Beschreibung
Zündapp Janus was a type of dwarf car made by Zündapp in 1957 and 1958. Zündapp decided in 1954 to start producing cars in addition to motorcycles. Because the development costs for their own car would be too high, they studied a few designs by Kroboth, Brütsch and Fuldamobil, among others, before opting for a design by Dornier (the Dornier Delta).
Due to the fact that the front and back of the car were so similar, the car was named after the Roman god Janus, the god with two faces. In the Janus, the front and rear seats were rotated 180° relative to each other, so the passengers looked backwards. The doors were located at the front and rear of the car rather than in the usual position on the side, making entry and exit very difficult for the driver as the steering wheel could not be folded away like the BMW Isetta. When the front and rear seats were folded down, they could serve as a double bed.
The car's engine was located in the middle of the car, between the front and back seats. It was a single-cylinder two-stroke engine with a displacement of 245 cc that produced 14 hp. The top speed of the Janus was about 80 km/ h.
Production of the Janus began in June 1957, but was discontinued in 1958 after the factory was sold to Bosch. A total of 6902 Zündapp Janussen were produced.
