Ever since my father was diagnosed with dementia several years ago, I’ve been making the 15-hour trip to visit him as often as possible. My route takes me past several points of interest, including Henry’s Rabbit Ranch, the Uncle Remus Museum, and what I thought was the headquarters of Dubble Bubble chewing gum, which was humorously using a ‘bubble car’ as a signpost. I’d always intended to stop, but never seemed to make it to Madison, Georgia before dark. This Thanksgiving, I finally timed my trip to allow for a weekday visit, and ended up being sadly disappointed I hadn’t made the effort sooner.
Because it turns out Dubble Bubble Acres is actually the home of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum. Or rather it was… The whole lot was put up for auction in 2013 (missed it by that much!), with the final sale total running around US $9 million for roughy 200 cars and other pieces of memorabilia.
A virtual tour of the museum is still online and includes photos and information on the collection. This 1959 F.M.R. (Fahrzeug- und Maschinenbau GmbH) Tg-500 “Tiger” is one of 320 manufactured (four of which were owned by the museum), and gaveled for an astounding US $280,000. As the “Tiger” name was owned by Krupp, the vehicle’s official “Tg” name supposedly stood for Tourenfahrzeug-Gelandesport, or ‘touring vehicle–cross-country sports.’
Based on the Messerschmidt KR200 Kabinenroller, for which FMR had taken over production in 1956, the Tiger was four-wheeled and powered by a two-stroke, inline two-cylinder 494cc engine making 20.5 hp. The car in stock form could muster 0-60mph times of around 28 seconds. A similarly-priced Austin-Healy Sprite took about 21 seconds by comparison. We have more coverage on the Karo here.
Amazingly, however, we don’t seem to have any in-depth CC coverage of the BMW Isetta, and since the car sitting atop the pole in the lead photo is only a fiberglas replica, I’m not going to make this that post. I did find mention of one out in the wild here, though. The car pictured above from the museum is a 1956 Isetta 250 powered by a one-cylinder 12 HP engine. Weighing all of 700 lb. soaking wet, it tops out around 52 mph (84 kph, or 3 weeks).
At the other end of the Isetta spectrum, Mr. Weiner commissioned a full-sized driveable version of the Hot Wheels Whatta Drag car in 2005.
Powered by a supercharged 502 cubic inch (8.2l) Chevy big block, and weighing a mere 1,500 lb, there is no published top speed, though I imagine it moves the needle quickly to “Ludicrous.”
Note that Whatta Drag is not to be confused with Steve Urkel’s Isetta Rocketta, which mounts an Isetta on a rail dragster chassis.
To promote the auction, RM Sotheby’s published several humorous videos, and the auction details themselves are documented here.
With the museum now closed, I’m sorry I never made the effort to stop in. Even so, I’m glad I’ve gone past so many times, because it means I’ll have no regrets about time spent with my Dad. And isn’t that a big part of what cars enable us to do, anyway?
Related Microcar Coverage:
CC Outtake: 1962 Heinkel Trojan – Cheer up, Christmas Is Coming!
The Zündapp Janus: Mid-Engined, Double-Ended Production Car
Curbside Compulsions: The Cars We Hate To Love
Curbside Classic: Goggomobil – Germany’s Beloved Goggo Found In The USA
Automotive History Capsule: 1952-1954 Libelle (“Dragonfly”) – The Only Car Ever Built In Innsbruck
Too bad this great museum had to close. Feel your pain concerning your Dad’s illness. My late Mom had dementia. I was glad that I moved close to them in ’97, and was able to do what I could to help her (and Dad with his Parkinson’s). First time I saw someone that owned a Isetta was around 1968, seeing it park nose first up to the curb, watching the front open up and the steering column swinging out of the way as it’s owner stepped out. I had recently read “Unsafe at any speed” and didn’t think it would get the Nader seal of approval.
Regarding the Tiger name, the Krupp Tiger was a conventional diesel truck. Eicher built a farm tractor model called the Tiger and a more powerful Königstiger. About the size of your Ford, I’d say. Best wishes.
My best wishes go to you and yours. My Dad had dementia towards the end, too. It started when he retired due to his no longer physically being able to work, at a profession he loved and had worked in since 1948 for about 42 years. That retirement seemed to trigger his mental deterioration…with basically no other real interests, he declined steadily.
Since you did not mention anything, it would seem that “Check(ing) back in Fall 2014 for something new,” as the museum website suggested, would not have turned up anything.
My mother had dementia near the end too. I am not sure that it was triggered by anything, as it probably developed before we really noticed. Mom did quite well through age 95, and then around age 96 there were tell tale signs that all was not well, but we did not notice at first. But dementia progresses. At the nursing home there were a few much younger (below age 60) who seemed much worst than mom.
I tried googling the town and the museum to see if something new popped up, but nothing turned up.
Nothing new that I observed or could find online…
In the very early 1960’s a neighbor in Lincoln , Ma. had an Isetta , I vividly remember riding in it .
What happened to this cool museum ? . why did it close and disperse the collection ? .
-Nate
In trying to find what became of the place the museum was in, I found that the owner said his interests had changed. I think he had fun collecting the cars and running the museum, but after several years of running it he has lost interest or had found something new to do. My guess is that no one bought the whole thing.
The total sale price was about 9 million.
I drug my family down there one Saturday a few years back. It was a pretty cool place with even more automotive weirdness than the Lane Museum in Nashville. I had never heard of most of the vehicles so it was very enjoyable learning about them. There was a lot of related toys and memorabilia as well if I recall correctly.
Thanks for sharing.
I’ll never be able to look at one of these cars without thinking of Brazil:
Awesome movie 🙂
My flow of thought reading this article
-an oddball car museum? Cool!
-I would have to drive to Georgia to visit it? Gah!
-It’s out of business, so I don’t have to drive to Georgia. Bummer….er….whew!
Check out the Lane Museum in Nashville. Very oddball and enjoyable even for folks spoiled by Michigan’s automobile attractions. It’s not the Gilmore, but was certainly worth the 6 hour drive from SC, SE Michigan would only be a couple of hours further.
As a bonus on this proposed road trip, Tennessee is sacred ground for much of American music. Like country, stay in Nashville. Blues & rock, head 3 hours west to Memphis.
The Lane would make an excellent CC meet spot.
I just love this website. I might have gone the rest of my life not knowing about this, let alone seeing it. Thank you.
It boggles my mind the number of small, offbeat museums of all kinds that there are out there. Sorry you missed it, but it is nice that you are getting to spend that time with your Dad.
I had always planned to see the Weiner Museum, but never got around to it either. I visited the Lane Motor Museum on Black Friday. There were several micro-cars there obtained at the auction of the Weiner collection. There’s a pretty interesting French car exhibit going on right now. I recommend it, if you happen that way.
I’ll have to plan a stop, then – I pass through Nashville on my way.
I’ve long suspected that if the money hadn’t run out (on FMR/Messerschmitt, not BWWM) the next step after the Tg500 would’ve been putting a conventional sedan body on the four-wheel chassis.
That look under the “hood” only makes me think that even more, maybe turning it around for FWD since the rear-engine mufflers look to be crammed in the space left for the wheel cuts of an FF layout.
I guess missing this was a disappointment – just looking at the photos and the cars in the background you see so amnion cars beyond the usual bubble car definition.
Those videos are great, showing the Peel and a dragster that looks great in a “is all you paperwork at home in order?” sort of way.
I drive past this place every few months for my work as a mobile closing attorney. It is not anywhere anyone would ever go without a compelling reason (i.e., getting PAID to do so.) It is a good two hours from Atlanta in the middle of absolute nowhere. There is no cell service in this place.
Lane in Nashville is REALLY interesting and of course you can experience Nashville hot chicken while you are there. Not to be missed.