The World's Smallest Car?

In 1956, Egon Brutsch of Stuttgart, Germany attempted to build what he believed to be would be the world's smallest automobile. The result was this tiny automobile called the Mopetta. By 1958, just 14 examples of this tiny 49cc automobile with an engine the size of a moped were built.

The car only had a top speed of about 30mph. The automobile was also a two stroke engine design as well, which meant that it burned more oil in normal operation unlike more civilized four stroke engine designs. However, even with the advantage of more power from the two stroke engine design, the car only produced but just 2.3 horsepower.

The body was made from fibreglass. And it was hoped that the body could also be used as a boat design. Opel had some interest in the car, but since so few were built, this strange little car just never caught on and only a few exist such as this fine example at the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum in small Madison, Georgia, a town of only 5,000 persons. This unique museum has 35,000 visitors each year and is one of the town's biggest tourist draws by far.