CARISTAS

   Fans of microcars often drop by this blog to check out the photos and video of a BMW Isetta and Messerschmitt KR201 in daily use in Cuba.    If you count yourself among that number, you may want to also stop by the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum in Madison, Georgia, on Feb. 15 and 16. That weekend, the museum's entire collection will be sold by RM Auctions, a Canadian firm that specializes in exotic vehicles.    If you're lucky, you'll get to bring home an Isetta, a Messerschmitt or even a Goggomobil Transporter. There's also literature, signs, models and other microcar collectibles.    And if you aren't a successful bidder, you'll at least get to see what is undoubtedly the world's largest and best microcar collection – with some 200 vehicles, many of them rare and all of them cuter than a bug's ear – before it is broken up.    Speaking of which, Weiner himself doesn't seem too broken up about bidding farewell to his marvellous...

Isettas aren’t the only microcars still doing their micro thing in Cuba. Here’s a Messerschmitt three-wheeler I saw passing the Plaza de la Revolución. The tandem-seat Messerschmitt was built from 1953 through 1964 at a factory of the famous German aircraft manufacturer. This one looks like a post-1957 KR201 roadster model, though it might be an earlier (hard canopy) KR200 that’s been converted. A couple of neat things about the Messerschmitt: Its single-cylinder two-stroke engine came equipped with a second set of breaker points, allowing it to run backwards to reverse the little car. And because of that design, all four transmission gear ratios can be engaged when backing up!