A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING; . . . And everything little in Mike Malamut's car collection.(Revs)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

This has to be one of the best collections of small postwar European sedans and wagons ever assembled. And original Westfalia camper vans. And microcars. And some neat Japanese stuff. And a Gullwing. And an Amphicar. And two '63 Split Window Corvettes, a '49 Plymouth Woody and a prototype New Beetle. And some nice '50s pickups. And a whole bunch of Porsches.

Michael Malamut has wide and varied interests in cars, and he indulges them all.

"I like different, funky stuff,'' he said.

The cars that stand out in this sprawling collection of 75 or so are the little ones. Yes, he has some excellent microcars, one of his three Messerschmitts was shown at Pebble Beach, and the Isettas are in terrific shape. But the working Fiats, Abarths and Citroens are the most fascinating.

There are three 1950s Fiat Multiplas, the original Italian micro-minivans that look so funky-cool you have to think there'd be a market for them even today (in a world without crash-test standards, at least).

"Seats seven,'' said Bob Robertson, who has restored many of these terrific tiny cars in the 11 years he has worked on the Southern California collection.