Is it a plane? Is it a bird? It is a Corda!
No. Also not a super man event. It is a dingest. A Corda. A tricycle that passes the concept of 'sidecar combination' left and right. Because sometimes there is only a very thin difference between 'just really weird' and 'classic'. We are talking about 1987-1992 Corda Scandinavia, and
1992 Corda Fahrzeugbau, Malliß, Germany.
Someone once said about such a machine: "He tried to become a car."
From Sweden
Corda's first life started in Sweden, from 1987 to 1992. And before you start shouting 'Weird guys that Sweden!', It's useful to know that the founder Wolgang Rabe is a German. After the fall of the wall he went back to the old Heimat. Where he went bankrupt. And (possibly with Chinese capital) started again.
A man with a mission
His blind approach was to make the best sidecar machine in the world. The battle cry was: "Die ausgeklügelten Stabilitätskomponenten beim Beschleunigen und Bremsen setzenzusammen mit der Aufbau- und Verwindungssteifigkeit ganz neue Maßstäbe in dieser Kategorie von Fahrzeugen." Is that brave or not?
His four-wheeled example was the Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL, 6,9
The very first Corda was created by Wolfgang Rabe in 1970 near Falkenberg, Sweden. The machines were equipped with hub steering. There was nothing motorcycle-like about the platform. In fact, it most closely resembled the three-wheeled, asymmetrical undercarriage of a confused car. The long, cold, dark Swedish winters do strange things to people. The first two- or three-wheel drive Cordas made in Sweden were equipped with 1.600 or 1.800 cc VW boxer and Golf engines and in 1981 Wolfgang tried it with a Alfa Romeo boxer block.
A prize as a 'self-builder'
At the “Internationalen Fahrrad- und Motorradausstellung IFMA 1984 ″ he won the prize for the best self-build. Later he started to use Audiblokken, which could be petrol and diesel engines. The tricycles driven on all wheels were equipped with an automatic transmission and a reverse gear. 'Recently', in 1996, some were built with Audi 2,5 liter TDI blocks. The later 'Zeus' was set up according to the same idea. The Corda and the Zeus were not sidecar combinations, but three-wheeled vehicles. (Or broken cars according to some.)
Just like ever, the famous BMW R75 Wehrmachtssspann, which was so much more than an engine with a 'cup of coffee' on it. Of those R75 we recently saw a very beautiful barn find! Economically, no profit has ever come from the Corda story. The case, like that of Munch, went over once because technical genius and keen trade are not often combined. Just as marriages and genetic engineers do not go well together. The divorce did not benefit Rabe's limited commercial talents either. Wolfgang Rabe's wife was beautiful by the way.
Corda: Looks like nothing
But it still drives the most like a car. We have not driven a Corda yet. But the actually comparable Zeus (with Peugeot 1900 block) is. It felt like driving a sports car on three wheels. Where you hardly missed the fourth wheel. The 'normal' sidecar reactions were missing. The feeling of riding a sidecar combination is actually too. The whole setup is for technically interested enthusiasts of weird constructions and making long journeys. The only other Corda that we ever saw outside of Hengelo came from Bremen and we hit the machine and its passengers near Paderne in Portugal. The driver said that every year he set around 20D trouble-free mileage. And that for five years. But he gladly acknowledged that his tricycle had nothing to do with the classic sidecars.
Such a Corda is a monster for lovers of a classic sidecar combination
All in all, possibly a hundred + of them have been made according to our information. The offer is limited. The question too. For many people, a construction, a vehicle like the Corda, is just a bridge too far. By the way, that applies to more all too different things. Just think of the Carver and the Track 800 (both from the Netherlands by the way). We saw our first Corda ever at Motoport Hengelo. We received the photos of this Corda stating that it is for sale. We would like to get in touch with the seller. Because such a Corda is such a nice device that it deserves to find a new owner
And where did the MF ZR 09 go?
