Toying with custom build idea, opinions needed!

[user removed]

******2002 TOYOTA ECHO 30,200 MILES 1 OWNER**********

Wow! You may thingk the price is a little high but the low miles are great. I did not check to see if it was a manual or auto.
It's an auto so that is somewhat a downer, especially if you don't have to deal with Atlanta type traffic.
Echos are great cars, bulletproof reliability, no timing belt, same basic engine as the early Prius and the later Scions.
Even the autos do very good on fuel mileage because the Echo is very light.

regards
Mech

[RiderofBikes]

Why not just a kit car? It should satisfy your want to actually DO something rather than just buy something, and its totally up to your descretion as to what it looks like, and what powers it. There are plenty of chassis fabricators out there that could build ya a frame for less than a grand, and use a king-pin front end for simplicity, the rest would be up to you

[freebeard]

Get the beater, but don't give up on the dream.

Kabinenroller! I'll point to the Messerschmidt thread



This is from Andy's Modern Microcars. Ignore the Mopetta. Other reverse trike kits are available from Blackjack Zero and the Riley XR3

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

The Messerschmitt is interesting, I like the way its cabin resembles a fighting jet.

[Swordsman]

I LOVE the Messers. Did a lot of reading up on them and Isettas once upon a time, back when I went through my microcar phase.

~SM

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Swordsman

Just a side note: it's kinda scary how many cars are on craigslist with NO title and NO keys. In my very limited search parameters, I think I've turned up 3 or 4 just today. Is there ANY possible explanation for this other than being stolen...?

~SM

Yes.

A friend of mine used to regularly buy cars at an auction that primarly sold abandoned cars. Cars get left on the side of the road and have to be towed away. After a certain amount of time if the owner doesn't claim it (and pay for the tow/storage), they can be sold.

Often my friend would part out the cars, but some were decent enough to get running and sell.

Occasionally, someone may lose the title and keys, but I think that is far less likely to occur.

And yes, some are probably stolen.

[freebeard]

Swordsman -- Cool. If you want to help crowd-source a design for a 'cabinroller', I'm in. I favor a 3-wheel version of the VW Nils. Did you look at the Messerschmitt thread?

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr -- That's why I picked that particular example. Street-fightin' scooter.

Here's a photochop I did and never posted in the thread, chopped and dropped:

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Swordsman

I LOVE the Messers. Did a lot of reading up on them and Isettas once upon a time, back when I went through my microcar phase.

~SM

I like the Isettas too. I still have the willing to make an Isetta replica.

[freebeard]

Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum Tour Index

The Microcar Museum lists 9 Isettas, including a pickup truck. The cars were auctioned off, but the pictures are still up.

Heinkel made the 1956 Heinkel Kabine

Aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel saw the Iso Isetta, and decided that he could do one better, using aircraft principles and making it lighter yet faster with a smaller engine. He did just that with the Kabine 150, the quintessential "bubble car" with its large window area and longer, sleeker lines, that were a cross between Isetta and Messerschmitt.

In October 1956, he introduced the Kabine 153 (three-wheeler) and 154 (four wheeler) with the trusty four-stroke motor enlarged to 203cc. From March 1957 this was reduced to 198cc for insurance reasons.

One example there.

Edit: so I was wrong, there are 6 more Isettas manufactured by ISO in Spain and two more BMWs in the 'retired' section at the bottom

Isettacarro -- a flatbed truck!

[brucepick]

The Elio looks pretty tempting to me. But then, there have been plenty of hopeful startup car manufacturers that never got off the ground - or produced a few vehicles and then disappeared.