Essen-Rüttenscheid.
Normal prams were too boring for Jens Klapp from Essen – so he built a metal vehicle for his son Luis. Now his grandson is sitting in it.
“Little Luis drives a bombshell pram”: That was the headline in the Essen local section of our newspaper on August 27, 1993. And indeed, the metal vehicle is a bit reminiscent of an explosive device. On the contrary, it was designed for a very peaceful purpose – namely as a stroller for three-month-old Luis. His father Jens Klapp, master carpenter from Rüttenscheid, had welded the car together himself. Now, almost 30 years later, his grandson Mio drives around town in it. As luck would have it, the baby in January 2023 is also exactly three months old.
Jens Klapp has always liked to build things himself. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the furniture in his house – or the stroller for his son. The article from 1993 reads that he did not like the trolleys from the department store. Because: “They’re almost entirely made of plastic.” Looking back, the now 55-year-old says: “I just wanted to build something nice.” In terms of design, he didn’t have a bomb in mind, but rather a zeppelin. So he grabbed the welder and made the stroller in around 100 hours. For this he used old body panels, which he welded, brushed and painted, and the frame of another pram.
Driving through Essen: “Couldn’t walk five meters without being spoken to”
The result attracted some attention. “I couldn’t walk five meters without being spoken to,” Luis’ mother Jeanette remembers. “People asked, stunned, ‘Is there a baby in that?'” The local notoriety only increased after the article appeared. “Shortly afterwards I was at the Rü-Fest, where it felt like someone said something every 30 seconds,” says Jens Klapp. Most of the reactions were appreciative and positive. The tin pram also gained notoriety far beyond Essen: an employee of the Associated Press (AP) news agency became aware of the story. The face of the Rüttenscheider baby adorned several pages of international newspapers.
However, Luis grew quickly and only fit in his extraordinary stroller for half a year. This was also annoying because the upper part of the car could be removed and hung up as a cradle. “He always slept wonderfully in it,” says mother Jeanette. The little zeppelin was perfect for swinging. Although Klapp had three more children, the car was not used again. There was too much work to do in the house, says the Rüttenscheider, and not enough time to get him back in shape.
Rüttenscheider brought the stroller into shape with the whole family
As early as 1993, Klapp said that folding the stroller and storing it away was not an option. “At most in the scrap press.” But there was simply too much work in the metal vehicle for the scrap press. For decades, the car eked out its existence in the basement of Klapp’s house. But when his son Luis – now 29 years old – became a father and Klapp welcomed his first grandchild into the world, his fingers itched again. A friend who has a hobby workshop in the basement helped him with the felt interior. It had to be completely re-sewn. The whole family helped to polish the completely rusted body, including Mio’s aunts and uncles Juli, Anna and Billi.
Father Luis Bliemel undertook the first test drive with Mio through the Stadtgarten. “People turn around, but we weren’t spoken to,” is his conclusion. Unlike in the 90s, many are probably busy with their cell phones today.
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