Smiley cars

via drivenscene

My most beloved micro cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s

1956 Paul Vallee

Place of origin: Blois, France 

The car had a wide, comfortable bench seat. The steering wheel was in the shape half circle cut off on the bottom, making it easy for people get in and out of the car.

1966 Peel Trident

Place of origin: Isle of Man, England 

Something like today's pope's mobile. Or he should get one like this. To enter the car, you lifted up the bubble top. The Trident was offered in both gasoline and electric versions.

1959 Scootacar MK I

Place of origin: Leeds, England 

Like many microcars, it's essentially a three-wheeled scooter with an enclosed body. It's even steered using something that looks very much like handlebars. Only 1,500 were made and very few survive.

1972 Bond Bug 700E

Place of origin: Tamworth, England

This is what I call a cute version of Back to the Future car. This three-wheeler was marketed to 18 to 25 year olds who needed a fun, cheap set of wheels. It was available in this color, tangerine orange, only.

1958 Rollera

Place of origin: Levallois-Perret, France 

This car is one of only three known to survive. Sold at Christies in 1997. It was apparently purchased as a plaything for children and it basically sat in a sandbox and deteriorated.

1957 Voisin Biscooter C31

Place of origin: Paris, France 

A car designed for performance and function rather than appearance. Too bad this car was a prototype that never made it into production.

1956 Fuldamobil S-6

Place of origin: Fulda, Germany 

The Fuldamobil's body made from stretching the metal sheet over cast aluminum form. 

For the technique to work, the shapes had to be curvy. The result is a car that inspired the term "bubble car"

1955 Inter 175A Berline

Place of origin: Lyon, France 

This car was introduced as "Autoscooter". It's narrow like a scooter but with protection from the enclosed body. The backseat was just not big enough for adult but could fit 2 very small children. 

1951 Reyonnah

Place of origin: Paris, France

This foldable front wheels car was a solution for hard to find parking space in post-war France. 

via money.cnn

Satoshi Minawaka

Last year I got a chance to work on a TV show. It's kinda like a Pimp My Ride but for RVs. LOL! That's so ridiculous isn't it. While I was working on it I didn't know how the show is going to turn out. I kept thinking of Satoshi Minakawa photos. He's put together books and art exhibitions from wild variety of Japanese decorated vehicles. They are quite fun to look at.

poster from one of his shows

via satoshi-minakawa

1956 Heinkel Kabine 153

Aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel saw the Iso Isetta(another cute car shaped like dumpling), and decided that he could do one better, using aircraft principles and making it lighter yet faster with a smaller engine. In 1956 he introduced this wonderful 3 wheeler car, the Kabine 153. So cute, yet sporty.

photo via autowp

1953 Siata 400F

Turn heads

Siata (Societa Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori) began in the 1920s as a tuning company making parts for Fiats, but progressed to making cars in the 1930s. The 400F used Fiats superb 2-litre V8 engine with twin Weber carburettors, producing 125bhp. With its engine designed by Dante Giacosa, and chassis by Rudolf Hruska, it wore an ultra-low "berlinetta" body styled by young designer Giovanni Michelotti for Stabilimenti Farina and built by Balbo. It is believed that less than 10 berlinettas were built, along with around 25 convertibles, one of which was bought by Steve McQeen.

 via wallpaper, flickr

Cute car

via chivethethrottle

FERRARI 625 TRC

The 1957 Ferrari 625 TRC’s design is without a fault, a timeless and downright breath-taking execution of Italian motoring passion. Only two of these where made.

reblogged from lookslikegooddesign