The Felber Autoroller T 400 was a three-wheeled

microcar Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are often ...

with a rear-mounted 398 cc

Rotax Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Product ...

two cylinder opposed twin, two stroke engine. The cars had an unusual seating arrangement, with a small child-sized seat behind the driver on the left and a conventional passenger seat diagonally behind and to the right. A. Felber & Co were a well known manufacturer of motorcycle

sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

s, based in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. The Autoroller was designed by Ernst Marold. From 1952 to 1953, about 400 units were built in two versions, all of which were painted light green using a standard paint then used for machinery which was cheaper than car paint. Early models had cycle-type mudguards that swivelled with the front wheels, later models had fixed

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

. The owners had a very active club; ''The Austrian Autoroller Club'', whose newsletter can be found in the Austrian National Library. In 1954, at the wedding of Mr. Marold, a remarkable corso of Felbers accompanied the wedding limousine in front of the

Karlskirche The ''Rektoratskirche St. Karl Borromäus'', commonly called the ''Karlskirche'' (), is a Baroque church located on the south side of Karlsplatz in Vienna, Austria. Widely considered the most outstanding baroque church in Vienna, as well as one ...

in the Viennese City centre. After the liberalisation of car imports into Austria in 1954, car manufacture proved uncompetitive and the company began the manufacture of industrial washing machines instead. The company also moved into the sale and distribution of cars from

Heinkel Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with ...

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

Spatz ''Spatz'' is a children's comedy series that ran on Children's ITV during the 1990s, produced by Thames Television and created by Andrew Bethell. The show originally ran from 21 February 1990 to 10 April 1992. The show centred on a fast food r ...

and

Reliant Reliant Motor Company was a British car manufacturer based in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. It was founded in 1935 and ended car production in 2002, the company had been known as "Reliant Motor Company" (or RMC for short) until the 1990s w ...

. About twelve rolling chassis were delivered to specialist

coachbuilding A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

company Hofmann & Moldrich in Vienna who built upon them an egg shaped body out of 0.8mm aluminium plate called Möve 101. The only known remaining car is in the car museum in Aspang in Lower-Austria. Two surviving Felbers are to be seen in the RRR scooter and microcar museum in

Eggenburg Eggenburg is a town in the district of Horn in Lower Austria, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation o ...

. A third one is under restoration in Serbia near to the Hungarian border and one in Bavaria. File:Felber Autoroller 1953.JPG, Felber Autoroller, 1953 File:Felber Möve 1954.JPG, Felber Möve, 1954

References

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External links

Finnish Micro-car Association
Photographs of the two Felber Autoroller at the Nordkapp rally in 1999
RRRollipop schauen
Photograph of the museums display of Felber Autorollers Microcars Cars of Austria Three-wheeled motor vehicles Defunct companies of Austria Rear-engined vehicles Cars introduced in 1952 {{Classicpow-auto-stub

See also

References

External links