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25-502: Following World War II, Zündapp expanded into the microcar , moped and scooter markets. The company collapsed in 1984. The first Zündapp motorcycle was the model Z22 in 1921. This was the Motorrad für Jedermann ("motorcycle for everyone"), a simple, reliable design that was produced in large series. Zündapp's history of heavy motorcycles began in 1933 with the K-series. The "K" refers to

50-599: A 28 hp (21 kW) horizontally opposed twin cylinder engine with overhead valves displacing 597 cc (36.4 cu in). The KS600 was often coupled with a Steib sidecar, the BW38 ( Beiwagen 1938). The BW38, fitted with the B1 (Boot no. 1) sidecar body was produced between 1938 and 1941 and supplied exclusively to the Wehrmacht . While the KS600 was discontinued and eventually replaced by

75-569: A 598 cc two-cylinder engine. From 1957 to 1958 the company also produced the Zündapp Janus microcar . In 1958 the company moved from Nuremberg to Munich . Subsequently, the company developed several new smaller models, discontinued the development of four-stroke engines and only produced two-stroke models. Zündapp experienced enormous success in off-road motorsports winning thousands of Gold-Silver and bronze medals, many Championships. The American rider Dave Ekins won an overall victory at

100-472: A brand new Mercedes-Benz 190E . Manufacturers include Pocket Classics , the Little Car Company , Eshelman , and Hackney . There are also a variety of microcar trucks, usually of the "forward control" or van style to provide more cargo room. These might be used for local deliveries on narrow streets that are unsuited to larger vehicles. The Piaggio Ape is a three-wheeled example. The Honda Acty

125-490: Is a four-wheeled example. Kreidler Kreidler was a German manufacturer of bicycles , mopeds and motorcycles . Kreidler was originally based in Kornwestheim , between Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart . It was founded in 1903 as "Kreidlers Metall- und Drahtwerke" (Kreidlers metal and wire factory) by Anton Kreidler and started to build motorcycles in 1951. In 1959 one third of all German motorcycles were Kreidler. In

150-869: Is a term used by some small cars and tricycles manufactured from 1895 to 1910. Cyclecars are a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured mainly between 1910 and the late 1920s. The first cars to be described as microcars (earlier equivalents were called voiturettes or cyclecars) were built in the United Kingdom and Germany following World War II, and remained popular until the 1960s. They were originally called minicars, but later became known as microcars. France also produced large numbers of similar tiny vehicles called voiturettes , but they were rarely sold abroad. Microcars have three or four wheels, although most were three-wheelers which, in many countries, meant that they qualified for lower taxes and were licensed as motorcycles . Another common characteristic

175-465: Is an engine displacement of less than 700 cc (43 cu in), although several cars with engines up to 1,000 cc (61 cu in) have also been classified as microcars. Often, the engine was originally designed for a motorcycle. Microcars originated in the years following World War II , when motorcycles transport was commonly used. To provide better weather protection, three-wheeled microcars began increasing in popularity in

200-773: Is often called a microcar in the United States; although it requires a regular licence to drive. The European Union introduced the quadricycle category in 1992. In several European countries since then, microcars are classified by governments separately from normal cars, sometimes using the same regulations as motorcycles or mopeds . Therefore, compared with normal cars, microcars often have relaxed requirements for registration and licensing, and can be subject to lower taxes and insurance costs. Junior cars are motorized cars for children, typically copies of real designs. Originally powered either by electric engines or small internal combustion engines, electric engines currently dominate. From

225-533: The 9-092 , which was used in light aircraft, including the Braunschweig LF-1 Zaunkönig (1942) ab initio trainer aircraft. After World War II the company transitioned to smaller machines, notably the " Bella " motor scooter , which was a relatively heavy machine for its type. In 1951 Zündapp released the last of its heavy motorcycle models, but one of its most famous: the KS601 (the "green elephant") with

250-877: The Heinkel Kabine and the Isetta . The British version of the Isetta was built with only one rear wheel, instead of the narrow-tracked pair of wheels in the normal Isetta design, in order to take advantage of the three-wheel vehicle laws in the United Kingdom. There were also indigenous British three-wheeled microcars, including the Peel Trident . Examples include the Citroën Prototype C , FMR Tg500 , Fuldamobil , Heinkel Kabine , Isetta , Messerschmitt KR175 , Messerschmitt KR200 , Peel P50 , Peel Trident , SMZ S-1L , Trojan 200 , and Kleinschnittger F125 . Recent microcars include

275-567: The 1926 Baby Bugatti until today, junior cars are often as expensive as a real car and are built to a higher standard than a ride-in toy car. As with the Bugatti, these are frequently sold directly by real car manufacturers such as Porsche and Ferrari. In the 1990s Aston Martin built a half-scale junior car version of the then-new Aston Martin Virage Volante , with a handmade aluminium body, leather interior, and 160-cc Honda engine. It cost as much as

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300-470: The 1967 Greenhorn Enduro aboard a 100cc Zündapp, defeating competitors on much larger motorcycles. Belgian rider André Malherbe rode a Zündapp to win the 125cc European motocross championships in 1973 and again in 1974. Initially, Zündapp scooters and mopeds sold well, but later sales declined and in 1984 the company went bankrupt and closed. New legislation had destroyed the market for Zündapps high-speed 50 cc "Kleinkrafträder": to reduce noise and to reduce

325-572: The 1970s Kreidler had very great success in motorsport. Especially in the Netherlands the riders Jan de Vries and Henk van Kessel were successful. Kreidler went out of business in 1982 and the rights to the trade mark were sold to the businessman Rudolf Scheidt who had Italian manufacturer Garelli Motorcycles make mopeds under the Kreidler name until 1988. The rights to the Kreidler brand were subsequently acquired by bicycle manufacturer Prophete . Today

350-464: The 2001 Aixam 5xx series, Renault Twizy , Citroën Ami , and XEV Yoyo . Electric-powered microcars which have reached production include the 1987 CityEl , the 1990 Automobiles ERAD Spacia, the 1999 Corbin Sparrow , the 2001 REVAi , the 2005 Commuter Cars Tango , the 2009 Tazzari Zero and the resurrected Peel P50 of 2011 (the original model of 1962 - 65 being petrol powered). The Smart Fortwo

375-509: The German armed forces in World War II. From 1931 Ferdinand Porsche and Zündapp developed the type 12 prototype Auto für Jedermann ("car for everyone"), which was the first time the name Volkswagen was used. Porsche preferred the 4-cylinder flat engine, but Zündapp used a water-cooled 5-cylinder radial engine . In 1932 three prototypes were running. All three cars were lost during the war,

400-470: The United Kingdom, where they could be driven using only a motorcycle licence. One of the first microcars was the 1949 Bond Minicar . Microcars also became popular in Europe. A demand for cheap personal motorised transport emerged, and their greater fuel efficiency meant that microcars became even more significant when fuel prices rose, partly due to the 1956 Suez Crisis . The microcar boom lasted until

425-877: The Zündapp name returned to German hands after being purchased by Dieter Neumeyer, the grandson of company founder Fritz Neumeyer. The newly owned company subsequently produced e-bicycles and later revealed a new motorcycle concept, the ZXA 500 Adventure, at the 2022 Intermot Show in Cologne . Microcar Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars , with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than 700 cc (43 cu in). Specific types of microcars include bubble cars , cycle cars , invacar , quadricycles and voiturettes . Microcars are often covered by separate regulations to normal cars, having relaxed requirements for registration and licensing. Voiturette

450-555: The accidents especially young riders had on those bikes, the new "80 cc" class was introduced. That made it much easier especially for the Japanese manufacturers to break into the previously protected market as they could easily downsize the 125 cc engines. Kreidler shared Zündapp's fate and went insolvent in 1982. After the bankruptcy, the entire production line and intellectual properties were bought by Xunda Motor Co., Tianjin , China. They produced small Zündapp motorcycles from 1987 until

475-476: The early 1990s. Zündapp later produced Honda-based four-stroke motorcycles and electric mopeds in the 2010s. Zündapp also had a technical collaboration with Royal Enfield (India) to build mopeds and motorcycles. A dedicated factory was built at Ranipet near Madras (now Chennai ) in the early 1980s to manufacture small, lightweight two-stroke motorcycles to be offered along with their flagship Royal Enfield Bullet . Enfield launched two 50 cc motorcycles first,

500-585: The last in a 1945 Stuttgart bombing raid. From 1936 to 1938 Zündapp produced the KKS500 model. This was the first Zündapp with a foot gear change, and 170 examples were built. From 1940 onward Zündapp produced more than 18,000 units of the Zündapp KS 750 . This is a sidecar outfit with a driven side wheel and a locking differential , supplied to the German Wehrmacht. Zündapp also made aircraft engines including

525-489: The late 1950s, when larger cars regained popularity. The 1959 introduction of the Mini , which provided greater size and performance at an affordable price, contributed to the decline in popularity of microcars. Production of microcars had largely ceased by the end of the 1960s, due to competition from the Mini , Citroën 2CV , Fiat 500 and Renault 4 . Several microcars of the 1950s and 1960s were nicknamed bubble cars . This

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550-477: The purpose-built KS750, its motor was to be the only remnant to live beyond the destruction of war. When Zündapp returned to motorcycle production in the late 1940s, it chose to reuse the KS600's motor to power the KS601 with few modifications. The Zündapp K800 had unit construction , flat-four engines with shaft drive (a layout adopted by Honda for the Gold Wing in 1974) and were the only 4-cylinder machines used by

575-400: The step-thru Silver Plus and the three-speed Explorer motorcycle. Later, Enfield Fury 175 (based on Zündapp KS175) was introduced as a performance motorcycle. It had five-speed gearbox, a hydraulic Brembo disc brake and a sleeveless hard chromed cylinder barrel, all were a first on a motorcycle in that country. That being said, sales of these models were very low in the country. In 2017,

600-457: The type of drivetrain that these models used, Kardanantrieb , meaning enclosed driveshaft with two universal joints . Zündapp introduced the enclosed crankcase (then a novelty). The series encompassed models from 200 to 800 cc displacement and was a major success, increasing Zündapp's market share in Germany from 5% in 1931 to 18% in 1937. The Zündapp KS600 , first released in 1938, had

625-710: Was due to the aircraft-style bubble canopies of vehicles such as the Messerschmitt KR175 , Messerschmitt KR200 and the FMR Tg500 . Other microcars, such as the Isetta , also had a bubble-like appearance. German manufacturers of bubble cars included former military aircraft manufacturers Messerschmitt and Heinkel . BMW manufactured the Italian Iso Rivolta Isetta under licence, using an engine based on one from one of their own motorcycles. The United Kingdom had licence-built right-hand-drive versions of

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