A.G. (Antonio Gomez Cruz) Microcars
Antonio Gomez Cruz, was born in Torredonjimeno, Jaen, in 1907. He was a self-taught man who followed the...
Small Cars Before 1950: A–Z List
The first small cars were cyclecars, voiturettes and light three-wheelers, built to be cheaper and simpler than a full-size car. This page lists models from before 1950 in the Small Cars Club catalog, including early postwar vehicles.
Models appear here when the catalog gives a production or presentation year (or a decade tag). Models without a known year are not listed, so use the catalog A–Z for the full list.
Other decades: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s.
39BRANDS
50MODELS
A
AC All-Weather Tricycle
In 1949 AC made a prototype of All-Weather Tricycle for disabled people. It looked awesome and had the...
Aerocarene 700
Aerocarene 700, the aircraft-inspired machine, featured highly unusual light alloy bodywork with very...
AFA Prototype
AFA (some sources affirm that it is the acronym for “Automobiles Fernández y Aymerich”, and...
Airscoot
Certainly one of the smallest cars ever built, the ingenious Airscoot was designed in 1947 to transport...
Airway
The Airway was an American microcar with two seats, made by Everett Miller and T. P. Hall between 1949 and...
Alamagny Rhomboid
In 1947, the French engineer, Marcel Alamagny (engineer for Renault and Gordini), presented a curious...
Albrecht
The Friedrich Albrecht Fahrzeugfabrik was a German manufacturer of wheelchairs and cars for the...
Alca Volpe
The design of this rare Volpe roadster made by Alca (Anonima Lombarda Cabotaggio Aereo) is very attractive,...
Alfi Tri-cycle DKW Personnenwagen
The Berlin engineer Alexander (called Alex) Fischer brought his vehicles onto the market with interruptions...
Alfi Tricycle Van / Elektromobilette
In 1936, after an eight year break, the brand name Alfi appeared again. Alex Fischer had meanwhile become a...
Altona Condor
The Altona was a Belgian car brand located in...
American Bantam Model 60 / 62 / 65
American Bantam company was a successor of the American Austin Car Company, which was connected to the...
André
This microcar is the creation of a Cannes industrialist P.André. He made it in 1941. It was equipped with a...
Arbet
“My car is no weird car,” wrote Jeff Gibson. “It is, by all standards, a normal car, except...
Ardex Cyclecar
The brand ARDEX was born at the end of the 30s, when Marcel Tamine decided to produce cyclecars of its...
Ardex Electric Cyclecars
The war years were characterised by a desperate shortage of raw materials for civilian industry and of...
Ardex Type Aero 37
In 1937, Ardex presented the new 4-wheel speedster — Type Aero 37. It got a streamlined body without...
Argson
Argson Engineering was founded in 1919. It was named from Argus of Baden, Germany’s small bus manufacturers...
Arnau
During the Spanish Civil War, Joan Arnau Vicens, a Catalan from the province of Girona, worked as a barber in...
Atlas Babycar
The Atlas was a 4-wheeled microcar produced by the Societe Industrielle de Livry (SIL). The prototype,...
Auto Sandal FS
After World War II, and in the midst of the postwar period, the Japanese government had to rebuild the...
Autoette CruiseAbout
The Autoette Electric Car Co of Long Beach, California was founded by Royce Seevers in 1947. The batteries...
Avro Monocar
In the 1920s, Edwin Elliott Verdon Rowe, founder of the famous AVRO aircraft company, spent his spare time in...
B
B&B Brogan Doodlebug
The “B&B Specialty Company” was an American company, located in the town of Rossmoyne (Ohio)....
Bancroft’s Powered Wheel Chair
The August 1938 issue of “Mechanix Illustrated” magazine featured an interesting article about...
Biscuter 100 / 200 A (Normal Turismo)
Despite what it meant in post-war Spain and its popular roots (which gave rise to jokes such as...
Bond Minicar Mark A
After the war there was a great demand for powered transport coupled with shortages of fuel and raw materials...
C
Crosley Farm-O-Road
At first glance, this small car seems like a funny garage craft made microcar for schoolchildren, but it is...
Crosley HotShot / Super Sports
Cincinnati radio-and-refrigerator magnate Powel Crosley, Jr., entered the car business in 1939 with dreams of...
D
DAF “Rijdende Regenjas”
The single-seat 3-wheeled microcar DAF “Rijdende Regenjas” was created in 1941/1942 by Hubert Van...
Dolo JB-10
The story of Dolo JB is a vivid example of a successful car swindle. In 1947, three enthusiasts created the...
Dózsa-Farkas András 3-wheeler
In 1950, Dózsa-Farkas András (1902-1982) started the industrial design training in Academy of Applied...
E
Endre Surányi dwarf cars
Everlasting, bohemian, versatile – Endre Surányi (1913-1996), who was a “garage master of...
F
Favorit by László Vörös
As early as 1947, László Vörös made a three-wheeled family motorcycle, which ran for three years. Then he...
Fend Flitzer
In 1948, Fritz Fend in Rosenheim, Germany created a three-wheeled vehicle Fend Flitzer. Fend, a former...
Fiat 500 Topolino
Even when Fiat tackled the low-price end of the car scale, it was incapable of building anything that...
L
Larmar
The Larmar microcar is probably the narrowest car ever built. It was produced from 1946 to 1951 by Larmar...
M
Mauser Einspurauto
At the end of the First World War, the Mauser AG arms factory, founded by the Mauser brothers at the...
Moore-Car
In 1917, the American company W. G. Moore of Indianapolis introduced the lightweight, single-seat Moore-Car...
O
Osborn Engineering Company Whitwood Monocar
One of the last single-track vehicles was produced by Osborn Engineering of Portsmouth, England founded by...
Oskar / Velorex
The Czech manufacturer Velorex is probably best known for its sidecars but they also produced some weird and...
P
Pente 500
At the end of World War II, approx. in 1944 János Pentelényi started designing a small car. In 1945, while...
Pente 600
János Pentelényi, learning from the mistakes of the Pente 500, made the larger and more powerful Pente 600...
Peugeot VLV
The two-seater Peugeot VLV (Voiture Légère de Ville, which means Light City Car) electric vehicle was...
R
Rovin Type D2
Rovin was a French auto-maker established in the Paris region, and most active from 1946 until 1959, although...
S
Škoda Sagitta (typ 911)
The 4-seater Škoda Sagitta (typ 911) was created in 1937. The car was equipped with a two-cylinder 845 cc...
V
Vellák
József Vellák from Nagykanizsa learned the locksmith’s profession in 1919 in the locksmith shop of...
Volkswagen Beetle
Surely the most extraordinary success story in the history of the automobile, Volkswagen Beetle began life as...
Volugrafo Bimbo
After the ending of the Second World War Italy was in terrible economic situation. But the Italians need...