Messerschmitt TG500

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The Messerschmitt TG500, built from 1957 to 1961, was the four wheeled, high performance version of Fritz Fend's Messerschmitt car. When economic recovery called for cars beyond the absolute minimum, the Messerschmitt KR200 enclosed motor scooter was tuned into a sort of sports car. (A luxury car would have required a fresh start.) "TG" unofficially stood for Tiger. The "tiger" name was claimed, in Germany, by Krupp who used it for a truck. (They had also made the better known Tiger tank). There were also a Panhard Dyna Z Tiger at the same time and a Sunbeam Alpine Tiger a little later. By doubling the cylinders to two and the power to 20 hp (15 kW), adding a fourth wheel, increasing the wheel size to 10 inches (250 mm) and slightly widening the track, good car handling and a 90 mph (125 km/h) top speed were achieved. Of course this increased the weight, which was now 350 kg (other sources say 305 or 370 kg). It was not a commercial success, but it helps to show how little power is needed for good performance, when weight and air drag are carefully kept down.

By this time, Messerschmitt was back to airplanes and Fahrzeug- und Maschinenbau Regensburg (FMR) had taken over automobile production.

Though adding the fourth wheel cut the weight transfer on the front tires in half, the track was still less than the total height, so one can't assume that it had outstanding handling. (The earliest Flitzer versions did not even have springs.) Since the performance appears to be comparable to that of early Bathtub Porsches, the lack of sales may have been due to the seating capacity and comfort, which were not up to even the Spartan sports car level. Since these cars were designed, by an aircraft engineer, at a time when materials and equipment were the limitations, there is no reason to suppose that they were inexpensive to produce when labor costs began to rise. Fuel economy was, apparently, no better, probably due to engine efficiency, than that of the much bigger and more powerful Panhard Dyna Z of the same time, which needed 50 horsepower (37 kW) to reach about the same top speed.