Biscuter | Cartype

Biscuter (Spanish spelling for the pronunciation of Biscooter) was a microcar produced in Spain during the mid-20th century.

Background.
Uncooked material shortages and typical financial problems in Europe pursuing the 2nd Earth War produced extremely smaller, cost-effective vehicles popular in lots of nations. In Spain the predicament was complicated by General Francisco Franco’s authoritarian govt, which was disliked by many Western and Communist states as a remnant of Fascism. For that reason, Spain’s economic climate was fairly isolated from the formulated globe. It operated at a decreased financial degree than the rest of Western Europe, and was forced to develop domestic substitutes for difficult-to-get imported products and technologies. The Biscuter, little, uncomplicated, and cheap even by microcar specifications, was a product or service of this atmosphere and was nicely suited to its time and marketplace.

Origins.
The vehicle actually had its origins in France in the late 1940s, exactly where plane designer Gabriel Voisin experienced created a negligible motor vehicle called the Biscooter. The playful name implied that it was about the measurement of two motorscooters, or a scooter with four wheels. The design and style drew no fascination from either companies or shoppers there, however, and he finally licensed it to Spanish firm Autonacional S.A. of Barcelona. By the time it was launched in 1953, the marque had been hispanicized to Biscuter. The initially car or truck had no official model title and was termed simply just the Sequence 100, but it quickly grew to become recognised as the Zapatilla, or minimal shoe, after a very low-heeled peasant slipper well known at the time.

Specialized information and facts.
The Zapatilla was minimal in fact, with no doors or home windows or reverse gear. The 1 cylinder, 197 cc, two-stroke motor manufactured 9 horsepower (7 kW), had a crank starter, and drove only the proper entrance wheel. Braking was by an abnormal 3-position method involving the transmission and cable ties to the two rear wheels. A single genuinely advanced aspect was an all-aluminum body, though metal was later applied.

History.
Biscuter flourished for about ten years and the autos grew to become a popular sight on Spanish streets, as properly as a part of well known culture. (“Unpleasant as a Biscuter” was a frequent joke.) Facilities these types of as doorways and windows did eventually surface, and various diverse bodystyles had been created, together with vehicles, an classy woodie station wagon, and a toy-like athletics vehicle termed the Pegasun (very little Pegaso).

The auto business Fiat had been permitted by the Spanish federal government to set up a subsidiary known as SEAT in 1950, but at initially even the most economical of its Italian patterns have been thought of luxury automobiles, out of attain of the ordinary Spanish customer. As time went on and a increased degree of prosperity created, while, SEATs started to get a lot more of the current market and group out the less costly marques. By the early 60s, Biscuter revenue and generation stopped, right after a complete generation run of about 12,000. It is thought that pretty much all of the cars and trucks have been eventually scrapped.

Nowadays.
Now Biscuters are mostly museum curiosities, even though like lots of vanished marques they have some pursuing among the auto fans. The identify is small-acknowledged exterior Spain, nevertheless, and most resources pertaining to it are in Spanish. Their extreme rarity can make it likely that any surviving illustration would be a legitimate collectible, though most likely not one of an really high worth.

(text source: Wikipedia)