Along the way …
… there he stands, all alone, the little goblin (the German translation of “Imp”), in his rusty Sunbeam-shaped body. Weighing just over 700 kg, this small car was the Rootes Group’s response in 1963 to the Mini and, above all, to the fuel shortage resulting from the Suez Crisis.
Well, when long traffic jams between Salzburg and Munich suddenly force you to leave the main highways and find new routes through the countryside, you’ll often come across fascinating objects by the roadside that are worth a photo stop.
The Sunbeam—originally a Hillman—has likely been gracing the roadside as a flowerpot for longer than many would care for. But even such “sculptures” have their place, as they skillfully blend nature and technology. To make room for the plants to grow, the roof was rolled up like the lid of a can.
The car also makes a great sales stand. In the canton of Aargau, for example, there’s a VW Käfer packed to the brim with fresh pumpkins. Since the photo shoot just a few hours earlier had featured Japanese cars, the sign aptly read: “Hokkaido/Knirps for vegetable soup”!
