You're supposed to take it out after winding it, but you better make sure you store it in the trunk or the glove box, otherwise you may find yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere without a way to wind it again. Leaving it there is a rookie mistake - that's how you get it stolen.
What I'm genuinely curious about is why he car has a PL sticker if the license plate already says it's from Poland. Those stickers cost money, you know…
I once witnessed one of these trying to make its way up a steep Autobahn on ramp from standstill. The racket was inversely proportional to the acceleration. I could have comfortably jogged alongside most of the way.
Having been driven around in those in childhood: I promise you it wasn’t built for comfort either.
It was built to be cheap.
Fun fact: the heater slider was under the rear seat so if you wanted to adjust it you had to stop, get out, lean the front seat forward to get to the back to reach it.
Friend had one (although I think it was a 127). Had to yield at an intersection, so I started braking. It hardly slowed down, so I braked a little harder, and then even harder and then it locked its wheels. I slid onto the intersection just after the car I had to yield to had passed. The brakes on that thing are abysmal and that's an understatement. I do have to add we had 5 young blokes in there, so probably almost double the empty weight...
Back when this car came out, ABS wasn't really a thing yet (except for a few very expensive British sports cars), so drivers learned "intermittent braking", which means briefly letting off of the brake pedal and then firmly applying it again (on repeat) so that tires are able to retain grip. While the 127 didn't have very good brakes, doing this would have likely prevented you from sliding onto the intersection. Easier said than done, of course. This requires practice to do well.
It's Poland's Tin Lizzy, Beetle, 2CV, 500, you name it. This modest little thing motorized a nation, plenty of children were (somehow) conceived in the back and it became a symbol of the country's pluckiness, a preview of the individual freedoms Poles are enjoying today. It was never particularly good, but it was the right car, in the right place and at the right time.
Heh, I feel like you described an entire family of iconic cheap-ass cars there. In Spain that'd be the 600 (borrowed from Fiat). Same story - a car whose most distinguishing feature was that it could move forward, it was everywhere, everyone had one, and while in theory it held 4 passengers you could actually fit a family of 12 inside with some effort and a prayer. It could only climb certain slopes in reverse. I don't know if the engine was in the front or the back or if it even had one.
Allegedly, there was an engine in the back, but I suspect it was actually a short and somewhat asthmatic factory worker who got conned into spinning the rear wheels with a pair of bicycle pedals.
It was the first car my mother bought, circa ~37 years ago 😅 while it was Fiat (Italian brand), it was constructed in Poland and "considered" Polish, hence the official name "Maluch", which translates loosely as "the small one". It has the engine on the back so this spring key on the video above makes totally sense 😎
Yeah, Spain did something similar with the SEAT 600 (built in Spain but based on a Fiat model due to some commercial arrangement). It was nicknamed the "belly button" because everybody had one.
There is no need to pay insurance that is required for any other cars. Also no need for technical inspection that is also normally required. Probably some other benefits.
UncleRat
You know you want to meet these people just to see if you and they are soulmates you didn't know about.
johnnycashmustache
Fix It Again Tony!!!
goflyblind
dobrze!
BoobJiggle
I saw an old '70s beetle with one of those spinning on the back of it in Texas a couple weeks ago, thought it was hilarious
BryanTenn
All jokes aside.. we need cheap easy to work on cars again.
AustinMillbarge42
She'll go 300 hectares on a single tank of kerosene.
bullestock
Put it in H!
Causeitsmadeofmeat
Used to see a couple of those on beetles back in the late 1960's
itypewerdsonline
and collector's plate
CouldntCakeLess
A valid solution with current gas prices.
DdCno1
Probably a power boost over the stock two-cylinder as well.
Margrave9000
An average American adult could only fit into two of these.
cousteau
We might see wood gas generators making a comeback…
poopfromabove
"It was supposed to be a Ferrari. X2. And what did they deliver?"
moodytravesty
will it run without that key?
cousteau
You're supposed to take it out after winding it, but you better make sure you store it in the trunk or the glove box, otherwise you may find yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere without a way to wind it again. Leaving it there is a rookie mistake - that's how you get it stolen.
ricpaul
Nope. And it won't even run WITH the key unless you wind it up again.
cousteau
What I'm genuinely curious about is why he car has a PL sticker if the license plate already says it's from Poland. Those stickers cost money, you know…
DdCno1
These stickers used to be mandatory for travel between European countries before the information was included in EU license plates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_vehicle_registration_plate#European_Union
cousteau
Oh, right; probably the plate was upgraded at some point but the car already had the sticker.
mglenn
Amazing! But I feel like it should be turning counter-clockwise since it's unwinding to go. No?
Omicron416
Yes. It should.
M80inaSteelDrum
Perhaps it was originally sold in the southern hemisphere.
ByThePowerOfSCIENCE
happywalker
pl is poland, maybe soviet clockwork goes backwards? :-P
DdCno1
I once witnessed one of these trying to make its way up a steep Autobahn on ramp from standstill. The racket was inversely proportional to the acceleration. I could have comfortably jogged alongside most of the way.
cousteau
"One of these" being the car model, or a car with a giant winding key?
mcc1ane
it's built for comfort, not for speed
DdCno1
I'm stealing this line for my rear-engined shitbox.
Yasashii93
Having been driven around in those in childhood: I promise you it wasn’t built for comfort either.
It was built to be cheap.
Fun fact: the heater slider was under the rear seat so if you wanted to adjust it you had to stop, get out, lean the front seat forward to get to the back to reach it.
PrastaryOrk
https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1N24yOGczOTh2enJnMjVjZGRhd2M1eDdxb255c2l6bWwxYmV5d3VzdCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/Ow59c0pwTPruU/200w.webp
ricpaul
Friend had one (although I think it was a 127). Had to yield at an intersection, so I started braking. It hardly slowed down, so I braked a little harder, and then even harder and then it locked its wheels. I slid onto the intersection just after the car I had to yield to had passed. The brakes on that thing are abysmal and that's an understatement. I do have to add we had 5 young blokes in there, so probably almost double the empty weight...
DdCno1
Back when this car came out, ABS wasn't really a thing yet (except for a few very expensive British sports cars), so drivers learned "intermittent braking", which means briefly letting off of the brake pedal and then firmly applying it again (on repeat) so that tires are able to retain grip. While the 127 didn't have very good brakes, doing this would have likely prevented you from sliding onto the intersection. Easier said than done, of course. This requires practice to do well.
lonelyrangerofthedreams
My grandfather had one.
Pure shit.
DdCno1
It's Poland's Tin Lizzy, Beetle, 2CV, 500, you name it. This modest little thing motorized a nation, plenty of children were (somehow) conceived in the back and it became a symbol of the country's pluckiness, a preview of the individual freedoms Poles are enjoying today. It was never particularly good, but it was the right car, in the right place and at the right time.
cousteau
Heh, I feel like you described an entire family of iconic cheap-ass cars there. In Spain that'd be the 600 (borrowed from Fiat). Same story - a car whose most distinguishing feature was that it could move forward, it was everywhere, everyone had one, and while in theory it held 4 passengers you could actually fit a family of 12 inside with some effort and a prayer. It could only climb certain slopes in reverse. I don't know if the engine was in the front or the back or if it even had one.
DdCno1
Allegedly, there was an engine in the back, but I suspect it was actually a short and somewhat asthmatic factory worker who got conned into spinning the rear wheels with a pair of bicycle pedals.
ZiomalZParafii
Woo hoo, fancy yellow plates (means, it's registered as an antique).
4sambucas
In denmark its a black plate
cousteau
Really? Doesn't look old at all!
ZiomalZParafii
It was the first car my mother bought, circa ~37 years ago 😅 while it was Fiat (Italian brand), it was constructed in Poland and "considered" Polish, hence the official name "Maluch", which translates loosely as "the small one". It has the engine on the back so this spring key on the video above makes totally sense 😎
cousteau
Yeah, Spain did something similar with the SEAT 600 (built in Spain but based on a Fiat model due to some commercial arrangement). It was nicknamed the "belly button" because everybody had one.
DdCno1
I wonder if there's actually an advantage to doing this with a car this cheap to run.
ZiomalZParafii
There is no need to pay insurance that is required for any other cars. Also no need for technical inspection that is also normally required. Probably some other benefits.
DdCno1
Oh, okay, that's very different from how it works in my country.