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In 1926 brothers Otto and Wilhelm Maisch formed Maisch & Co. to produce small 2-stroke engines of JLO design, plus bicycles and parts. In 1932, the brothers began producing scooters and motorcycles under the Maico name.   Seeing an opportunity to enter Germany’s thriving small car market for pennies on the DM, Maico bought Champion’s […]

After World War II, Carl Borgward started Lloyd as a lower-priced alternative to the higher-end Borgward family of cars. Lloyd’s first car, the LP 300, was introduced in 1950. Due to the lack of steel available after the war, the LP 300 infamously had a wood and fabric body, leading to the well-known phrase “Wer

VAZ is a Russian auto maker that began producing cars, in collaboration with Fiat, in the late 1960s. The Model 1111, commonly branded for export as a Lada Oka, was developed out of a need to replace the simple and cheap ZAZ Zaporozhets, the Russian “People’s Car”. It was to be the car that “every

Ben Gregory was from Kansas City, Missouri, and he believed that front-wheel drive was the preferred method of propelling a car. From 1920-1922, he tried to put a car into production, and it is believed that about ten were made. Funding ran out, and Gregory gave up on the car business. After WWII, he again

The Fiat Panda was introduced in 1980, and was meant to be a city car for the masses; simpler but in the spirit of Citroën’s 2CV. It was a no-frills utility vehicle designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign. Giugiaro compared the Panda to a pair of jeans – simple, practical, and without frills. For practicality,

In 1936 Fiat introduced the 500, or “Topolino” as a small car for the masses of Italy. Inexpensive and robust, the Fiat 500 sold in large numbers. The first version of the 500 was called the A model, and was produced from 1936-1948. The next model, B, was produced 1948-1949, and the final version, C,

The Elcar was a small electric car produced by the famous Italian design and coachbuilding company, Zagato. Known for designs such as the Ferrari 250 GT, Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale, and Aston Martin DB7 Zagato, the Zele, as it was known in Europe, was quite a departure. Its small boxy shape, spartan interior, and electric

One of the most controversial cars to ever come from Detroit, the Corvair still sparks conversations and perpetuates myths to this day. With a ten-year production run and 1.8 million produced, it was also a surprising success story, considering how different it was from everything else coming from America’s automotive manufacturers at the time. As

The Astra was originally developed in 1955 as the “Little Horse” utility vehicle by JARC Motors Ltd. Of Middlesex. The single-seat, 13HP commercial vehicle was simple but capable. The main downside was the location of the 250cc engine – under the load floor. Any service work required removal of everything inside the rear cabin.