Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Hoffmann (automobile)

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Manufacturer
  
Hoffmann

Model years
  
1951

Body style
  
2-door

Production
  
September 1951

Class
  
Indeterminate

Layout
  
Engine mounted on rear wheel which steers

The 1951 Hoffmann is a three-wheeled car created by Michael Hoffmann. It is considered by some to be the worst car ever made, owing to its pervasive bizarre design decisions.

Design

The car is notable for its numerous extremely unconventional and user-hostile design elements. These include:

  • Windows that are raised or lowered with a strap that the user pulls, and held in place with eyelets and pegs
  • Suicide doors and driving position that make ingress and egress nearly impossible
  • A fuel filler tube which goes through the cabin of the car
  • Front wheels that are farther apart than the length of the wheelbase
  • A linear rather than H-shaped shift pattern
  • Rear-wheel steering
  • An engine located on the same pivot as the rear wheel steering mechanism, so that the engine moves with the wheel when the car is steered
  • Rearview mirrors positioned so that they are perfectly blocked by the A-pillar
  • Two-stroke engine, which requires engine oil to be continuously mixed into the fuel supply
  • Single-cylinder engine, which causes greater vibration than multi-cylinder engines
  • Rear-mounted engine that is dependent on air cooling, but the lack of a fan causes overheats while idling

    • References

    Hoffmann (automobile) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA