Adorable vintage microcars

I want to own all of the gemlike microcars of the mid-20th century seen here on Fine Car's flickrstream.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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Hanglyman

For the briefest happy moment, I read “adorable” as “affordable”.
- UnderachievingSheep
  
  yeah no. Since this was posted I went through the google rabbit hole of micro cars in my area. A BMW Isetta is selling for 20,000 euros. Micro car for a macro budget… Alas, it was not meant to be. I’ll continue taking the tram.
- kinscore
  
  The cars in the picture here on Boing Boing are from the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum collection, which is going up for auction at no reserve in February. So there’s a chance some of them will be affordable.
  - http://www.microcar.org microcars
    
    This entire Flickr tag group is from the upcoming RM Auction of the Museum Collection with practically no attribution or acknowledgment of the event or the original source of the images which would be http://handlewithfun.com
    A link to the original source would be nice.
    - Mark_Frauenfelder
      
      I wonder why they didn’t?
Ms. Anne Thrope

Our family went to the Bruce Weiner MicroCar museum this past Father’s Day. Jam packed selection and some real beauties. Here’s a link to our pictures: http://missannethropesblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/mini-car-museum.html
http://the-nerds.org/ Jeff Del Papa

If you want to see the museum again, you have a couple more weekends before it goes away for good. All those pictures are from the museum, taken for the auction catalog.

I managed to finally get a chance to go last month. Its quite a collection that’s for sure.
- http://www.microcar.org microcars
  
  so the NERDS did make it!
  Yes, I remember you from that first season of Junkyard Wars
kawayama

Mark, you accidentally ALL the microcars?
giantasterisk

For a brief moment I thought these were miniatures of microcars, probably because of the photography style. Oh, how I would love the entire set!
http://twitter.com/AwesomeRobot AwesomeRobot

Not quite sure why these don’t catch on in climates where scooters completely suck in the winter.

Though, I guess these would completely suck in the winter… but you’ll be warmer?
- http://www.microcar.org microcars
  
  Basically yes, these were scooters that kept the weather away for a short bit. Most have scooter-based engines. Once the economy improved, a “real” car was more affordable. The transportation culture in Europe post WWII was much different than the USA. Small cars are still more accepted today as well.
  - Wreckrob8
    
    Also after the introduction of the Mini which quickly acquired celebrity and cult status (at least in the UK and Europe) the whole concept of microcars just seemed less interesting.
http://profiles.google.com/maurice.reeves Maurice Reeves

For a moment, I thought this was some infographic from Pixar. Those cars are *ADORABLE*.
valiant66

These vehicles date from a time when humanity was trying to figure out what cars were for; exactly where we are with electric cars today.

I can’t help but look at them and think how wonderful it would be if someone came up with a “universal” generic electric car chassis and let me drop a car skin of my choice down over it. Most of these would make fantastic “city cars” that don’t need a range of much over 50 klicks or 80 kph. In fact, most of these would make fantastic bespoke golf carts for retirement communities that let such vehicles drive on public roads.

I do wish I could build a car from raw components the way I can build a custom PC… i.e. I could start with a frame that meets federal crash safety standards and drop in components that met my specific needs. Those Bond cars look pretty cool…
http://redesigned.com redesigned

are any/all of these street legal in north america?
- http://www.microcar.org microcars
  
  Pretty much all of them are “grandfathered” in and can be registered for road use in the USA, except perhaps the Eshelmans, although I have seem some with license plates. There are many owners that drive the more accessible models (Isetta, Messerschmitt etc) on the streets of North America at speeds up to about 50 mph. I used to drive a BMW Isetta on the old Tollways in the Chicago area when they had the baskets for the change. Fun trying to toss the change UP into the basket.
  Semis would all slow down and surround me to look while I was tooling along at 50 mph. I actually felt safer on the highway than on side streets.
http://www.microcar.org microcars

These vehicles date from a time when humanity was trying to figure out what cars were for…

No, they date from a time when driving a “real car” was EXPENSIVE, materials were scarce, and loopholes existed to allow one to enclose a scooter and register it cheaper for road use to keep the weather away.
A number of them were originally designed as invalid vehicles to be sold to wounded veterans of WWII. When normal, able-bodied people started buying them, the manufacturers realized there was a market for an enclosed scooter.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  These vehicles date from a time when humanity was trying to figure out what cars were for…
  
  Apparently the designers of these cars had ruled out using them for clandestine trysts.
tw1515tw

I still remember once going in an Isetta as a 5 year old – well, I can remember the tartan cloth seats (might have been a rug) and the getting out of the car from the front.

The 54 inch long Peel P50 is meant to be back in production. The original was featured on Top Gear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJfSS0ZXYdo
Vanwall Green

Sad that the museum is going away, it seems to be the story of microcar exhibits, they are undervalued as an important historical type; one collection many years ago in Phoenix owned by Les Lindvig had a huge amount pristine cars, some of which ended up at the Weiner Museum, I believe, when it was eventually broken up. I’ve driven a few microcars over the years, and they’re fun for short runs and always get attention when you stop somewhere. I’m restoring a Bond Bug three-wheeler like the one in the musem auction catalog, there aren’t many here in the States, and I look forward to driving it around.
ImmutableMichael

Analysis, analysis, analysis… Sorry folks, but for these I’m suspending my critical faculties. These are brilliant. Message ends.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher

The library where I work had a much smaller exhibit of some of these microcars in the main lobby a couple of years ago. Every time I walked by them I was tempted to get in one and drive it away.
- Donald Petersen
  
  Until the head librarian notices you putt-putting past, mutters “Come back here, you,” and drags you and the car back to the lobby by your ear.
  
  I can’t imagine quick getaways were these cars’ strong suit!
http://www.facebook.com/stevebosman Steve Bosman

I love how friendly some of those cars look – grilles and lights straight out of “Cars”