1955 KLEINSCHNITTGER F-125
Production of the little car was very cost-conscious, with the aluminum bodywork being hand-hammered over wooden bucks with rubber hammers.
The front fender curve was made from ex-army cooking pots cut into quarters- each pot good for two cars. Little or no welding was done at the factory, the bodywork being rivetted and the chassis being bought out complete from the firm Wachtendorf & Schmidt.
An agreement was made with the Belgian Jules de Reuck for 100 cars in kit form, which were delivered to Ghent with the famous Kleinschnittger VW Bus (with all of 23 horsepower) fitted with a roof rack for two cars and towing two more. Other export cars were towed to the train station fourteen at a time by a Fiat sedan. The F-125 was sent to 22 countries including the USA, where the "distributor" was in the midwest.
In 1953 the grille got smaller oval openings, along with a more tapered windshield. The ILO motor was redesigned, giving another .5 hp.
The optional 200 Deutschmark Dynastart was offered to save knuckles from being barked on the dashboard with the rope pull, but it was not recommended, as Paul Kleinschnittger felt that the weight affected the free-revving character of the motor.
Several prototypes based on the F-250, and the R-50 Conny scooter were also produced before the end of Kleinschnittger production due to financial difficulties.
This particular car was shipped to Los Angeles in August 2001, where it was modified
(with smaller "space saver" spare wheels with hubcaps, cut-down wooden windshield, antenna and prominent blinkers) and filmed in the commercial for the Cadillac Escalade EXT, introduced at the Super Bowl in January 2002.
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