Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
MAN AND MACHINE
A people’s car
PRINCE FREDERICK
|
The fuel-frugal Fiat Topolino was considered a people’s car
|
UNUSUAL PET C.S. Ananth has a ‘Little Mouse’
Every period has its share of “people’s cars”. In the 1930s, it was the Volkswagen Beetle and the Fiat Topolino. Backed by the Third Reich, the Beetle was a people’s car in the broadest sense of the term. A tad more expensive than a small bike, this German car was offered on a platter. On the other hand, the Fiat could not offer the Topolino at the promised price – 5,000 lire. When this Italian micro car hit the market in 1936, it cost well over 8,000 lire. But the Topolino’s fuel-efficiency made up for its cost.
This “Little Mouse” (the car was nicknamed “Il Topolino”) required only six litres of petrol to do a hundred kilometres. Although this machine was technically capable of a top speed of over 80 kph, its 569cc straight-4 sidevalve did not give it a generous amount of zip.
This Little Mouse can carry around only two adults. The rear seat is not good enough for anything more than two toddlers or a bit of luggage. I find this out the hard way. Attempting to squeeze myself on to the rear seat of a 1936 Topolino, I succeed only in spraining my right ankle and spilling the small change in my pant pockets.
This car was a repulsive spectacle before C.S. Ananth restored it. Topolino parts being hard to get and expensive, he fabricated a few of them. Woven with bamboo sticks, the steering wheel is a novelty.
The Topolino is not an easy car to drive. Ananth complains about its long turning radius while positioning it for my Nikon. Then and now, the car has been popular for its design. Ananth kept this in mind while restoring this Topolino.
Like any Topolino owner would, Ananth points out the car’s unusual mechanical design. The engine of this rear-wheel drive is placed before the radiator. Considering that 5,20,000 numbers of this microcar were sold between 1936 and 1955, it is not the same as putting the cart before the horse.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
