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Heinkel Kabine - the ingenious three-liter car of the fifties

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Created on May 8, 2013

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

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Balz Schreier

15

Bruno von Rotz

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Archiv

33

Balz Schreier

15

Bruno von Rotz

12

Archiv

33

Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the twin wheels at the rear are close together

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - a splash of color in the spring meadow

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Heinkel cabin type 154 (1957) - boarding through the front door looks more complicated than it is

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Heinkel cabin type 154 (1957) - you sit low in the cabin, but the all-round visibility is excellent

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the additional wheel was mainly necessary for marketing reasons

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the front wheels placed far to the outside result in good road holding

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Heinkel cabin type 154 (1957) - no space is wasted here, with a length of 2.6 meters this would not even be possible

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - a functional form that delivers what it promises

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the rear narrows towards the rear

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Heinkel cabin type 154 (1957) - no doors on the side

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - beautifully designed instruments from VDO, but no rev counter

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the speed display shows the recommended speeds for gear changes

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the white button starts the engine

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the Heinkel sign in the steering wheel

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the four-speed gate gearshift

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the gas pedal pedals

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the spare wheel is under the front seat, just don't waste any space

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Heinkel cabin type 154 (1957) - the hinges for the front door are on the outside

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - external horn

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Heinkel cabin type 154 (1957) - ventilation slots

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the opened rear provides access to the twin rear wheels

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the suspension strut with the twin wheels

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - a flap can be opened at the rear for maintenance purposes and to change the wheels

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - small rear lights, the exhaust goes out to the left

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Heinkel cabin Type 154 (1957) - committed to the aircraft - the Heinkel trademark

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BMW Isetta (1954) - it also served Professor Heinkel as a model for his "cabin" - the BMW had room for two people and a child on the wide bench seat

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Heinkel cab (1955) - Three-wheeler versions in rank and file

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Heinkel cabin (1955) - early factory photo shows the cabin from the front

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Heinkel cabin (1955) - side view on a factory photo

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Heinkel cabin (1955) - front view on a factory photo

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Heinkel cabin (1955) - on an early factory photo

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Heinkel cabin (1956) - at the Geneva Motor Show 1956

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Heinkel cabin (1956) - customers were wooed at the 1956 Geneva Motor Show

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Heinkel cab (1956) - all production vehicles are entered from the front, whereas some early prototypes still had side doors

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Heinkel cabin (1956) - here you can clearly see why these cars were called "bubble cars"

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Heinkel cab (1956) - steering wheel and dashboard of the four-wheel version

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Heinkel cab (1956) - the version with twin rear wheels

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Heinkel cabin (1956) - Illustration from a sales brochure

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Heinkel cabin (1957) - the Heinkel cabin side by side with the Heinkel scooter

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Heinkel cabin (1957) - front view of the two-seater with 200 cm3

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Heinkel cabin (1957) - rear view of the 200 cm3 version with twin wheels

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Heinkel cabin (1958) - the rear seats can only be used by small children

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Heinkel cabin (1958) - in dark paintwork

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Heinkel cabin (1958) - in two-tone paintwork

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Heinkel cabin (1959) - was considered quite chic at the time, just like the crew

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Heinkel Kabine (1961) - Stirling Moss with his fiancée Katie Molson in the Kabine scooter

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Heinkel cabin - with increased load

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Heinkel cabin (1959) - if necessary, there was room for a whole family of five

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Heinkel cabin (1959) - Engine and gearbox in a graphic representation

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Heinkel cabin (1960) - at the 1960 Geneva Motor Show

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Heinkel cabin (1961) - convertible version, never produced in series

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Trojan 200 (1962) - there's no better way to portray this iconic vehicle

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Trojan 200 (1962) - the English edition was also popular with small families, and various modifications were also made

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Trojan 200 (1962) - production - here the engine mounts are assembled by spot welding

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Trojan 200 (1962) - production - in the final assembly, where the seats and equipment components are installed and the functional test is carried out

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Trojan 200 (1962) - Production - Application of protective coatings in immersion baths

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Trojan 200 (1962) - production - the body is guided to the paint bath on a monorail system

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Trojan 200 (1962) - Production - the bodies are immersed via hydraulics

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Heinkel cab type 154 (1957) - the door is at the front, the large windows on the side cannot be opened

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Heinkel cabin type 154 (1957) - the Heinkel trademark

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Summary

Economical and practical small cars were already available in the 1950s. Most of them belonged to the cabin scooter category and the Heinkel cabin impressed then, as it does today, with its well thought-out design and many refinements. This would have made it the market leader, but customers turned too quickly and too early to the "real" cars and left the practical "microcars" behind. This report portrays a Heinkel Type 154 cabin from 1957 and presents the history and elegance of the design, supplemented by many historical illustrations and original sales brochures from the time.

This article contains the following chapters

It all began with the Isetta in Geneva
Economy of space and use
Better than the Isetta and Messerschmitt?
Step towards four-wheel drive and larger displacement
Suitable for long distances
The cost as an argument
Construction with many advantages
The racing driver in the Heinkel cabin
From Speyer via Ireland to England and back
It's all a matter of habit
Further information

Estimated reading time: 8min

Preview (beginning of the article)

In a conversation a few years ago, a well-known English car designer confessed his love for the Heinkel cabin and described the small vehicle as one of the most intelligent designs in automotive history. This may come as a surprise, as the man had also worked on Jaguar, TVR, Reliant, Tatra and Saab vehicles, and the Heinkel cab is not exactly a racing car. But it clearly beat its competitors in terms of space economy, power-to-weight ratio and fuel consumption and only really failed because the price was too high and because of the growing prosperity that made it possible for car buyers to purchase "real" automobiles.

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