La rivista e il marketplace globale per gli appassionati di auto d’epoca, creati da appassionati.
La rivista e il marketplace globale per gli appassionati di auto d’epoca, creati da appassionati.
La foto di quel maestoso camper, apparsa qui di recente, raccontava una storia affascinante. Era il racconto di successo di un ricco uomo d’affari americano che, nel 1915, utilizzò il veicolo per viaggiare attraverso gli Stati Uniti con la sua famiglia e parte del suo personale. Il mezzo che vediamo oggi sembra seguire una logica simile, ma la storia che lo accompagna sarebbe di tutt’altro genere.
Questa “yacht terrestre” non solo è una variante europea — proveniente dall’Austria — ma porta con sé anche un retroscena completamente opposto: non quello della ricchezza, bensì della povertà. La didascalia originale recita: “La foto mostra il negozio ambulante di dolciumi di Franz von Schlechtleithner, un nobile austriaco impoverito che, trovando la vita nel proprio paese insostenibile, ha deciso di costruire per sé e per la sua famiglia di tre persone questa piccola casa con negozio, montata su sei ruote. Intende attraversare l’Europa con questo veicolo, vendendo caramelle lungo il percorso. Il negozio si trova nel rimorchio sganciabile.”
La fotografia, datata 1922, mostrerebbe von Schlechtleithner accanto alla sua caravan-negozio di dolci. Come noterai, non abbiamo ancora tratto un verdetto definitivo sull’accuratezza di questa storia. Il motivo? Non siamo riusciti a trovare altre informazioni sui von Schlechtleithner — con o senza il “von”, o con o senza la terza “h” nel cognome. Eppure, sembra proprio che questa immagine racchiuda una storia che merita di essere raccontata. Chi lo sa?
Testo: Jeroen Booij
Foto: Underwood & Underwood / Library of Congress
“The world’s only travelling candy store. Austrian Nobleman, Franz von Schlechtleitner of Innsbruck, unable to make a living in his own country, has started on a tour of Europe, under the most remarkable auspices. Being an expert automobilist, with the remnant of his family fortune, he has had a unique motor van built, taking as a model a picturesque Tyrolese cottage. There is a porch on the rear, curtains on the tiny windows and real flowers before them. The interior is divided in a parlor and kitchen, while the bedrooms are upstairs on the second floor. A small trailer attached holds the goods and provisions. By means of a few additional boards, carried on the sides and roof, the van is quickly converted into its real purpose, that of a candy shop, Herr Schlechtleitner and his wife making in the kitchen delicious sweet-meats. In this strange conveyance, accompanied by their three children, they are selling candy in the towns and villages they visit and making an excellent living.”
The story was still of interest in the U.S.A. in May, 1925, by when the Soda Fountain magazine claimed the truck was a Ford. Unlikely, but von Schlechtleitner’s family was reported to be still on the road in the December 3rd, 1927, edition of Deutsch-Amerika, when their candy-wagon was on that shorter chassis with disc wheels, pneumatic tyres and towing a four-wheel trailer. The picture was captioned: “The nobility of labour: Franz von Schlechtleitner, an Austrian nobleman in Innsbruck, who lost all his fortune due to the hardship after the war, had built a mobile confectionery stall and apartment and is now moving with this as a modern nomad from place to place. In this way he feeds himself, his wife, a son and two daughters.”
As to von Schlechtleitner patents, this is from the December 8th, 1931, Commercial Motor magazine of Great Britain: “A Coupling which Increases Road Grip: A coupling for trailers described in patent No. 359,557, by F. von Schlechtleitner, 23, Marktstrasse, Munich, is intended to produce a lifting effect of the front of the tractor, thus increasing the pressure of its rear wheels on the road and giving it greater tractive effect. The rear springs of the tractor are so formed that the stronger the pull on the drawbar, the greater the load on the rear wheels of the tractor. We should imagine that if this principle were carried too far it might result in the tractor rearing up and falling on its driver; cases of the kind have been known, and to avoid it the connection of the drawbar has been carried as low as possible.”