Kleinschnittger

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Spotted in DE: http://cgi.ebay.de/Kleinschnittger-F-125-1-Serie-restauriert_W0QQitemZ230306896416QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobile?hash=item230306896416&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

[Inaheinkel]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love it

John

[Jean]

Kleinschnittgers  are certainly an impressive looking and fun to be driven in.  Andrew and I were loaned one to drive in a smalll Rally in Austria a few years back.  One thing that quite startled my chauffeur was that on a downward section with hairpin bends the engine could not be used as an addition to the braking system because it free wheels.  With two quite heavy occupants it needed all the help it could be given to stop at the major road at the bottom of the hill. We lived to tell the tale. but my driver admitted to a few anxious moments whilst I, in ignorance,  was just enjoying the wind in my hair. 

[P50]

Jean,

Is a bit naughty using a two stroke to slow you down...   

[Bob Purton]

I have never heard of any other car having a free wheel sprocket fitted, there must be a reason why Paul Klien.... did it this way, can anyone enlighten us on the matter. Could it be for the reason that P50 indicates, to prevent seizures on long downhill stretches of road or is P50 a little paranoid from his IOW experiences? Personally I always use the engine to help slow me down ,two strokes included, punctuated by a periodic clutch dip and a blip on the throttle to keep the petroil flowing. Lets face it most microcars have feeble brakes with the exception of a few like Friskies, Isettas etc. Your comments please.

[Chris Thomas]

Dear Bob

I had a Saab 95 with a freewheel and it was very usefull. Whilst mine was a four stroke it was a hangover from the two stroke Saab 93 and meant that in icy and slippery roads you could lift off the accellerator and you stood a better chance of regaining some grip and composure before hitting the go pedal again. It was also very good for fuel consumption as you could glide on flat or slight gradients for miles. The thing I liked most was you could change gear without using the clutch, as the freewheel was a form of clutch. With the Saab the free wheel could be disendaged so you had decelleration braking if you wanted it.

So there you have it all the advantages a bicycle has had, that we car drivers have been deprived of for years.

Chris Thomas

[P50]

Bob, My P50 engine was rebuilt(?) prior to me aquiring the car by some hamfisted neanderthal and was always doomed to fail!

The end was rattly. It seized briefly 7 miles from base on the flat and that was that.  As for coasting downhill on a twostroker throttle closed I feel whilst it's getting some mix it's not really in the engines best interest.  So in the KR I use the neutral selector and employ the woefully inadequate Peel sized brakes to slow it!

Talking of KR brakes in this greasy weather they still lock easily in a pressing situation.   Hang back is the way forward...

(Good job my brakes are good enough actually or you'd have a 675TYD shaped back end if I recall....!)

And...  I think the best brakes on any Micro are the Scootacar jobs. Hydraulic and as big as the rims.  Stands on its nose does a Mk1.

[Stuart Cyphus]

When coming back from Kemble rally that time with the Mini-Comtesse, I had two big hills to come down, both of which were about half-mile long & winding with it. I found the best way to proceed downwards was entierly on the handbrake, keep it permantly on one click & half way down I'd bring the car to a total stop & then drive off under power (still against part-on handbrake) in order to get the oil through. Might have been totally unessisary, but better safe than sorry when still 10 miles from home...

[Bob Purton]

Ahh at last after days of nothing we have a subject going!
CHRIS, well well, I never knew that about the Saab, I can see how it would help in the ice.

PERRY, I know, I know, I was just winding you up about the P50, about the brakes, yes scootacars are good but the frisky setup will put you through the windscreen! Someone made a mistake at the design stage I think!

STUART,[soon to be known as the elephant man] I used to use the handbrake on hill decent when I used to drive a Nobel. Not a bad idea. About taking chances 10 miles from home, would it have really mattered as you were being followed by a support vehicle? Wink Wink!! Or am I miss- informed?

Are there any other cars out there that have a free wheel?

[Jawmedead]

Are there any other cars out there that have a free wheel?

Back in the 1970/80s I had a collection of Rover P4s & P5s.  A couple of the P4s (Auntie Rovers) had a free-wheel device that could be locked on or off. I think it was supposed to help with the fuel consumption! I didn't use mine as when you took your foot off the gas pedal to go around corners etc the car went faster due to no engine braking.
Yes I know there is a brake pedal but in the early 1960s we were taught to use the gearbox and engine to help slow down. You would fail the driving test now with that technique.

[Bob Purton]

Well, I never knew that Rob, I would imagine it would make quite a difference to the fuel consumtion but what you save on fuel you lose on brake linings!

[Stuart Cyphus]

About taking chances 10 miles from home, would it have really mattered as you were being followed by a support vehicle? Wink Wink!! Or am I miss- informed?

 All done with absulutly no backup whatsoever.  True, Dad was also out there that day heading to & from the same destination with the Martin & Lister trucks, but after Lechlade he took a differant rute to that I was taking. Plus he started two hours ahead of me. We only met but breifly that once in the layby on the outward treck....

 When I was learning to drive, (car being a six-mounth-old Ford Fiesta) during one particuler lession the gearbox was on its way out without either of us realising at the time. It had started getting difficult to get into first & reverse in the centre of Oxford. After a while it got to be such a problem I automatically without even thinking about it, double-declutched to get down into first when we got to a slow moving patch in Cowley. My instructer spotted me do this & remarked I was the first person he'd taught in 25 years who knew how & when to do that without being shown.  I just said "When you've had some of the cars my family's had, you soon learn the tricks of the trade...."

 Another amusing tale concerns when I went for my actual driving test in Cowley. On arrival at the test center, me & my instructer parked the car in the carpark, he locked it & then handed me the keys saying I'll need to unlock it when I came out with the examiner. I took the keys & in doing so just happened to glance down at the drivers door & noticed there was no key hole "Errm, how do I do that?, Theres no key hole" He looked at me as if I was barmy & said "you just press the button.", My reply; "What button? We've never had anything this new on the road!"  And that dear reader was the first time I'd ever came across central locking on a car! So there was me at the age of 19 having to be shown how to unlock a car door..... 

 Nearly ten years later, we've still never had anything with central locking. In fact exacly half of my vehicles didn't even have any doors....   

[mharrell]

Are there any other cars out there that have a free wheel?

I have a pair of two-stroke '67 SAAB 96 sedans in which I always use the freewheel mechanism.  I regularly drive one of them around much of Washington and Oregon without too much difficulty, though I suppose the next time I find myself faced with a long downhill mountain pass I will consider locking it out (there's a T-handle extending through the firewall) before beginning the descent, as suggested in the owner's manual.  The one notorious problem with the SAAB unit is that the freewheel is somewhat fragile-- it is a good idea to ease it into operation with a light touch on the throttle.  Once it has engaged, full-throttle acceleration is not a problem-- at least, not for the freewheel.  The freewheel was in all of the 95, 96, and 97 (Sonett) models even after the switch to four-stroke V4 engines and curiously in the first year (perhaps two) of the 99, despite the fact that the 99 never had a two-stroke powerplant and used an entirely different engine and transmission.

I used to own a '59 Ford Custom 300 (the standard US four-door sedan for that year) which had the factory-optional overdrive transmission with freewheeling, but the freewheel feature was designed to work only when in overdrive.  This was marketed as a fuel-saving measure and was a not-uncommon offering from US manufacturers in the '30s to '50s, albeit rarely purchased.

Mike Harrell

[Bob Purton]

Ahh, mis informed again Stuart, I shouldnt listen to gossip! I had a similar experience but the other way around, I took my test in my Isetta and the examiner was unusually fat, he couldnt get out of the car when the test was over I had to take his hand and yank the old boy out! And he had the cheek to fail me!!