Cars

One year after the Citadine was released, Teilhol introduced a utility version of the Citadine called the Messagette. Following the form of its predecessor, the Messagette is a three -wheeled urban vehicle, with an electric motor that, according to the manufacturer, could travel 70-100 km (43-62 miles) on a full charge.

TVR’s tumultuous history began in 1947, and continues to this day, albeit after many management, ownership, and location changes. Founder TreVoR Wilkinson started TVR in Beverley Grove, Blackpool, building sports cars based on Alvis chassis. 

The Urba Centurion was a kit car designed by Quincy-Lynn Enterprises in 1982. A full set of plans, available through Mechanix Illustrated, cost a mere $17.00! 

If you saw an Urba-anything in Mechanix Illustrated magazine in the 1970s-80s, it was a surely a design by Robert Q. Riley and David L. Carey of Quincy, AZ, doing business as Quincy-Lynn Enterprises. The UrbaCar seen here was their first design for the magazine.

Originally designed as invalid cars by Czech brothers František and Mojmír Stránský in 1942, the first “Oskars” (“car on axle”) were simple tube-framed cyclecars with a seat next to an engine, inspired by the British Morgans. Around 10 were built. With refinements, and adopting motorcycle sidecar construction techniques, the brothers Stránský covered their new designs in a leather-like vinyl, Igelit, to save both weight and raw materials costs.

Vespa is known around the world for its scooters, but few people may know it produced one economy car. 

Gabriel Voisin was a major manufacturer of airplanes during World War I. The end of the war saw him with a large fortune and an equally large factory, but a very small market for airplanes. In 1919, he decided to become a car manufacturer and acquired a ready-made engine design–a 3969cc sleeve-valve four which had been considered and turned down by Citroën as unsuitable for mass production. Voisin remained faithful to the sleeve-valve principle for the rest of his career as a car maker. Voisin built lightweight cars using techniques learned in his years as an aircraft designer. The type C28 “ambassade” body design was inspired by the art-deco period and was the last model Voisin was personally responsible for.