Beetles
I bought a second-hand (third, fourth?) 1961 1200cc Beetle from Willi Otten's garage near Wildenrath. The first trip was exciting. The accelerator linkage went over-centre and it stuck at full throttle. I was late for a briefing and I shot through the Wildenrath gate past a wide-eyed guard who just raised the barrier in time to stop me being decapitated. Once that little problem had been solved, it was utterly reliable, the 6-volt battery starting it first time even when it was completely encased in rain-ice.