Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum Auction

[Guest Magoo]

Microcars went for major money at the Weiner Museum sale conducted by RM Auctions last weekend, with the top car bringing $322,000 and 12 lots in the six-figure range. This is an entirely different and fascinating world of cars, check them out. LINK:

Tiny Cars Bring in Big Bucks at Weiner Museum Sale | Mac's Motor City Garage.com

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Wow, so many homely and cute little cars! It's remarkable to think what constraints, physical, economic and otherwise caused this plethora of tiny contraptions. Europe's recovery from WWII was long and arduous. How they must have envied us with our huge cars and suburban homes. I don't have an idea, one way or another, whether a Henry Ford type visionary could have provided a Model T like vehicle for postwar Europe. It seems to me, though, that even he would have had a hard time marketing the one vehicle that these folks really needed across borders while bitterness, rivalries and nationalistic feelings were still so strong.

[Guest Magoo]

Wow, so many homely and cute little cars! It's remarkable to think what constraints, physical, economic and otherwise caused this plethora of tiny contraptions. Europe's recovery from WWII was long and arduous. How they must have envied us with our huge cars and suburban homes. I don't have an idea, one way or another, whether a Henry Ford type visionary could have provided a Model T like vehicle for postwar Europe. It seems to me, though, that even he would have had a hard time marketing the one vehicle that these folks really needed across borders while bitterness, rivalries and nationalistic feelings were still so strong.

Very nicely put.

Like many, I was stunned to see the prices from the Wiener Auction but now, the more I think about it, these cars have not gotten the attention they deserve. I'm ready to dive in and learn more about them.

[Rusty_OToole]

"I don't have an idea, one way or another, whether a Henry Ford type visionary could have provided a Model T like vehicle for postwar Europe"

There were plenty of Henry Ford types providing the equivalent of the Model T. The bubble cars are an example of the sub Model T market. When bubble cars were at the peak of their popularity the head of the Austin company said "we've got to come up with something to push those bubble cars off the road". He gave the job to Alec Issigonis, who came up with the Austin Mini, the sixties answer to the Model T. Then there was the VW beetle, another concept of the 4 passenger family car at minimal cost.

There were plenty of others. I find the whole genre fascinating. There is actually more brains, design talent and ingenuity in creating the most efficient economy car, than in a price - no - object luxury car.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Rusty, I didn't recall the term "bubble car", so I Googled it and found another really curious looking lot of little cars. Great fun! Your point about the Mini and the Beetle make sense to me. They were fairly universal. Also, it appears that there certainly were a number of different firms making these bubble cars. I always viewed them as novelty cars but by their great numbers, they must have actually had a fair share of the market. Still I can't help but wonder what the life expectancy of a Isetta, Citroen 2CV or something similar was. Here's a link to Google "bubble car":

https://www.google.com/search?q=bubble+car&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Xw9&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=SJcpUY2rMNCErQGV0YDYAg&ved=0CDsQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=848