AutoCult Piaggio Ape Pentaro Race-car transporter (1961) (USA) "Messerschmitt Racing Team"

About the Original:

An existing Vision

The American Karl Kleemann dedicated himself to the brand of ‘Messerschmitt’. However, he was not inspired by the original design, but rather embodied a “realistic, appropriately forward-looking further development”, according to the motto “… what if!”

How this could look like was demonstrated by his specially designed record car, which he based on the original, but nevertheless was decisively modified. The main reason was the 24-hour record run by the Messerschmitt crew at the Hockenheimring on August 29 in 1955. Karl Kleemann built up a similar speedster, but due to his height he extended the body and a more powerful engine, enlarged to 350cc, also provided more driving enjoyment.

In order to be able to transport his racer to sporting events, the clever US inventor went in search for a suitable racing transporter. He found what he was looking for in a semitrailer truck, namely the smallest, mass-produced one in the world – the Piaggio Ape Pentaro. While the entire semitrailer from Indian assembly matched the Italian original, Karl Kleemann converted the “truck” to his needs. In plain terms, this meant that he created a race transporter for his Messerschmitt record car. In order to present this to the public, he painted the semitrailer in the company colors and added the corresponding Messerschmitt logos. The (fictitious) lettering ‘Messerschmitt Racing-Team’ was displayed on the tarpaulin.