Two seats in a line: Siku’s tiny Messerschmitt

The clear canopy makes Siku’s Messerschmitt immediately recognisable, even at just 4.8 cm long. Beneath it, the model’s narrow cabin follows the unusual shape of the real KR175.

Its passengers sat one behind the other. The real car had two front wheels, a single rear wheel and motorcycle-style handlebar steering. A 173 cc, single-cylinder Fichtel & Sachs two-stroke drove the rear wheel through a chain.

The KR175 appeared in 1953, following Fritz Fend’s earlier small vehicles. Its canopy opened sideways to let the occupants climb in.

Siku’s plastic V30 in our museum has a dark red body, a separate transparent canopy and silver-coloured wheels. The little three-wheeler belongs to the maker’s plastic-car period, before its better-known metal models.