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Almost as a hobby, in 1977 Guy Duport built a prototype, first-of-its-kind diesel-powered microcar. It was a small car with a plastic body and 2 doors, equipped with a 510cc (about 31 cu. in.) Lombardini diesel engine. According to Duport, that 10HP engine assured 3,500 hours of operation, allowing it to travel potentially more than […]

The Pionier is a 3-wheeled economy vehicle that was designed for the German market. It’s robust, yet light, because of its wood frame body covered by a synthetic fabric. Carl Borgward designed this car to evade the annual German tax that was put on 4-wheeled vehicles. Three-wheel vehicles escaped this tax until 1933, and this

The Vignale-designed Tatra T613 was introduced in 1975, and was too primitive to attract Western buyers after the fall of Communism across Europe in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Tatra was evaluating two approaches to the new proposed Project T625 – a front-engined, water cooled sedan, and also a more traditional rear air-cooled option. Unfortunately, Czechoslovakia’s

In 1925 Tatra decided to enter the famous Targa Florio road race in Italy to help publicize its name.  Since Tatra had only been making cars for two years, many outsiders believed the Tatra cars would never be able to finish the grueling 450-mile road race.  It seemed even more unlikely that Tatra would be

The Lotus Super 7 was the brainwork of famous race car designer Colin Chapman, who loved the phrase “less is more.” The Super 7 was a simple, fast, minimalist sports car. Production started in 1957, and continued until 1972 under the Lotus name. In 1973 Lotus sold the Super 7 rights to Caterham, which continues

Bill Devin, aka “The Enzo Ferrari of Okie Flats”, grew up around cars – his family owned a Chevrolet dealership – and he and his brother opened a Chrysler-Plymouth franchise after a stint in the Navy. But, his passions ran more toward Siata and Ferraris. Feeling shunned by the European dealers in southern California, he

In 1985, Renault redesigned the 310 series. This GTA is larger and more rounded. This car has a 6 cylinder engine, very light (1800 pounds), and quite fast. In this respect, it is very similar to its contemporary Lotus–light fiberglass bodies with a taut, sophisticated chassis, small lively engines, and beautiful coachwork. Though the Alpine-series automobiles were

This propeller-driven device was a home-built ice sled that was constructed by Paul Knockennusand Manfred Homes, who lived in northern Minnesota. The fuselage is from a J3 Cub airplane. The windsled is a two-seater, and powered by a 65hp Continental engine. Top speed is in excess of 70 mph. In the 1970s the windsled was