Mikrus microcars

[inacoma]

Hi

Great video clips of these cars on Youtube :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lnuOMXJW9E

With the number of polish people working in the U.K. will we see some of these cars here soon?

I like them

John

[Jim Janecek]

I don't think you will see many of them leaving Poland any time soon. It is not so easy to export them out.
But it is nice to see them at the 50th anniversary

In the USA, I have a friend who lives 8 miles from me that has the only MIKRUS in the USA.
He is also an incredibly obsessive MIKRUS enthusiast.  He has spent a great deal of time and money bringing the car to the US and maintaining it.

He has the only existing 400cc motor every produced in Poland for the car (they were all 300cc) and it is a Prototype.
He "finished" the motor, making pistons for it and is just now trying to squeeze it into the car.

The car and its history is absolutely fascinating.   What is known publicly and privately are two different things and there are many facts my friend is reluctant to share because he feels that if known, it would harm the National Image that he thinks the MIKRUS represents.

There are only a few parts that are interchangable with Goggomobil, the rest are all slightly different although visually the same.
So if you ever get your hands on a MIKRUS, don't assume you can just order Goggo parts for it.

A few years ago, another Polish friend of his who actually drove these when new back in Poland, came to my garage and when he saw the Goggomobil engine and parts on the floor he was astounded!  
"MIKRUS!" he exclaimed.  He could not believe there was another Mikrus in the US.

Having never seen a Goggomobil, he just assumed they were all MIKRUS parts.

[inacoma]

Hi

Great to hear about the example in USA.

There are so many interesting microcars that you hardly ever hear about, i was amazed to get such a good response so quickly.

John

X

[burford57]

I hope that everyone saw Michael Palin being given a tour of a Polish town by an entrepreneur
in a Trabant on Sunday 21st October!  He asked the driver what the various knobs on the dashboard
did and the light switch came off in his hand, the heater didn't work - usual Trabbi problems to which
I could relate, having owned a 1981 example sourced through the infamous Arie van Rosmalen.

Of all the oddities I have owned - and still do in some cases - it's the Trabant and the Sinclair C5 that
everyone remembers!

Regards
Nick d.

[Stuart Cyphus]

I've just had a look around on youtube myself and came upon this film which all lovers of the Mouldering Micro (or Sleeping Beauty) really MUST see....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpiJwr_RcKM&mode=related&search=

 John, might I recomend Julian Nowill's book; "East European Cars", published by Sutton in 2000. (ISBN 0-7509-2369-5) Only half a page on the Mikrus, but still lots of other stuff worth looking at as well.

[darrg]

This thread has been pruned to remove some comments which might have upset pan-European relations!

[Jean]

Please is there a knack to looking at Utube.  I only get tantilising short bursts the videos don't keep running! What am I doing wrong or more likely not doing?

[Jim Janecek]

Please is there a knack to looking at Utube. I only get tantilising short bursts the videos don't keep running! What am I doing wrong or more likely not doing?

if you are on a Dialup connection or an otherwise slow connection this is what you will see.
the Video cannot load fast enough.
Make the thing pause and then leave the window open and let it load completely (note progress bar at bottom of viewer)
once it has completely loaded, press the play button again.

[Jean]

Thanks for the answer about my viewing U Tube videos, I am on Broadband with AOL so I should be OK.  Any other suggestions?

[Jim Janecek]

just because you are on "broadband" does not mean you have a fast connection.
Your connection could still be slow, or there is a bottleneck between you and YouTube.
Also- YouTube could be sending out the info very slowly. Nothing you can do about that.
or....your computer is really old and slow.  But it sounds more like a very slow connection.
You could have a fast car and get on the Autobahn, but if the rest of the traffic can only go 30mph, you are not going to go any faster.

I am so curious why there are people in the UK and Europe using AOL.  It stands for "America On Line"
and in the USA, AOL is not something normally associated with quality or speed.

[marcus]

I don't know about Europe, but in UK our business, culture and media are so dominated by America that we are brainwashed into believing anything American is good, and that's why so many use AOL !

[Jim Janecek]

AOL is not something normally associated with quality or speed.

and of course answering my own question, this would explain why it is appropriate for Microcar Enthusiasts!

[Bob Purton]

Dont understand Jim, my microcars are both quality and fast! [believe that and you will believe anything!]

[Jean]

I am so curious why there are people in the UK and Europe using AOL.  It stands for "America On Line"
and in the USA, AOL is not something normally associated with quality or speed.

I am very interested in your comments on AOL Jim.
In GB we are bombarded with AOL adverts as soon as we purchase a computer that is why so many of us Brits have it, the line of least resistance or ignorance of other products I guess. I wish I had never joined ,their service to me in our very rural area of Kent is appalling.  I am trying to do some research into the best provider for me and if any one out there can give me some experienced sound advice I would very much welcome it.  I don't want to jump out of the frying pan into the fire, too many people already have my current  email address to make the change more than once.  Jean

[Jim Janecek]

I just responded privately to Jean, but I also found out that AOL in the UK is owned by Car Phone Warehouse!