Are you familiar with the Spatz (Bayerische Autowerke G.m.b.H. Nürnburg-Traunreut) microcar concern? What an insulting question, of course you are. My apologies. I was thinking about Spatz because some missionaries from the local Church of the Microcar showed up at my door yesterday evening (in a King Midget) and wanted to tell me the Good News about microcars. I told them I was already part of the Beth Microcar Reform Congregation Temple, but I’d be happy to listen, since we all honor the same microcars, just in our own unique ways.
I made Mai Tais for everyone and sat down to listen to them; they wanted to share with me some esoteric knowledge about the Spatz microcar. This is a car I have only passing familiarity with, so I was curious.
They laid an old brochure from 1957 on the coffee table. It was beautifully illustrated, in keeping with the standards of the era, and showed on the cover a Spatz microcar, improbably loaded with three people sitting abreast:
I’ve always wondered how plausible it was that you’d actually cram three people in one of these 10 horsepower little fiberglass tubs. I mean, look at the seating and size of this thing from above:
Two people fit fine in there, a bit cozy, but it seems reasonable. Cramming another adult between them? Laps are being sat upon, at best. I do like that very Porsche 356-like engine lid grille, though.
Anyway, the missionaries were telling me the story of the Spatz, how it started as a three-wheel Brütsch microcar with its suspension mounted directly to the fiberglass tub, which proved to be a disaster. Then, Harald Friedrich acquired the license to build the car from Brütsch, but was unsatisfied with the inadequate, fiberglass-supported chassis design. So he reached out to someone to design a new chassis.
But not just any someone; a legend. Hans Ledwinka.
Yes, that Hans Ledwinka, the man behind the legendary Tatras and the streamlined rear-engined Tatras, the man whom Ferdinand Porsche admitted to “looking over the shoulder” of when designing the Volkswagen, the pioneer of the central backbone chassis still used on big Tatra trucks and other vehicles today.
Even though he was 77 at the time, Ledwinka agreed to redesign the chassis, and what he came up with was pure Ledwinka, just very scaled down and simplified:
Backbone chassis, rear engine, independent suspension (looks a little VW like up front, even), and now a four-wheeler. A great, simple, well-designed and robust chassis from the mind of someone who did this sort of thing better than almost anyone.
When the missionaries revealed this, I was so shocked I did a powerful Mai Tai-fueled spit take, soaking them both in the cocktail spray, leaving them dripping on the sofa. One of the missionaries took off her glasses to clean the spatter off them, but otherwise no mention of the spit take was made. These were well-trained missionaries.
I’ll admit, I was looking at Spatz microcars in a whole new way now. I had no idea under that fiberglass clamshell lurked the last chassis designed by a true automotive legend! This changes everything!
While I don’t think I’ll be converting and joining the local Church of the Microcar, I think I will share the Good News about Spatz at this week’s Microcar Shabbos service at the temple tonight.
And good Microcar Shabbos to all of you, whatever denomination of Microcar interest you practice!
It would be hilarious if a lot of Cold Starts played out w/ this missionary/cult theme…or Taillight Bar stories and/or Taillight Converters (not to be confused w/ “Cadillac” Converters, ha ha)
The driver is clearly fed up with the constant jokes he receives from passengers.
He tells himself he should never have bought it on a three-year lease.
We Keijidousha Shinto-ists can appreciate a well designed microcar!
Well, I know how not to fit three people in that car, and it’s using the missionary position.
Interesting name:
“Spatz” was the nickname for Baron Hans Günther von Dincklage, a Nazi intelligence officer and German diplomat with whom Coco Chanel had a long love affair and a romantic relationship during World War II.
Also, it’s german for “Sparrow”…and thanks, now I have to explore the rabbithole you opened up 😉
Indeed – She had quite made quite interesting choices of cars over her years too – including a Rolls-Royce 20/25, a Cadillac Eldorado Brougham and finally a SWB Mercedes-Benz 600.
Also the best darn brand of toasting bread in mid -Michigan
I’m surprised those folk from the Church of the Microcar didn’t immediately become offended and leave, as everyone knows they drink “Mai Tyres” with a wedge of natural latex rubber for notes of inner tube and gas station compressed air.
So judging by the amount of room in the second image, it looks like the first one is faked because I don’t know how you’re getting 3 people like that.
Remember, the average human of that era was not as well fed as most of us are now. Average male was about 5’9” and 145-150#. Women were 5’2” -5’4” and 110-125#. It would be conceivable, but they would have to be very friendly, perhaps a thruple, though it wouldn’t be referred to with that term.
“Inconceivable!”
Are the missionaries still there? How many microcars get into heaven? I assume upon the rapture we will ride our beasts as the four horsepower of the apocalypse? Is it easier for a microcar to pass through the eye of a needle than a Mercury Capri? SO MANY QUESTIONS!
While the Church of the Microcar is more Autopian, I’d be more interested in the missionaries from the Church of Lemmy Kilmister.
A micro miniature Tatra is a cool idea ( the Puch Pinzgauer is the mini Tatra)
It looks like it could also be amphibious.
My last name is Spatz. The lane motor museum has one. They were nice enough to send me some photos of the badge for me to 3D print one for my father. I also printed a Spatz brochure in poster size. One day I need one of these.
Welp, I’m a missionary and the way to true happiness is to become a member. Please give it some careful thought. I’ll drop by tomorrow.
Never heard about the Spatz before in my life. It’s deeply adorable, and the info about its provenance quite interesting. Thanks Jason! 🙂
Spatzbat Shalom 🙂
…dang it, Jason, now I want one. I don’t even know how legal it would be in the states.
100% legal. Anything built prior to ~1968 would be.
Great, now I want one even more. And to put a half-VW engine in it.
I will continue to worship at the The Brethren of Immaculate Design, headed by The Bishop and Adrian Clarke.
Already comes with lightness, nice.
Is this any relation to that bubble car company?
Did you kmow that Spatz means sparrow in German?
Good thing I had finished the sip of coffee I’d just taken when I scrolled down to see the name of who they reached out to; otherwise the coffee would’ve suffered the same fate as that Mai Tai.
Having actually seen a mumber of Spatzs in person at the Lane Motor Museum and other museums and as a bit of a Tatra-head *and* a VW-head I was indeed astonished. In fact, I made a small audible exclamation which startled one of my cats walking by.
This is one of the reasons why I keep reading the Autopian. What other websites would have Mai Tai/coffee-worthy spittakes about relatively obscure 19th-century-born Austrian/Czech engineers??
I’m proud to be part of the Church of the Microcar. One day, I’d like to mass produce my own design.
I’d like to oneday be part of a dipshit of Autopians, driving a gaggle of microcars like jackasses.
I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Where can I find your podcast?
The collective noun we all deserve. Still sad that the Great Pacific North West Mini Microcar Extravaganza has petered out.
I like the “tube spine with brackets to bolt stuff on” approach, worked well on the Lambretta. I wish there were an aerodynamically friendly way to raise the visual height of a vehicle though. A faired in li’l tadpole trike is sure efficient and zippy, but operating it in traffic would be a white-knuckle experience far beyond anything I’ve done on a motorcycle.
That is why my next body shell is designed with a steel-tube roll cage in mind. And I’m going to have acceleration capability in abundance. It’s being converted into an AWD quad with 25+ kW peak power and 500+ Nm peak torque. The completed vehicle should be under 150 lbs, and just barely pedalable on a disabled battery. I’m looking at the Auto Union Type C streamliner for design inspiration, with a goal of holding 70 mph on flat ground with just 2 kW. The body is going to be covered in solar panels.
I almost got crushed by someone driving a Buick Enclave while doing 60 mph on the highway. I had LEDs lighting me up like a Christmas tree plus a giant flag. This person neither looked nor signaled before swerving into the slow lane I was riding in, forcing me onto the shoulder. When my rear wheel caught the rumble strip, I thought I was going to flip over or crash into the guard rail.
Of course, this was on a naked trike with no shell. I’m not doing that again!
If nothing else, you need a roll cage just ‘cos you’re probably sitting on 50-100# of battery and drive components. But thinking about the terrible cD of motorcycles, now I’m wondering if an aerodynamic 2-seater like that Spatz (but tadpole) could get about the same drag even with more frontal area.
I’ll have 20 lbs of motor(front hub motors at 7 lbs each and an Astroflight 3320 powering the rear through a differential), 6 lbs of controller, and 20 lbs of battery. With wiring, fuses, and switches, it will be right at or a bit under 50 lbs of EV components.
There are also 6,000mAH 21700 batteries out now that make 50A peak, so I could end up with a 20S6P 2.6 kWh pack running 72V with field weakening on the front motors combined with the rear derailleur and 7-speed freewheel acting as a transmission for both my pedaling and the rear motor to get me into the triple digit top speed range. The best part is that I can use inexpensive ebike and golf cart components rated for 72V or less. As a one-off, this drive system would cost about $3k to build with all brand new parts, not counting labor, but if mass produced I could see that cost getting well under $1,000. Keep everything modular and serviceable, and it can all be fixed with basic cheap tools.
My hydraulic brake lever with fluid reservoir(came from a motorcycle and uses DOT3/4 fluid) for the front wheels and dual-pull cable disc brakes for the rear wheels will be mounted on a butterfly style steering wheel with bicycle trigger shifters set up to mimic the paddle shifters in an F1 car. I’ll also have a digital speed readout projected on my lexan windshield.
My vehicle is only meant to seat one, so frontal area will be minimized at under 0.5 m^2. If I can get a drag coefficient of 0.16 or less, I’ll have upwards of 80-100 miles highway range and 300+ miles low-speed range operated as a class-3 ebike with a 28 mph limit. I’ll be able to switch between modes as jurisdiction dictates. The total battery pack cost in mass production would be a < $1,000 proposition and would last decades and hundreds of thousands of miles. And it would be a sufficiently low voltage to safely handle without special tools.
Making a two-seater tadpole with about 1/6th the CdA of a motorcycle is doable, especially if it’s a tandem 2-seater. If you go with side-by-side seating or even offset seating(ala Bertone Blitz or VW XL1), you should still be able to get about 1/4th the CdA of a motorcycle.
I want to clarify, I meant to say 50A continuous, 100A peak for those batteries. In any event, it’s now trivially easy to pack a lot of power into a long-lasting, inexpensive, energy-dense battery.
This allows the vehicle mass to be kept way down, further improving efficiency.
Why not use a golf cart motor instead of multiples?
Too heavy.
The motors I use are lightweight and efficient. I want to keep the vehicle light enough to pedal with the motors disabled. It’s intended to be a micro race car disguised as a “bicycle”, and can be legally operated as a class-3 ebike when needed. This way, I don’t have to have it registered, or pay taxes, or insurance, or any of that crap. And given the profiteering and graft going on, I don’t think anyone should be forced to pay for those things, either. And if I get caught doing something naughty, it will be fast enough to get away from trouble, as I’m targeting Hellcat-like 0-60 mph times and 100+ mph top speeds when operated unrestricted, which is also why multiple motors are wanted, so that I can make use of all 4 tires’ contact patches to accelerate. And it can be picked up and carried through a doorway into an apartment building for hiding.
It’s really a giant F-U to all of the government entities and corporations with their hands out demanding money for the “privilege” of getting around in a society that mandates you be able to do so in order to function within it. Even the vehicles themselves available for purchase by the automakers are needlessly wasteful, in order to more quickly drain your wallet and maximize every dollar extracted.
I say screw all that nonsense. If Detroit won’t build inexpensive sub-$25k 80 mpg sedans/sports cars and/or EV sedans/sports cars that use < 0.150 kWh/mile to hold 70 mph that are both de-tech’d and easily repairable with basic tools, then they aren’t getting my money. Screw those greedy bastards. I hope they go under.
My trike in its previous incarnation could travel 200 miles on about $0.25 of electricity, on 1.8 kWh. Currently the body is off of it, and thus it uses 4-5x as much energy per mile. It also does 0-60 mph in 7.1 seconds and has topped out at 71 mph. It’s also very dangerous to operate. I can do 70 mph on about 10 kW and hold it for 3 miles before the motor starts to overheat, and that is without any aerodynamic drag reduction at all. With a good body design, 70 mph should be doable on 2-3 kW, which that single motor could do all day long.
Check out what it can do to the rear tire with just 10 kW on tap:
https://imgur.com/d2yizhE
Unloaded, my rear wheel motor spins to 132 mph:
https://imgur.com/5jBfRKC
The more slippery I get the next body design to be, the closer to that theoretical top speed limit I will approach. It currently does 71 mph, with no body at all and a Cd value somewhere around 1.0 and 10 kW. A slippery shell on it may allow 110-120 mph top end or thereabouts, and at 25 kW with AWD, it could possibly reach that top speed from a dead stop in like 8 seconds. There won’t be much that could keep up with that. Maybe tuned liter bikes and $1+ million electric hypercars.
Hooning, mayhem, and general overall vehicular jackassery is what I have in mind building this thing. And it needs to be doable for CHEAP, without costing me exorbitant amounts in operation, upkeep, maintenance, repairs, and replacement parts. As a trike, the most expensive component of its operating cost is tires at $0.01/mile, and that’s with some abuse. It’s cheaper to use per mile than taking the bus!
Interesting.
Ive thought a lot about high efficiency cars.
Years ago, I designed an expansion to the highway system limited to such vehicles.
The classic flag on a pole for height and visibility works.
Like your idea; I’ve done something similar, but went the reverse trike with manufacturer’s plate route for the government/insurance/tax avoidance. What city/state are you in? Volusia, Florida here
Not me wondering the bolt pattern is 4×100 to throw some Miata daisy’s on that thing.
Wait until the article comparing this Spatz to a new Hummer EV in modern crash testing comes out – the results will shock you!
Splatz.
Hmmmm. Nürnberg and Traunreut are not really near each other, and the town of Ingolstadt lies in between. Where was the company really located, I wonder? I don’t recall my Opa in Nürnberg talking about Spatz, but he’d left the auto industry after the war so that makes sense. I also didn’t know that Nürnberg had any auto industry outside of M.A.N. (The N stands for Nürnberg.) Ah the things you learn at Autopian!
I imagine the chassis lacks torsional ridgidity
That’s just a torsion bar connecting the front and rear. Makes for livelier handling…
I actually thought that…
Tub is indeed a good word for this. It even has a bathtub ring, rendered in rubber and chrome, encircling the whole body except the front wheel arches. It should look ridiculous, but it works!
And is that a CLMSL (center low-mounted stop lamp) at the rear? Taillight madness!
That CLMSL is possibly, nay, likely a fog lamp if it’s indeed red.
In the midst of getting my ’54 Panhard Dyna Z back on the road; one task I’m working on is the trunk lid handle assembly or whatever the heck it’s called (still learning les Français) which is rather similar to that Spatz’s. It’s a combination of trunk lid handle, license plate light, brake lights, and a center light which is actually clear since it’s a reverse light (yeah, the Dyna Z was actually pretty fancy; reverse lights were not a common *standard* feature on cars in the 50s and even into the 60s.)
Mine is very similar, down to the year and the color, albeit not as pristine, as the one at the Lane Motor Museum: https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/panhard_dyna_z_1954web2a.jpg
Jason you are weird in the best way