Messerschmitt was a German aircraft manufacturer and automobile manufacturer during the 20th century. The company was founded in 1926 by Willy Messerschmitt and was best known for producing military aircraft for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. After the war, the company was forbidden from producing aircraft and turned to manufacturing automobiles.
The first Messerschmitt car was the KR175, a small, three-wheeled microcar that was introduced in 1953. The KR175 was followed by the KR200, a slightly larger, four-wheeled microcar that was introduced in 1955. Both of these cars were designed to be cheap and efficient transportation for post-war Germany.
With World War Two over, and Germany defeated and divided, the Messerschmitt plant at Rosenheim remained largely undamaged and with considerable production facilities at their disposal.
Facilities that would be channelled into anything apart from fighter aircraft! The American occupation forces put forward several suggestions for what the Rosenheim plant should produce. Among the items that did come of the plant during the late Forties were sewing machines and prefabricated houses.
Meanwhile, an aeronautical engineer with well-developed entrepreneurial skills by the name of Fritz Fend had been working on the development of compact, l three-wheeled vehicles, initially envisioning them as invalid carriages. Fend saw tremendous potential in his product and needed production facilities.
Fend approached Messerschmitt during the late Forties, asking them to rent some space to him- a proposal that the company gratefully accepted.
A talented engineer as well as skilled negotiator, Fend had kept something up his sleeve during his negotiations with Messerschmitt, and that was that he intended to produce a compact three-wheeler one- or two-seater vehicles as a form of low-cost basic transport.
Fend’s first two vehicles were the one-seater Flitzer, and the two-seater Fend 150. Both models were met with considerable approval and demand was high.
By 1953 Fend had virtually re-designed, re-engineered and combined his two models to become a single entity, marketed as the KR175 Messerschmitt Kabinenroller (cabin scooter).
Little more than a motor scooter than a conventional motor vehicle, the KR 175 even had handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and no reverse gear. The KR175 did have space for a driver and passenger, although sitting in tandem, instead of side by side in the BMW three wheelers. Power for the Kabinenroller KR175 came from a 9bhp 173cc two-stroke engine, which, according to Messerschmitt marketing material, could provide 90 mpg.
Thanks to its unique design, the KR 175 and all the Messerschmitts that would follow, would always be known as “bubble cars.”
Despite its obvious shortcomings, such was the state of the car hungry West Germans, around ten thousand KR 175 were sold.
Aware that the KR175 was far from the real deal, in 1955 Feld released a modified version - the KR 200.
The major breakthrough with the KR200, was that it came fitted with a reverse gear and was considerably more powerful thanks to its 19cc two-stroke engine.
By 1956, with demand for the KR 20 averaging twelve thousand units annually, the Messerschmitt company were giving the green light to return to the comfortable world of aircraft production, wasting no time in severing their commercial ties with Feld.
With the KR200 selling very well, Feld and Messerschmitt reached an agreement that the Regensburg works would be sold to Feld and his partners, with their sole stipulation that the vehicles produced there would still be marketed as Messerschmitts.
In 1957, Feld in an obvious attempt to increase his market spread while producing another model with the same footprint, released the KR201 Roadster.
The KR 201 came fitted with a frameless windscreen, no window frames, and most importantly, the option of a convertible cloth roof with removable side curtains made from transparent plastic for those who were less than impressed with the Plexiglas bubble.
A Sport version of the KR 201 was later released, which did have Plexiglas windscreen, although without a roof. These design tweaks meant that the driver would have to climb in and out at the top of the car and only drive the car in good weather- as there was no protection against rain.
By the swinging Sixties, demand for Messerschmitt began to fall off dramatically, as compact four wheelers became increasingly commonplace.
Feld, displaying his never -ending belief that there would always be need for compact bubble cars soon developed a four wheeled version of his baby, the TG 500.
The TG 500 continued to be powered by a small two-stroke engine that sat above the rear end, with the power being taken to what were now two rear wheels by a chain drive.
The extra wheel also made the TG 500 more conventional, although the passenger still sat behind the driver, rather than by their side.
The two-cylinder motor may have put out less than 20 bhp (15 kW), but it managed to push the lightweight TG500 up to nearly 80 mph (126 kph). That was as good if not better than some full-sized cars of the era.
The four-wheeler also had great handling, thanks to its low ride height and wheel-at-each-corner design, with fully adjustable rear suspension also playing its part.
Ultimately fewer than 500 TG500s were built. Sales were hampered by its relatively high cost. In Europe, compact four wheelers, in particularly the Fiat 500, had so much more to offer, including four seats. In the United Kingdom, a TG500 was almost as expensive as a Mini.
There was no disputing that more people were now able to afford a “proper car “, meaning that for the Kabinenroller the bubble had definitely burst.
By the time it was discontinued more than 50,000 Kabinenrollers, particularly the KR 175 and KR 200 had been sold.
Messerschmitt stopped producing automobiles in 1964. Today, the company is remembered as a pioneer in microcar design and as one of the most successful aircraft manufacturers in history.
