THE STEINWINTER

by Tony Marshall (published in the Isetta Gazette August 1980)

I had another car in mind when writing this article, and had in fact made preparations well in advance, which is unusual for me. However, the post has just brought me news of a completely new car, announced only a couple of months ago, so I thought we could see how the modern micro-car compares with those of the fifties which we normally study.

The Steinwinter Junior, to give the new car its full name, os one of a veritable myriad of so called 'town cars' to have emanated from France and Germany during the past two or three years. In common with most of them, it sports a very small engine, and, in common with most it is very underpowered. However, to be fair, there is a larger engined version for those toe to the floor speed crazed maniacs who want to exceed 36 mph!

Manufactured from glass fibre, the body of the Steinwinter is a rather angular wedge shape, reminiscent of the prototype 'Micro-Dot' built to the design of William Towns, using a number of Mini components. It is a little under eight feet in length, and not surprisingly is only a two seater. There are two doors, one at each side, and these are hinged at the front edges. The deep, sharply raked windscreen is cleared by a single wiper, mounted at the bottom left hand corner, and, while the doors have sliding windows, there is a hatch back with a large fixed window. The hatch gives access to the small luggage space behind the seats.

There are four wheels, fitted with radial ply tyres of 145SR 10 size, although 165/70SR 10 can be specified.

The make of the power unit is not mentioned in the literature that I have before me, but one would suspect that the smaller one, at any rate, may be the Sachs 50cc two stroke, which seems to be proving quite popular for this type of application. The location of the engine is between the rear wheels, and it can be reached for routine maintenance by undoing two clips and swinging the lower rear panel section up out of the way.

Inside the Steinwinter, there is but little trim, and this gives the car a rather austere feel, the impression being reinforced by the considerable engine noise and the drumming of the body. Presumably the trim was omitted to cut down on cost or weight, or perhaps both. Controls are conventional, if one ignores the absence of a clutch pedal. It appears that to drive the Steinwinter, it is merely necessary to start the car, engage the gear of your choice, and accelerate away.

There are three gears, described as, "one for normal driving, one for mountains, and one for reverse" and the driver is only able to select forward or backward. The car decides itself on what it considers to be a mountain! In practice, it is an automatic two speed and reverse transmission.

As with most modern day micro-cars with engines of less than 50cc, the Steinwinter can be driven in many countries by under age drivers. In its native Germany this applies to those of only 16 years old, and a simplified test is all that is required for the granting of the appropriate class of licence. A test drive of one of these vehicles proved it to be very underpowered, climbing only a moderate hill at no more than 8 mph, and with a maximum speed down the same hill of 36 mph.

No doubt the larger engined version, with a capacity of 125cc, would perform somewhat better, and it should with an unladen weight of only 260Kg.

The Steinwinter would appear to be an alternative to a Moped, were it not for the price. Total prices, including German taxes, are DM 8890 for the 50cc model, and DM 9490 for the larger one. Both are available in yellow, orange, red, green, blue, white and black.

And that, believe it or not, is the latest addition to appear on the micro car market. Although I personally feel it represents a less satisfactory solution to short journeys than did some of the cars produced over twenty years ago, we can at least claim a 'scoop' for the Gazette. I have seen absolutely no mention of this vehicle in any other publication yet.