THE INTER

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

The Inter Kabineroller must be one of the least known of all the micro cars, even to the enthusiast, and details are sketchy to say the least, as few of the usual magazines or reference books seem to make any mention of it. Not withstanding that, though, some information has come to light, and this forms the basis of this rare bubble feature.

It was in 1953 that the Inter was announced. Its background seems vague, but apparently it was made in Lyons, France, and some of the design characteristics would appear to owe much to the workings of the Gallic interlect. Curiously, it was called a Kabineroller, which is the German for Cabin Scooter. Perhaps this was because it was in some ways similar to the German Messerschmitt, which was also known as a Kabineroller, or Karo , for short.

The Inter was roughly cigar shaped, having tandem seating for two persons. There were two front wheels, and one driving wheel at the back, all being of eight inch size. The body was of steel panels with stiffening members, and there was no separate chassis. Access to the interior was by lifting and tilting the canopy top, much the same as on the Messerschmitt. Also, like the Schmitt, the windscreen was of safety glass, whilst the rear and sides were of plexiglass, the German equivalent of what we call perspex, the purpose of which was to keep the weight of the lifting section to a minimum. The roof, however, seems to have been made of steel or aluminium.

Controls were fairly conventional, but steering was not by wheel or steering bar, but by an aircraft type device where two segments were mounted, one on either side of the top of the steering column, rather like a figure '8' lying on its side. This was to give the feel of holding a steering wheel, without the loss of space taken up by a complete steering wheel, and so that the steering column could be lowered closer to the driver's legs. Of course, this would not have been feasible on a car with normal geared steering like the Isetta, where it is necessary to turn the wheel several revolutions to alter the steering from one lock to the other. The Inter had direct steering, and this was actuated by roller chains being drawn to and fro by a sprocket attached to the bottom of the steering column. As the chains pulled first one way and then the other, so the steering levers on the front hubs were moved to left or right.

The body line continued behind the passenger section, and this area housed the engine. Access was gained by a removable lid. The engine itself was an Ydral 175cc single cylinder two stroke with electric start. There was a three speed and reverse gearbox, and the output was 8 BHP, which compared with 9.5 on the Iso Isetta of the period, although the Inter was far lighter at 410 Ib, compared to 725 Ib for the Iso. There does not appear to have been any provision made for the carriage of bulky items of luggage.

Many of the micro cars seem to have had one characteristic which stands out as clever, unusual, or just plain weird, and the Inter is no exception. It has been mentioned that the Inter was cigar shaped, and this meant that the front wheels had to be set wider than the car, thus almost doubling the width and necessitating approaching a normal garage to house the car. The designer of the Inter took account of this and devised a system whereby the driver could move a lever on the floor of the car which would disengage clamps around the front axle halves. The front wheels, together with the motor cycle type mudguards, were then swung forwards in front of the car, whilst maintaining their forward alignment. By doing this the driver considerably reduced the width of the car so that it could be garaged in a garden shed. (Note: This may have worked in his shed, but it wouldn't in mine. For anyone with as much junk as I have, the only solution would be a second shed!).

It is not known how many Inter Kabinerollers in total were made, but production ceased in 1956, so probably production figures were low. One day, perhaps, we shall be able to fill in those gaps in our knowledge, but for this moment this represents the sum total of our knowledge of this fascinating little car.