Zündapp Janus - 1959

Zündapp Janus is a microcar model made by Zündapp in

Germany between 1957 and 1958, the only car ever made

by the company.

Dornier Delta

Claude Dornier was always trying to minimize the dependency of his company Dornier  Flugzeugwerke on building aircraft, by diversification into other areas. After World War 2,  and the Allied ban on aircraft production in Germany until the late 1950s, Claude diversified  the companies production and also encouraged his son Claudius to find new areas. As a  result, Claudius designed and developed a four-seater car, where the two front and two rear  passengers sat back to back, to optimally use the enclosed space. A prototype was built and  tested, which received the name Dornier Delta. However, the company had never made a car  before, and economic calculations showed that the volumes of sales required would not  make it economical for the company to make the car using its existing facilities.  Zündapp were a motorcycle maker, but in 1954 decided to make a more weatherproof  vehicle. They looked for partners who could design such a vehicle, and approached Kroboth,  Brütsch, and Fuldamobil before settling on the ready-developed from Dornier. 

Zündapp Janus

Under a commercial agreement, Dornier licensed Zündapp to produce and market the car.  Further developed using Zündapp's engineering input and envisaged as a "quality bubble car",  the novel developed design featured a front-opening door for access to the front seat, as  well as a rear-opening door for access to the rear-facing rear seat. This "coming or going"  design was given the name of the Roman god, Janus, usually pictured having two faces: one  looks forward while the other one looks back. The car was powered by a mid-mounted 2-  stroke single cylinder 245 cubic centimetres (15.0 cu in) engine unique to the Janus,  developing 14 hp (10 kW), enabling a top speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). The suspension was of  the MacPherson strut type that proved to be very comfortable, and then the company added four individually mounted ventilated brake drums, operated via hydraulics  Production started in June 1957. However, whilst in racing and sports cars the mid-engine  configuration leads to optimal car handling, the engine in the Janus was much lighter than  the rear passengers, leading to a variable centre of gravity. Secondly the car lacked the most  modern elements seen on competitors cars, and was not low-priced. These factors combined  to result in a lack of sales success, with only 1,731 cars were made in the first six months. By  mid-1958, having made only a total of 6,902 cars, Zündapp abandoned the project and sold  the factory to Bosch.

In popular culture

In the animated feature film Cars 2, the secondary antagonist, Professor Zündapp is based on  a Zündapp Janus. Photo on the right from Cars 2 movie: Pixar Studios. 

1959

Engine 245 cc 1 cylinder Power 14 HP Top speed 80 km/h Lenght/width 2,86 m/1,4 m Weight 725 kg This Janus was in very poor condition when it arrived to the collection. Whole car was teared to pieces and carefully renoved during 2001. Were still looking for the original front bumper!