Fuldamobil
The Fuldamobil is a series of small cars which first made an appearance in 1950 in Germany. These small cars are said to have inspired the term “bubble cars”. This car is also called the Nobel, the Attica, the Bambi and the Hans Vahaar. The number of cars produced was relatively low but they attracted enough attention to see licensed manufacturing on four continents.
The original brain behind the design of the Fuldamobil was Norbert Stevenson. He freelanced for the Rhein-Zeitung newspaper. He had also finished one term of the mechanical engineering degree at the Technischen Hochschule Berlin. He designed a simple concept. His design was of a vehicle with three wheels with enough room for two people inside it. It would have two wheels in the front for increased stability and it would be driven by an engine at the rear.
The original Fuldamobil vehicles had an aluminium body fixed onto a wooden frame. In later years as steel became more easily available, the later models featured a body made completely out of steel. The Fuldamobil engines single rear wheel was powered by a series of engines ranging from a 200cc up to a 360cc Sachs engine.
When initial financial support for his project failed, Norbert Stevenson took his concept of the small car to many different companies. Finally in the summer of 1949 it was accepted and bought by Karl Schmitt. Schmitt was a very wealthy engineering graduate who was interested in the concept of the compact, easy to build Fuldamobil small cars. He was a Bosch wholesaler in the small town of Fulda in Germany. He also ran another company called the Elektromaschinenbau Fulda. This small company handled the maintenance and repair of emergency power generators which were very widely used all over Germany after the war.
The Fuldamobil as it came to be known in later years was licensed for manufacture in countries all over the world like the United States of America, Chile, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Netherlands, Sweden, Greece and even India. It was known by different names in each of these countries. It was called The Nobel, the Bambi, the Bambino, the Fram King Fulda, the Attica, the Alta and the Hans Vahaar in the countries respectively.
In the Untied Kingdom the Nobel as it was known, was financed by Cyril Lord. The chassis was built by Harland and Wolf in Belfast. These were the manufacturers of the Titanic too. Unlike the original Fuldamobils, which used steel and aluminium, these Nobels had a fibreglass body. The use of this new building material was courtesy of the Bristol Aeroplane Company.
In South Africa, the car was built and sold under its original German name of the Fuldamobil. In Argentina, a variation of the Fuldamobil which was a pickup version called the Sporty was very popular. Another variation to the original design was called the Nobeletta and it was a beach vehicle designed on the same lines as the Fuldamobil. The Nobeletta was made and sold in Germany. From 1956, the Fuldamobil was also sold as a four wheel car.
The Fuldamobil was powered by a Sachs 191cc two stroke engine which drove the rear wheel and gave it a top speed of approximately 50-56mph with 60mpg. The Fuldamobils were produced for a few years from 1959 to 1961 and only 20-30 vehicles are known to have survived till date.
- Ayesha Sruti Ahmed
Tags: cars, fuldamobil, germany, small cars
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