The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!
Monday, November 13, 2017
Driving "the worst car in the world"
Jalopnik's Jason Torchinsky drove a 1951 Hoffman three-wheeler. It didn't go well.
You can read more about his (mis)adventures with the Hoffman here. I'm glad vehicles have improved since those days!
The video, the article, and the the Wikipedia entry all omit a pertinent fact: Which Germany? The powerplant seems Trabant-like, but both Germanys were so poor after the war . . . Now I want to drive one. Does that make me a bad person?
I attended the Woodward Dream Cruise during the Ford Centennial. I remember stepping to the edge of Woodward Avenue and the first car I laid eyes on was a Trabant heading South on Woodward Avenue in a cloud of blue smoke.
PhilB: It was a West German effort. I found a bunch of details at https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2012/11/16/little-hoffman-bug-that-sank-an-empire.
Rear wheel steer!!! Holy Cr... What that thing replicates is a tail-dragger aircraft. As long as you don't go faster than a warehouse forklift, it should be tolerable. Sort of. Sheesh.
Aluminum bodywork. I'll bet Hoffman worked in the aircraft industry during the war.
7 comments:
The video, the article, and the the Wikipedia entry all omit a pertinent fact: Which Germany? The powerplant seems Trabant-like, but both Germanys were so poor after the war . . .
Now I want to drive one. Does that make me a bad person?
I would reckon that it is an East German effort - by 1951, West Germany had recovered economically so would not have attempted anything like this.
Unless it was their revenge on the world for losing two world wars in succession ...
Phil B
I attended the Woodward Dream Cruise during the Ford Centennial. I remember stepping to the edge of Woodward Avenue and the first car I laid eyes on was a Trabant heading South on Woodward Avenue in a cloud of blue smoke.
It looks like the love child of a Volkswagen and Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion car.
PhilB: It was a West German effort. I found a bunch of details at https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2012/11/16/little-hoffman-bug-that-sank-an-empire.
There are worse cars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQh56geU0X8
Try the Reliant Robin. Jeremy Clarkson Demos the beast.
Rear wheel steer!!! Holy Cr... What that thing replicates is a tail-dragger aircraft. As long as you don't go faster than a warehouse forklift, it should be tolerable. Sort of. Sheesh.
Aluminum bodywork. I'll bet Hoffman worked in the aircraft industry during the war.
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