On Mon, 9 Jan 1995, Dick Harold wrote:
> On Mon, 09 Jan 1995 10:20:30 -0500 (EST) "W. Ray Gibbons" said:
> Could you possibly be confusing the appearance of the Hotshot with that of
> the Mini Moke, Dick?
>
> Ray Gibbons -
> *** Well I remember some obscure cars such as the Pup, the Playboy with two
> engine options, the Tasco Town Shopper, the Kurtis which later became the
> Muntz Jet (I think), and who could forget the King Midget? Then there was
> a Davis three-wheeled car and the American Bantam, and such "vehicles" as
> the Imp with a fiberglass body and a one cylinder engine, or how about the
> Hoppenstand rear-engined two cylinder job made somewhere in PA? But I must
> admit that the "Mini Moke" is a new one on me. Come on Ray, did you make
> that up?
>
> Dick
>
A british car enthusiast who has heard of the Hoppenstand but not of the
Mini Moke? Well, of course, *everybody* is familiar with the Hoppenstand
and the Tasco Town Shopper. But Gee, Dick, what is a Mini Moke? Next
thing, you'll be asking what a Leaf or a Powell is.
Now let's see if I can get it right. The Mini Moke was (and for all I
know may still be) made on a BMC Mini chassis. It's a Mini-sized (of
course) runabout with no doors and a jeep-like body that appears to have
been constructed from US army jerry-cans (just kidding, british subjects).
Transverse engine, front wheel drive, basic Mini mechanicals. Sort of a
shrunken VW Thing. Great fun, I expect, if you live in just the right
sort of climate with just the right sort of roads.
I think your doubt re: the Kurtis-->Muntz is well placed; I question
whether the Kurtis became the Muntz Jet. Kurtis was a race car fabricator
who made a couple of passenger car models. One resembled a
street-modified race car, while the other was a very pretty car with an
indented contrasting color panel on each door as a major styling feature.
Mad Man Muntz owned appliance/TV stores on the Left Coast, and built an
envelope bodied convertible for a little while. Maybe they connected at
some point, but I don't remember it. I have seen a MJ, but never a
Kurtis.
Seriously, did you make up a Hoppenstand? Two can play that game, you
know. Was it a contemporary of the Drive-n-park?
Ray
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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