The Brütsch Mopetta is an egg-shaped, single-seat, three-wheel automobile manufactured from 1956 to 1958 with a total production of 14. It was the smallest in a series of

microcars Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include #Bubble cars, bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycle (EU vehicle classification) ...

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

body, with one example having a detachable, transparent, folding hood. The Mopetta used a

ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

V50 engine with a

pull start Rope start (also called ripcord , ''pull start'', or ''rewind start'') is a method of starting an internal combustion engine, usually on small machines, such as lawn mowers, chainsaws, grass trimmers, ultralight aircraft, small outboard mot ...

and an integral three-speed gearbox. Top speed was tested at , with an average fuel consumption of . Each Mopetta cost £200 (c£2000, 2017) as the most produced car by Brütsch, only 5 are known to survive. There were negotiations with

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

to distribute the car, but only sales brochures were produced. A Brütsch Mopetta replica is available, built in the UK with a modern Honda automatic engine.

Sources

*''Kleinwagen, Small Cars, Petites Voitures'', by Benedikt Taschen, 1994

External links

Images of the car
Microcars Three-wheeled motor vehicles Cars of Germany {{Classicpow-auto-stub Cars introduced in 1956