Some Japanese Are Taking That Kei Car Thing A Bit Too Far

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

An obviously Axis-inspired driver was seen today in Kamakura, Japan, complete with aloha shirt and toy poodle . A British crime writer who stood next to me swore up and down that this is the real thing and an original Messerschmitt Kabinenroller. What do you think?

I think this is too slick a fiberglass replica of the Messerschmitt. The real McMesserschmitt had three wheels instead of four, and the bodywork had some serious panel gaps.

The real Messerschmitt Kabinenroller had a 173 cm³ (10.5ci) enginelet that propelled the Schmitt to an exhilarating 90 km/h (55 mph). For a long time, it would have been just fine for the freeway.

The story that Messerschmitt had a surplus of Me 109 fighter canopies that were recycled into the Kabinenroller is most likely apocryphal .

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 20 comments
  • Robert Gordon Robert Gordon on May 20, 2012

    I would like to point out in manner that is full of grace, that the vehicle in question is not a FMR T500 (and most certainly not a Messerschmitt for the reasons others have already highlighted). It is in fact a Mitsouka K2 Microcar.

  • Ex Radio Operator Ex Radio Operator on May 20, 2012

    While stationed in Germany during the mid 60's saw Messerschmitts all the time. Nearly always driven by young people. Strictly a town and secondary road car. No autobahn for you. At least it was better than walking.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next