Classic Velocity

Over the years, this blog has featured German cars with motorcycle underpinnings (see BMW 700 Heart of a bike, body of a car and Zundapp Janus), fully enclosed motorcycles that were more like a car (see 2 Wheels 200 mph, and Framo), and 3 wheeled vehicles in a class of their own (see Tempo). However, our focus today is on a vehicle that was a scooter marketed as a single-track car! The vehicle comes from Bastert-Werke in Bielefeld, and it was introduced in 1952.

The thinking was simple. Capitalize on car-like styling and features, but package it in a vehicle suitable for the frugal post-war environment. This manifested itself in a light metal body scooter with a single-cylinder two-stroke Ilo motor of 150cc and subsequently 175cc, producing 6-7hp and speeds up to a max of 80kph. Quite adequate at the time for the intended purpose. In order to lean toward the concept of a car, it featured generous protection from the elements via the chrome accentuated wide-body and windshield. French designer, Louis Lucien Lepoix also gives it a very car-like headlight nacelle and 13” wheels. It had a sealed and lockable luggage compartment, rubber floor mats, and electrically operated turn signals. The dashboard featured a gear indicator. It had twin tail lights, engine bay lighting, and a swiveling driver’s seat with a backrest.

With this impressive list of features, it was marketed as Das Einspurauto (Single Track Car), and was obviously aimed at the upper end of the scooter market. Unfortunately, that same impressive list of features made it very expensive to produce, and even when priced at a loss, it was an expensive vehicle to buy compared to the competition. Only about 1200 Das Einspurautos left the factory during its’ production run from 1952-1956, before it drove Bastert to abandon vehicle production. As you might imagine, the few survivors are highly collectible.