German Motorrad

Today in Motorcycle History

Fend Microcars

A Brief History of the Marque

Fritz Fend was the designer of a three-wheeled invalid carriage and the Fend Flitzer.

An aeronautical engineer with the Luftwaffe during the war, Fend began development of invalid carriages for his disabled colleagues in 1948 at his workshop in Rosenheim. Initially these were muscle-powered, with the rider pushing back and forth on the handlebars. He then fitted a Victoria bicycle engine of 38cc.

The next project was the Fend Flitzer, which had two front wheels and a powered rear wheel. Engines were 100cc units from Fitchel and Sachs, and from Riedel, the latter developing 4.5 h.p. to give a top speed of 75 km/h. Around 150 were sold by 1951, at which time Fend formed an agreement with Messerschmitt to build his design and thus was born the KR175 Kabinenroller. [1] Production of the single seater Fend Flitzer ceased, and the KR175 two-seater was built at the Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg.

Mokuli

Mokuli logo

Manufactured by Fahrzeug- Und Maschinenbau Gmbh. Regensburg, 1957 to 1972.

In 1956 Messerschmitt returned to aircraft manufacture and sold the microcar business to Fend.

The Mokuli (moped kuli) was a three-wheeled front-loading delivery moped. The first models were powered by 48cc Sachs two-strokes and carried up to 100kg, with a top speed of 30kph. This was followed by the Fend Lastenroller. Several models were produced and they proved quite popular, with exports to the UK, the United States and to Finland, where it was sold as the Glamor.

Sources: Axel Oskar Mathieu Archive, wikipedia, mokuli.de, Oldtimerclub Lachendorf.

Notes. 1. Production figures vary - possibly as high as 250.


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