Key Takeaways
- This is the Geparda, a four-wheel trike-like car with a 1.0-liter engine and 5-speed manual transmission.
- Based on the Volkswagen up!, it reaches a max speed of 68 mph.
- Designed to enable German teens to drive within license restrictions legally.
It’s a big day when you get your driver’s license after worrying about whether you’ll manage to pass the test. The average 16-year-old ends up driving a parent’s car or, if they save their pennies, a cheap used car that may or may not get them to school. In Germany, what you can drive is a little trickier when you get your first license.
German teens can still drive at 16, but they can’t drive just any car and are granted a limited A1 license. This only covers driving small vehicles like trikes or motorcycles and not anything really car-like. To get around this rule and let teens with an A1 license drive something more akin to a car, Geparda has a four-wheel trike-like solution.
Four Wheels, Promise
Although it appears to be a trike, a close inspection shows it still has four wheels. What makes it look so odd is that the rear wheels have been moved next to each other in the center of the vehicle. Geparda modified the chassis and added a front stabilizer and rear springs to help maintain its stability with this odd wheel setup. Power comes from a 1.0-liter engine detuned to only 20 horsepower with a five-speed manual transmission, something in limited supply in the US on anything but performance cars. A sports car it is not, running out of puff at 68 mph. To be fair, that’s quick enough for the Autobahn.
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Helping with the tight budget of the average teen is a fuel economy rating of 49 mpg on the WLTP cycle. It seats four and costs about €20,000 or $21,650. It’s not for sale in the US, but the company has already delivered its first vehicles to lucky (?) German teens.
Nothing Like It In America
The Geparda, which translates to “cheetah” in German, is nowhere near as fast as the animal that is its namesake. This little hatchback starts its life as a Volkswagen up! before modifications that allow it to work for those with an A1 license. This isn’t a model available in the US, where our smallest VW options are the Golf GTI or Golf R. To be fair, one of these did make our list of the 10 best cars for teen drivers.