UP NEXT
Sign up to receive the weekly newsletter featuring the very latest from Petrolicious. Don’t be left out—join the ranks of those who Drive Tastefully.
Already a member? Log in
We're glad you're back.
Not a member yet? Sign up
We'll get you back on track.
Films:
1957 Brütsch Mopetta: Smiles Per Gallon
What can I say… started with *What the …. is a Brütsch Mopetta” ?
Then I looked, and smiled.
I suppose that, the other car in the stable notwithstanding, the Mopetta is the one to take out on a sunny day, to go to city centre and feel at the centre of the attention.
Without invoking in the bystanders too many thoughts of the “Marx was right” nature.
Gotta have a replioca ready for the daughter, because once she is 14 (what is the legal age to drive a 50 cc moped in UK ? ) she will probably want to drive thing to school (if that is something still allowed to do to kids, in the helicopter parents era).
As for the rest of his garag – Marx was f……g right!
Trionfi la rivoluzione proletaria!
A few paragraphs on the history of the car are here: http://www.microcarmuseum.com/tour/mopetta.html Apparently only 14 were built. If you Google Brutsch Mopetta, and look at ‘images’ you will see a lot of them with different paint schemes. So a high percentage of that 14 seems to have survived. Part of this may be due to the availability of parts for the ILO 50cc engine. You can still buy everything from new, fresh in the box, replica carburators, to refurbished crank and piston rod assemblies. Everything needed for a main-bearings and up rebuild of the engine is stocked, somewhere, and is ready to ship.
@JB21, I am still active as an engineering designer, working about a 60% calendar these days. And I am very interested in which designs endure, especially in the world of those that are scalable in terms of sales volume. In this case, building off a motor, the ILO-50, that is very common in the developing world lets the people who still operate these cars do so almost forever. Ordering parts for that motor on the internet is not a lot more complicated than buying a quart of milk at the corner store.
The body shell is a considered design, with a lot of compound curves and few stress risers. So the shape will survive impact well. The shape is pleasing and, semiotically, carries the message: “I am cute! Don’t hit me!” Whereas the other micro-cars tried to have a measure of dignity that no micro-car will ever truly embrace. To my mind, that why most of them, with the exception of the Isetta, also featured on this series, are so forgettable.
So the ‘skin’ of this car is robust and carries a pleasing message, and the ‘internals’ are easily serviced. And these are two of the hallmarks of an enduring design. Where the car failed commercially may have been in the increasing litigiousness of the product liability world, in promotion, and in the fact that 50cc is not a lot of power even for a Mopetta. In this case having a pleasing, durable and easily serviced design does not seem to have been sufficient.
Observing your mental breakdown is somewhat sad, and amusing. As the sites court jester, the Petro top brass have been more than fair with you over the years allowing you to redeem your ugly behavior , however your constant berating of those who find joy and happiness on this site shows that you are in desperate need of either psychiatric help, or maybe like a horse with a broken leg, a kind soul who knows who you are will put you out of your misery. Alternatively, you can just crawl back into that damp dark corner of the internet from where you came. What a pathetic coward you are hiding behind the ridiculous alias of guitar slinger
