Heading north yesterday, I noticed that a neighbor had pulled his Ultravan out of the barn. I popped by this morning to ask permission to take some pictures and got a surprise. I didn’t know these folks – had only spotted the Ultravan nose peeping out of the barn on previous trips past – turns out they are the folks that drive the Isetta, the Messerschmitt, and other little vehicles in the Madbury Day parade. Also, very nice people. Not only did I get permission to photograph the Ultravan, I got a lot of info about the vehicle and I got a quick tour of the basement (Daihatsu three-wheeler, France Jet, motorcycles, outboards) and the garage, where the current active project sits: a Goggomobil Dart. Pictures:
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The whole photoset is here.
Isetta owners were … peculiar even when those things were new.
The young curate at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (Fort Collins, Colo.) used to drive one. We altar boys liked to pick it up and leave it in odd places, e.g, the flower beds. Juvenile humor, but then we were in fact juveniles.