolutely love your channel. Thank you for this amazing and consistent content
all the best. get well soon--- and thanks for putting up a video anyway
Hi Ed, you mentioned the K cars of Japan in this video, and a suggestion I have is covering all of the Japanese auto market. We in the U.S. only see a very small part of their offerings. They make so, so many cars and trucks. I bought a book years ago showing cars made all over the world, and when it got to Japan it was page after page and many companies that have never exported. Look into it if you would. I bet you would get a number of videos out of it. Keep up the great work.
Your videos get more and more sophisticated, in content and production.
Top Rate!
I always learn something new from your videos.
By liking and commenting I hope you get more traffic.
I encourage all your fans to do the same.
I remember that microcars were considered as motorbikes in some countries and they were made by motorbike manufacturers so i guess they count as a motorbike with an extra wheel?
I am so sorry about your COVID 19 don’t worry about the voice
By far my favourite channel! Keep up!
One great regret I have is that I came across this episode almost 2 years after it was posted. You have (very long ago) done it again, Ed! When I was only 4-years-old in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, our family's insurance man (for both our family needs and those of my Dad's then nascent small business) appeared one day in a BMW Isetta. It only had one built-in front seat, that of the driver. In the rear of the "TINY - AS IN EXTREMELY TINY" passenger compartment there were 2 metal folding chairs. Despite the happy-go-lucky invitation for us kids to go for a ride, my Mom ABSOLUTELY FORBADE IT! And within a week, we had a replacement family and business insurance man. Seems that safety back then trumped novelty. Ah well, at least I and one of my 3 older brothers got a chance to jump into and out of that remarkable (to us kids) BMW Isetta!
Another great vid Ed!
That was a super fun episode! Hope you get well soon.
You once again overlooked Spain in your video, Microcars were a HUGE thing in the 50s in Spain. We had a wide range of brand’s producing them, like Biscuter for example. But all of this came to an end when state-produced SEAT 600 arrived to the market in earlys 60s. Anyway, good video 👍🏼👍🏼
Can you do an episode on the rise and fall of the whitewall tire/ tire design
A old friend of the family 80 yr old woman was the original owner of a caprice 2dr that looked like those you showed. Had around 90,000 miles on it. It was the early 1990s and she had it repainted properly with the original silver at the GM dealership. They removed all the chrome and did a excellent paint on it. Her son inherited when she died. Have not seen it since.
Dude.....I just stumbled across this channel. I absolutely love it!!!
Interesting and well-made vid ! Thanks for sharing.🌞
Ed, you are a gem. I hope you can make this channel your full time job that lays you well, you make great stuff.
Love your videos, and your humor, keep it up!
I owned a Japanese Kei car back in the 1990s, a Daihatsu Centro. It is still the best car I have ever had. Fuel efficient and no matter where I went I always found easy car parking.
Fantastic documentary of all things Cars Ed (micro cars) fascinating as always 👍 👌 😀
My uncle owned a Kleinschnittger F125 after the war. That micro car looked like a real one, like an english spider! And I do remember that it didn't have a reverse gear. You had to lift it up by hand at one end and then turn it around.
6:18 who could forget the Top Gear skit where Jeremy drove the Peel P50 into the BBC studio and then behind the TV newsreaders?
Great presentation thanks xxx
Possibly the best episode of anything about these cars that I've ever seen. I'm 60, and if the bloody mini hadn't come along, I'd have been enjoying many years of covered motoring (I never could afford to pass my car driving test)... I wuz robbed, I tells ye!
But yeah, this is a fun and densely informative, well researched Euro-view of these things.
Kudos, and Dank.
Thanks for the great video.JDS in AZ usa
Awesome content. Funny and I learned a few things.
Here in America, if it has four wheels, it's an automobile. If it has two or three, it's a motorcycle. That makes a legal distinction as to safety standards. In most states, the sales tax rates are the same, the registration fees can be quite different, and driving licenses require an additional endorsement for motorcycles.
There was also the „Kleinschnittger“-microcar, it’s founder actually lived in the house next to my parents house, I think this is the only reason I know them :D
The BMW Isetta was very common during my childhood. We never used the term "Isetta". We used its nickname: "Canoodle Bubble (Knutschkugel)". I never found out where that came from. I also remember reports of proud owners of new Messerschmitt Kabinenrollers who after driving into their garage found out that they had to enter (and exit) through the canopy, their garage ceiling being too low to open that canopy and also that the the car had no reverse gear. There were even casualties caused by that particular feature of the car. In summary: read your car's manual carefully before you drive!
I smiled at 3:48, where you show a 1914 ad for "Syracuse Show". This car show happens annually, usually in February, in Syracuse NY. Great show where you can see all kinds of new cars!
I've actually seen a Citicar here in town where I live! Not driving around, but parked in a driveway! Aside from the movie "Brazil" there's another short scene in the 1956 movie "Funny Face" where Kay Thompson and Fred Astair are traveling around Paris in a micro car that opens in the front!
corona and they just opened the shops here again
I accidently ran across this channel and something unusual happened. I started binge watching. Liked. Subscribed.
I was fortunate enough to tour the Weiner Car Museum in Madison, Georgia a few years back. It had a few hundred restored micro cars!
I’ve always loved the little Messerschmitt. I’d love a modified one with full electric for city driving.
YES! I mean, I'd even love a KR hybrid. One of the tandem two-seaters would even give you room to do grocery/small parcel runs. I've been infatuated with them ever since I saw "Brazil."
The thing that would likely stop me is that anything with three wheels is still considered a motorcycle here, even if it is enclosed and/or has a rollcage you still have to wear a DOT certified helmet.
Always informative and entertaining
I hope you get through Covid safely! Best wishes from Germany.
I love to see the channel grow!
Thank you for showing this video. While I do live in the United States of the V8, I have a huge soft spot for small cars. Part of this is coming of age in the 70s with its gas crises and some of it (I'm told) is being wierd. I have occasionally even pondered the design of cars using 15-30 hp air cooled lawn equipment engines.
At first I had wondered how you would treat the Citroen 2CV. It kind of straddles an interesting line, being roomier than a VW Type 1 (the original Beetle) while being significantly lighter and having a much smaller engine. I guess I agree with your conclusion. It is just way too robust and useful to be considered a micro car.
Thankyou very much for making this video.
Very nice episode! Take care of yourself!
If I was to drive again, it would have to be a hybrid. Things I like include music festivals and other trips involving camping and a distinct lack of charging points over a long weekend.
Now I wasn’t a fan of microcars but after this video I’d be happy to drive a microcar.
I enjoyed seeing those cars. The spaceship, single seaters would be especially nice to see, in person.
I had a 1971 Honda 600 sedan in 1973, just in time for the oil embargo.
I remember going to school in a Bubble car and that "wow" feeling as the whole front of the car opened up. I'd actually love one of the Citroen Ami's but I'll probably wait till their range and speed creep up a little. I actually went even smaller with my current day to day driver - it's an electric unicycle that costs about 20c to fill with electricity and has a range of about 60 miles.
Thicc Dutch boy back at it again
Questo canale è una miniera d'oro, grazie mille.
Love your videos! Get well soon!
i really enjoy your videos. very informative and entertaining.
Just discovered this channel. Really good.
If i see an Isetta i always have to think of my granpa. He never had one, but he was a young man once. As per his tellings, front doors didn't all open inwards back then. Now you combine a lightweight front door car with an outward opening front door and a group of drunk young man.
I myself only sat in a Goggomobil once when i was like 12, so memory is dim, though it is not as far back as the Goggo it self ^^ I was 12 in the latter half of the 90s ^^
I turn my ads on for you. I find your content very entertaining. Keep it up!
Small is beautiful! I loved my New Beetles... and now Abart 500c ... oh yes. Not mini's but small!!
Was weer genieten, deze aflevering!
I can still remember a day in The Bronx (NYC), early 1960s, when I was walking along East 180th Street and saw one of these pull up and park. It had only 3 wheels instead of the more usual 4, but what really blew me away was that the one door was in the front! I'm still not sure just what that was...
I think the micro car will make a comeback as everybody's obsessed about these micro/tiny house this and that.
I (think I) know a lot about cars, but still this channel expand my knowledge.