The Dacia 500 Lăstun () is a small city car manufactured by Tehnometal, Timișoara, under the auto marque Dacia. The name derives from the Romanian word for house martin, a small bird related to swallows.
History
The Lăstun is a low-cost Romanian car made for urban transport, and it was built between 1988 and 1991, p. 10;13. featuring a two-cylinder air-cooled engine of 499 cc, producing , fuel consumption of , a maximum speed and fiberglass bodywork, with a design sharing some similarity to the Lancia Y10. A stretched bodywork prototype 500 Lăstun was exhibited at the 1989 Bucharest trade fair. Another prototype from the early 1990s featured hubcaps, body-coloured bumpers, and head restraints.
The Lăstun was marketed with the advertising slogan: "Un Autoturism de Actualitate" (A Contemporary Vehicle).
Production continued until 1991. Due to its size, the Lăstun was primarily a city car, and was suitable for use as a second car. In 1989, the Lăstun received side lights, and in 1991, the Lăstun was lightly restyled to the front, with the only modification being a new bonnet with a one-piece grille. Also, the small 0.5L engine had some carburateur break-downs, which brought the average petrol consumption to almost , making the car less economical than the long running Dacia 1300 series.
Tehnometal manufactured a total of 6,532 vehicles.
Engines Name Capacity Type Power Torque Top speed Acceleration Combined consumption G.V.500 499 cc 4 valves OHC at 5500 rpm at 3500 rpm 26 s
References
External links Dacia 500 Lăstun at autoevolution.com Dacia 500 at automobileromanesti.ro