Lila Flex Ninja

BMW Isetta 300 Cabriolet 1957. - source Bring a Trailer.

Budapest. Az Erzsébet-híd Elisabethbrücke Elisabeth Bridge Hungary

Daihatsu Bee, 1951. The Bee was the first passenger car the company built for the public.  It featured a rear-mounted 540cc OHV air-cooled horizontally opposed two-cylinder four-stroke engine, making it Japan’s first boxer-engined car. Adapted from one of Daihatsu’s three-wheeled delivery trucks, the Bee sold very poorly, and only around 300 units were built before production ended.

Soletta 750, 1956. A prototype for a Swiss microcar that used a mid-mounted flat-twin engine tucked under the rear seat.  Designer and engineer Willy Ernst Salzmann used the project to demonstrate his new rear suspension system. The Zweigelenk-Elastikachse Salzmann (Salzmann two-joint elastic axle) suspension system used a semi-fixed differential with swing axle half-shafts and coil springs, with the half-shafts connected by a transverse member slung under the differential and attached to the shafts with rubber springs. He planned to present the suspension at the 26th Geneva Motor Show,  but the main hall was reserved for complete cars, and Salzmann was told he could only display his suspension in the parts and accessories section.  Determined to showcase his invention, Salzmann built a car around it, ensuring it could appear in the main hall. Much of the body is plastic, an innovative material for the period, while the door skins are steel.  To simplify production and cut costs, complementary body panels like the right and left doors, the front “grille”, and rear “tailgate” covers, and diagonally opposite fenders are interchangeable. This symmetry means the driver’s side door hinges on the B-pillar and opens towards the rear, while the passenger’s side door hinges on the A-pillar and opens towards the front. The engine, transmission, and differential together form a single powertrain, swing-arm assembly, which was meant to improve ride quality and simplify maintenance. Renault, Alfa Romeo, and a government agency in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) all expressed interest in the project, but this did not lead to series production. 

Beastie Boys, Sabotage, 1994

HÓDGÉP Puli, 1986. A Hungarian microcar that was designed for use in urban environments, especially for export to countries like France where it could be driven without a standard driving licence. At this time Hungary was still part of the Soviet Bloc with a centrally planned economy. HÓDGÉP was a company primarily known for agricultural machinery, so it utilised parts from other available car brands in Hungary at the time. The body was made from lightweight, reinforced fibreglass. It used a 5.5hp single-cylinder 273 cc Yanmar Diesel engine. There was also an electric version, the “Pinguin," which was produced starting in 1991 under a different company, Pinguin Ltd., when the original HÓDGÉP went bankrupt during Hungary's economic transition after the fall of the Soviet  Bloc.