A Smart is 106 inches long, so if that is an 8 foot bed, it still would not quite fit with the tailgate closed. The Bianchina comes in at 117.5 inches, a bit shy of 10 feet.
In a past life, I worked with someone who had one of the original, delightfully boxy Scion xBs. He had a sticker on the back which read “Humvee Escape Pod” — which I found to be quite apt an quite amusing.
At a quick glance I thought it could be a NSU Prinz which was reknown for engine failure.
One near me has but 18,000 miles before it became yard art sometime back in the ’60s and still sits in that “collector’s” yard…… kind of a direct 180* from which was made in America during the same period. Say for interest the Chevy pickup hauling it which is still seen in fair number at car shows. Been to Barrett-Jackson lately ? There are virtually hundreds there for the picking.
And that C20 isn’t even a Longhorn with lengthier bed ! Just a standard 8 footer ~~~
Me too, and I just Googled an NSU Prinz bc my dad bought a used one around 1960ish. My older brother and his friends picked it up and moved it down the block, for a prank!
My friend inherited a Prinz from his father who bought it with the odd idea of using the engine in a tractor or something (who would pick one with hard to find parts?).
It never was done. They sometimes drove the Prinz in snow, if it got stuck if there were 2 people they could just pick it up and put it on a surface that had better traction.
My friend is into Mustangs, he gave the Prinz to a wife of one of his friends who is restoring it. He drives a Ford Pickup normally (but I’ve not seen the Prinz in the bed of it yet)
This was once a common practice. I spoke to an older man who remembered putting his N600 in the back of a friend’s truck when it broke down. He and three friends just lifted it and slid it in.
My Dad bought a 1952 Ford 8N and brought it home in the bed of his ’69 F-100 longbed. Had a neighbor help him extract it, then he spent all summer rebuilding the engine in the garage.
A tiny Autobianchi Bianchina much like this one was owned by a young George W. Lucas in the early ’60s, and he dreamed of becoming a racing driver until a collision three days before high school graduation nearly killed him, and he decided to go into moviemaking instead.
Wow, is that a Fiat Topolino ? .
So cool .
-Nate
It’s an Autobianchi Bianchina Transformabile, which has plenty of FIAT 500 componentry. At first glance, I thought it was a Vespa 400.
+1
Correct name: “Trasformabile”.
https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/SJ16/Motor-City/lots/r156-1958-autobianchi-bianchina-transformabile-series-i/363527
You may well be right in Italian, but about half of the references to this car in English call it the Transformabile or simply Transformable.
“We’re not going to get another two on here…”
Putting it on, taking it off? The car behind them , in the driveway, looks like a “50’s ride”.
I think one of those tiny Smart cars would actually fit fully in that box.
A Smart is 106 inches long, so if that is an 8 foot bed, it still would not quite fit with the tailgate closed. The Bianchina comes in at 117.5 inches, a bit shy of 10 feet.
And both of them are too wide to fit between the wheel wells (50″). 52″ for the Bianchina, at least 59″ for a smart fortwo.
In a past life, I worked with someone who had one of the original, delightfully boxy Scion xBs. He had a sticker on the back which read “Humvee Escape Pod” — which I found to be quite apt an quite amusing.
At a quick glance I thought it could be a NSU Prinz which was reknown for engine failure.
One near me has but 18,000 miles before it became yard art sometime back in the ’60s and still sits in that “collector’s” yard…… kind of a direct 180* from which was made in America during the same period. Say for interest the Chevy pickup hauling it which is still seen in fair number at car shows. Been to Barrett-Jackson lately ? There are virtually hundreds there for the picking.
And that C20 isn’t even a Longhorn with lengthier bed ! Just a standard 8 footer ~~~
Me too, and I just Googled an NSU Prinz bc my dad bought a used one around 1960ish. My older brother and his friends picked it up and moved it down the block, for a prank!
My friend inherited a Prinz from his father who bought it with the odd idea of using the engine in a tractor or something (who would pick one with hard to find parts?).
It never was done. They sometimes drove the Prinz in snow, if it got stuck if there were 2 people they could just pick it up and put it on a surface that had better traction.
My friend is into Mustangs, he gave the Prinz to a wife of one of his friends who is restoring it. He drives a Ford Pickup normally (but I’ve not seen the Prinz in the bed of it yet)
This was once a common practice. I spoke to an older man who remembered putting his N600 in the back of a friend’s truck when it broke down. He and three friends just lifted it and slid it in.
My Dad bought a 1952 Ford 8N and brought it home in the bed of his ’69 F-100 longbed. Had a neighbor help him extract it, then he spent all summer rebuilding the engine in the garage.
A tiny Autobianchi Bianchina much like this one was owned by a young George W. Lucas in the early ’60s, and he dreamed of becoming a racing driver until a collision three days before high school graduation nearly killed him, and he decided to go into moviemaking instead.
As a stuntman?