AWS Shopper
The 2-seat AWS Shopper was created in 1970 by the German entrepreneur Walter Schätzle, a former Borgward-Händler dealer in West Berlin. The Shopper positioned as a family car for shopping trips and used chassis and engine from Goggomobil T250.
It received an original body consisting of a frame made of steel tubes, and a body made of aluminum panels lined with plastic. It could be mounted by hand with a hammer, drill and rivet gun. Expensive deep-drawing presses and painting were not necessary. It was only available in the orange / black color combination.
AWS Shopper was equipped with a rear-mounted air-cooled two-cylinder two-stroke 10 kW (13.5 hp) engine. The transmission was four-speed manual. The vehicle weighed 415 kg empty, drove a maximum of 75 km/h, had two seats, two side doors and a far-reaching into the roof tailgate (which is counted in the body construction as a door, without being a door in the traditional sense). With a wheelbase of 1.8 meters, the vehicle was 3.07 m long, 1.4 m wide and 1.38 m high.
Mass production of the Shopper started in 1973 at the Automobilwerk Walter Schätzle plant in West Berlin, but the actual assembly was started back in 1971 (these machines were designated as Piccolo).
However, the quality of workmanship was moderate and the small quantities drove the costs up – with a price of 5700 DM, the AWS Shopper was significantly more expensive than a VW Beetle. The unusual appearance, the outdated technology as well as the dubious active and passive safety in the modern traffic caused the vehicle to act as an anachronistic and overpriced provisional on wheels. Potential customers prefer to use an almost equally expensive Fiat 126. After 1400 AWS shoppers and 300 AWS Piccolo, so a total of 1700 copies, the production was discontinued in July 1974, because the manufacturer went bankrupt.
Specifications:
- Model name: Shopper or Piccolo
- Years produced: 1971-1974
- Number of models produced: 1400 Shopper, 300 Piccolo
- Length: 3,070 mm (120.9 in)
- Width: 1,380 mm (54.3 in)
- Weight 430 kg (948 lb)
- Number of seats: 4
- Motor: Glas 2-stroke
- Cylinders: 2
- Displacement: 293 cc
- Horsepower: 15
- Gear box: 4 + rev
- Electrics: 12v
- Ignition: 2 x coil
- Chassis: platform
- Suspension(front & back): coil
- Steering: rack
- Brakes: hydraulic
- 4 Wheels: 480 x 10
- Top speed: 55 mph (89 km/h)
Prototypes
The open body version was distinguished by original doors and a folding soft roof over the whole body. In the folded position, the soft top occupied the space in the rear. Several prototypes were made.
Practical for the craftsman with a lot of tools or for the extended shopping on weekends, so the pick-up variant of the car was intended. This model was not a success either. The only or several prototypes were made. One of them has survived to this day. The pickup had a closed 2-seat cabin and small cargo platform.
Another special version was the Industrietransporter. Technically, it was unified with the base AWS Shopper, but it had the only driver’s seat and was not equipped with a windshield and roof. The cargo platform was used every inch of the interior space. The company used such transporter to move goods around the plant.
