A one-off microcar.

SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Daus Werke

Origin: Hamburg, Germany

Production: 1

Motor: ILO 1-cyl, 2-stroke

Displacement: 197 cc

Power: 9.5 hp

Length: 8.8 ft.

Identification No. TPU3283

Otto Daus was possessed of a singular natural ability to understand and improvise mechanical things. He came from an aviation background, as did many microcar builders of the time. Having designed, built, and flown his own airplanes by 1914, he vowed never to fly again after what he saw during the war. He worked for a long time, from 1929 to 1947, as the chief designer for the company Vidal und Sohn, makers of the well-known Tempo three-wheeled trucks.

He formed his own independent engineering office, taking with him several Vidal people. He remained on good terms with them, however, and continued to do design work for Vidal, including a “Geländewagen,” or off-road vehicle, in 1958. This Daus 214 was a three-wheeled, front drive Kübel/Schwimmwagen with a Heinkel motor and a retractable propeller.

Daus built this one-off microcar and fitted it with an ILO 200 two-stroke motor with thermo-syphon cooling, like that of a Ford Model T or Austin Seven, and a sophisticated electric pre-selector transmission. There were three forward and three reverse speeds, and the engine could be removed and installed in 16 minutes. This rare prototype car never received an official “KFZ Brief” or vehicle registration document, making it essentially a single-owner example.