At the outset of World War II, as American automobile factories were switching from making cars to making tanks, planes, jeeps, and munitions, a few independent car companies remained in production.
This Italian manufacturer of mopeds, scooters, trikes and small cars produced the amusingly-named Sulky 3-wheeler–a very small vehicle powered initially by a 50cc or 60cc engine.
The Cat Cheetah was created by Rudi Kurth, a Swiss engineering prodigy. Rudi trained initially on the construction of lightweight panels for race cars and also built and raced motorcycle sidecars.
The Caterham 7 Blackbird was launched in front of the world’s automotive press on July 8, 1999, at the F1 Circuit in Portugal, and the performance from this 1000cc sports car was amazing.
In June 1973, Caterham cars took over production of the Lotus Seven. The move was an historic one and secured Caterham’s long-term future. Three decades, and ten thousand sales later, Caterham has spawned an incredible forty different interpretations or limited editions of the Seven.
One of the most controversial cars to ever come from Detroit, the Corvair still sparks conversations and perpetuates myths to this day. With a ten-year production run and 1.8 million produced, it was also a surprising success story, considering how different it was from everything else coming from America’s automotive manufacturers at the time.
The Cicostar claimed “paperfree motoring, elegance, economy, ease of handling, and practicality.” This early, more rounded example is a bit less dated-looking than some of its contemporaries.
The Citroën “Traction Avant” (means front drive) was introduced in 1934 as the 7A; the 15-Six model was introduced in 1938, and was a radically different concept from the cars Citroën had been producing.
When Citroën introduced the “Traction Avant” (means front drive) in 1938, it was a radically different concept from the cars Citroën had been producing.
This bare chassis gives an unrestricted view of the inner workings of the famous Citroën 2CV, or “Deux Chevaux”, including its longitudinal suspension, air-cooled 602cc engine, unusual shifter linkage, and the in-board front disc brakes.
As far back as the early 1930s, Citroën teamed with Yacco, an oil company in France, for endurance testing on Citroën automobiles. These cars were tested at Montlhéry, a track outside Paris.
Twenty-five years after production began, the 2CV has been through minor changes. Compare the similarities and differences of this later model 2CV with the older grey model sitting to its right.
-1975-1web_79faf870859cf739f64ceb1aca89e660.jpg "Casalini Sulky A18- 1975")
