By 1952 /1953 The Ministry of Metallurgy and Machine Industry in conjunction with the Vehicle Developing Institute started a microcar project. Fuel was now available, only one serious problem lurked on the horizon: the prohibition of COMECON to produce passenger cars. So the project focused on an intermediary type: the closed, four-wheel motorbike, capable of transporting two adults and two children and a few luggages. This was the definition of the microcar.
In 1955 the Ministry comissioned three engineers: Ernô Rubik, the
father of the inventor of the Rubik-cube, himself a very talented engineer,
Pál Kerekes and Géza Bengyel to start the work on microcars at
the Székesfehervári Motorjav¡t¢ V llalat
(Székesfehervár Engine Repair Co. Székesfehervár
is a city near the capital).
This firm repaired airplanes. Their employes were all
gifted in their field. So when the airplane business would have to be shut
down, they looked for new activities. They were good in aluminium so any kind
of goods made from aluminium counted: from a parabolic antenna through
cheese-tub to microcars. One of their engineers, József Horv th already
played with the idea of building himself a car. So he brought his plans to
the factory and there they started to build the car. József Zappel, another
engineer also fancied the idea of a bubble-car so, he too, did some drafts.
In the meantime an Italian Isetta arrived for inspection, and then a
Messerschmitt Kabinroller. The thorough study of the two foreign cars, along
with their own ideas led to two unusual microcars in 1955: the Alba Regia of
Horváth (Alba Regia was the name of the city during the Roman Empire) and
the Balaton of Zappel (Balaton is Hungary's only big lake).
Left: Alba Regia with
its creator, right: Balaton with its creator
Both cars had aluminium bodies, airplane tail wheels, Pannonia 250 cc
motorbike engines. Géza Bengyel who worked as a consultant there,
previously was employed in the Csepel motorbike factory where he designed a
unique sheet-framed bike with a torsion suspension. This suspension was
transferred to the Alba Regia. Balaton received a strange suspension: the
arms were held by rubber tags so the vibration absorbed into the rubber.
The doors of the 2+2 seater Alba Regia opened conventionally. The roof of the
Balaton might be pushed backwards with a handle to get access to the cabin,
just like in an airplane.
The 2+2 seater Alba Regia
The Balaton. Look at the handling
on top of the door
The engines were put to the rear of the cars. The
idea of the gearbox was taken from the Isetta, the reverse from the
Messerschmitt. For this they added another flywheel to the engine. When the
driver wanted to go to the other direction, he or she stopped the engine,
pushed a button and started the engine to the other direction. These
powertrains were two-stroke so they could puff either way. At the usual 1st
of May parade in 1956 four microcars jounced along the cobblestoned streets
of Székesfehérvár: the Úttörô, Isetta
and the locally made Alba Regia and Balaton.
The Úttörô [Pioneer] was one of the best publicised
privately-built microcar. It was designed by János Schadek in
Debrecen, east Hungary in 1954. He was a mechanical engineer. While studying
at the University he built his first touring car between 1922 and 1927 and in
1930 a Morgan-like tricar. Then he took over the wire-making factory of his
father-in-law. After the War he tried to avoid nationalization, but he
couldn't and eventually all the small factories of Debrecen were united into
the Locksmith and Iron-founder Company. Schadek became the chief engineer.
He decided to design a two-seater small car. He had some conversations with
two locksmiths János Puskás and István Schwanner. Both
of them had repaired and assembled airplanes previously. The three
experienced men built the Úttörô from scratch.
From left to right:
Puskás, Schwanner, Schadek with the chassis
The finished product
at a Budapest fair
The car was powered by a Csepel 250 cc motorbike engine, placed on the rear axle.
Instead of having a starter, a "kick start" was used. The gear was taken from
a motorbike. The small wheels were taken from a barrow. The steering shaft
was directly connected to the front axle. This meant a very rude and
sensitive driving so it was replaced by rack and pinion steering. The car
reached a maximum speed of 80 km/h. It was examined by the Hungarian Research
Institute of Automobile Transport in the spring of 1955. After that they sent
it back to Debrecen. It was finally sent to
Székesfehérvár.
The two Székesfehérvár-made microcars were scrutinized
by the Ministry. The Ministry comissioned the Hungarian Research Institute
of Automobile Transport to examine the microcars. The Institue already
carried out tests on the Úttörô, on another Messerschmitt
and on a Goggomobil. The later became the standard to follow: it's 247 cc
two-cylinder engine pumped out an impressive 14 bhp. The Hungarian motorbike
engines used in the microcars were less powerful. So the Institute stated
that either the Goggomobil should be assembled in license or the Alba Regia
has a similarity in concept.
On test with the
Úttörô
The back of the car with hood
up
The Ministry was not totally convinced with the results so they
advertised a microcar competition to find the definite shape. It happened to
be just two months before the '56 revolution. In 1957 the Ministry declared
there was no winner and then the whole microcar issue was soon dropped. But
before the revolution the microcars were shipped to Budapest to a factory
which was appointed to manufacture the potential winner of the competition.
During the revolution Zappel and Horváth led the local forces at
Székesfehérvár so after the Soviets drowned the
revolution in blood Zappel and Horváth had to go. What's more, in the
meantime Horváth traveled to Budapest and yelled at the minister of
Metallurgy about why his car wouldn't be produced. In early 1957
Horváth left Hungary. Soon Zappel also departed. Horváth died
in Switzerland in 1990, his fate remains unknown.
The microcars
ended their life in the scrapyard. The Goggomobil was slightly
damaged during the revolution and although it was the most promising
car it was also destroyed. At least the Alba Regia and Balaton have
survived because in 1960 their owners visited one of the constructors for
spare parts. After that time I have no information about their whereabouts.
The Székesfehérvár factory made another microcar totally from
aluminium in late 1957. But then it was only a sideline and soon went
down. They made buses afterwards and became the part of Ikarus, the
Hungarian bus factory in 1963.
With the Trabant and the Wartburg arriving in the late '50s the need for cars
was fulfilled in a way. Although the time of one-off creations expired, they
never died out: throughout the '60s, '70s, even today there are enterpreneurs
who create obscure minicars.
