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The Dacia 500 Lăstun (Romanian pronunciation: [ləsˈtun]) was a small city car manufactured by Tehnometal, Timișoara, under the auto marque Dacia. The name derives from the Romanian for house martin, a small bird related to swallows.
History
The Lăstun was a low-cost Romanian car for urban transport built between 1988 and 1991, featuring a two-cylinder air-cooled engine of 499 cc, producing 22.5 PS (16.5 kW), fuel consumption of 3.3 L/100 km (86 mpg‑imp; 71 mpg‑US), a maximum speed 106 km/h (66 mph) and fiberglass bodywork similar 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 was "Un Autoturism de Actualitate" (A Contemporary Vehicle).
Production continued until 1992. Due to its size, the Lăstun was primarily a city car, suitable for use as a second car. In 1989 cars received side lights, and in 1991 the Lăstun was lightly restyled to the front, 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 9 L/100 km (31 mpg‑imp; 26 mpg‑US), making the car less economical than the long running Dacia 1300 series.
Tehnometal manufactured a total of 6,532 vehicles.
