Review written on 5/1958.

We have eagerly awaited the arrival of the Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk. The day has finally come. We're looking forward to taking this Microcar out for a drive. After our recent reviews of the K3291, any test drive to make us forget it is welcomed! The real question bouncing around the office is if the Chipmunk is better than the everyone else. You'll have to read to find out.


The first stop for the Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk was the track. I won't lie. I was scared. This Microcar is built for performance. Philadelphia-Brull cut no corners when designing this vehicle for speed. The vomit stains on the carpet prove that the 46 hp @ 3252RPMs 905 cc Radial5 engine roars this rocket to a top speed of 93 mph in an impressive 23.662s 0 to 60 mph. With 60 lb-ft of torque, our smoking wheels were able to tow 22 lbs. I'm guilty wanting to steal this one for my self. The Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk sticks to the road like burnt eggs on a frying pan. The handling characteristics of the Chipmunk puts it in the top tier of Microcar.


The Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk's interior is well designed. The seats have enough support to get you over a long trip, and the material qualities, while not amazing, are more than adequate. Many optional features in other vehicles are standard here. This leads to an overall nice experience inside the Chipmunk.

13 cu-ft is all the space you get in the Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk. So you should forget about how practical this vehicle is. You're not going to run to the grocery store in it.

Serious effort goes into every Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk produced. The build quality of these vehicles is amazing! We could not find a single flaw in its construction while we were testing it. Everything fits properly, nothing is misaligned or misplaced. All of us here at GCM commend Philadelphia-Brull in their efforts when it comes to the production of this vehicle.


The Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk is easily one of the most dependable vehicles ever made, it is excellently designed, excellently produced. And with just a little TLC will last forever and a decade.

When it came to fuel economy testing we tried to see how far we could go in the Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk. Our goal was to run it out of fuel. We tried and we failed. Even when the Chipmunk fuel gauge was below E, it kept going! Befuddled at this we asked Philadelphia-Brull engineers how this is possible. They showed us their Motor Bunny fuel system, which just keeps going and going and going and going for an impressive 45.3 mpg. In one word, amazing.

While talking with engineers at Philadelphia-Brull we found out that the Chipmunk was designed to be nuclear bomb proof. While we don't really know if that is bluster, we do sort believe them. Specially when it ran through the concrete brick during crash testing without leaving a dent on the hood.


When it comes down to it, the Philadelphia-Brull Chipmunk is one of the best Microcar on the market. For almost everyone on the looking for a Microcar, you won't find a much better vehicle than the Chipmunk. It testing team was astonished by the results. We give it our total and complete recommendation.