August 12, 2017

Canta manufacturer has run out of parts for popular disability vehicle

Filed under: Automobiles by Branko Collin @ 5:21 pm

canta-tjerk-zweers

The iconic Canta mobility vehicle is no longer being produced, Volkskrant reports.

Last week the last Canta ever rolled off the conveyor belt at the Waaijenberg factory in Veenendaal. The manufacturer told the newspaper they are having troubles sourcing parts. Especially the moulds are worn out. Waaijenberg will use the few parts they still have for repairs.

Cantas have been coming under fire recently, with the city of Amsterdam wanting to ban them from the pavement. In a bizarre twist and for reasons unknown, the city even tried to take away Cantas from their users, for whom the microcar often means the difference between being able to live a full life and being condemned to wasting away at home.

Cantas are allowed to drive on the pavement, the bike path and the main road. They are made to measure for their drivers. A few are privately owned (and end up on the market), but most are property of the government. They often come in Ferrari racing red, although other colours are possible. In total 4,645 were produced in the past 22 years.

Waaijenberg expect to present a successor later this year.

See also: Canta, the little can-do car

Photo of a Canta on a bike path by Tjerk Zweers, some rights reserved.

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April 30, 2013

Mysterious gold Canta spotted on Queen’s Day

Filed under: Automobiles,History by Branko Collin @ 10:14 pm

This gold Canta microcar has been driving all over Amsterdam the past few days; I myself spotted it on Olympiaplein in Amsterdam just when Orangemaster and I returned home from the Queen’s Day vrijmarkt.

This microcar has been made to look like the the Gold Coach, a carriage owned by the royal family. I don’t know who made this ‘copy’. It could be some kind of publicity stunt, but Cantas are notoriously difficult to acquire unless you are disabled—the manufacturer only sells to the disabled.

The Canta microcar is by law one of only two brands of cars that are allowed to drive on bicycle paths and pavements..

The Gold Coach was given by the citizens of Amsterdam as a present to Queen Wilhelmina in 1898 for her inauguration. It is still in use today for transporting members of the royal family to formal events. Today Willem-Alexander of the house of Orange-Nassau became king of the Netherlands after his mother Beatrix abdicated, but he did not use the Gold Coach.

See also: Queen’s Day 2012

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