WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ARBET, THE WORLD'S SMALLEST, STREET-LEGAL, HAND-BUILT MICRO CAR?

Kevin Gibbs sent us a newspaper clipping wondering about the diminutive Arbet, which was claimed to be the smallest street-legal car by The Guiness Book of World Records. Whether that remains true today we don’t know, but the tale of the tape puts the Arbet at an overall length of 88.75 inches, a height of 38.5 inches, and 40 inches wide. It was built by Arliss Sluder, who named the car as a combination his and his wife's first name (Beth). He began in 1945 and it took 11 years to complete the build that required thousands of hand-manufactured parts. We interviewed Jeff Gibson (pictured), owner of the Arbet in the May 2004 issue of Hemmings Motor News. The Arbet weighs slightly more than a ½-ton with sheetmetal that was 2 millimeters thicker than that on a ’57 Chevy. It’s powered by an air-cooled Onan engine capable of 13 hp that is mated to a three-speed with a centrifugal clutch and clutch brake on the shift lever. At that time, it was in the Washington State area; the microcar has popped up from time to time on the internet. We’re curious if it’s still out there and if Jeff still owns it.

Recently discovered a unique or noteworthy classic car or vehicle?

Let us know. Photographs, commentary, questions, and answers should be submitted to Lost & Found, c/o Hemmings Classic Car, P.O. Box 196, Bennington, Vermont 05201, or emailed to [email protected].

2024-03-09T16:04:23Z dg43tfdfdgfd