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During the second World War, much of Europe suffered from the lack of gasoline. Peugeot, like many other manufacturers, made a few electric vehicles. The vehicles were austere, to say the least. This Peugeot VLV (light city car) is powered by four 12-volt batteries and had a range of 50 miles. Although totally impractical today, in […]

Prior to WWII, Ferdinand Porsche was selected by Hitler to design “the people’s car”–the Volkswagen. During the war, Porsche fled to Austria. It was during this time that he designed the 356. In1950, he returned to Germany. Porsche’s first post-war model was the 356 (named as the 356th project off his design desk). The company

Dating back to 1907, Praga is one of the most important Czech makes. The first car to carry the Praga name appeared in 1910 with the slogan “cars which last for hundreds of thousands of kilometers.” In 1929, Praga produced 7,500 vehicles–more than all other Czech companies combined. The Baby, introduced in 1934, was chosen

In 1962, the Renault 4CV was replaced by another back-to-basic car, the Renault 4. It was no secret that the R4 was aimed at giving the Citroën 2CV some competition. Like the 2CV, the R4 had front wheel drive. Renault used the 4CV’s 747cc engine in the R4. The station wagon-like body provided seating for

In 1898, Alfred Renault, choosing not to go into the family button business, built a small car in a workshop in the garden of his family’s home. The “Type A” was shown at the 1899 Paris Salon. The 4CV symbolizes Renault’s rebirth following massive bomb damage during World War II. Following development work conducted under

Deutsch-Bonnet was a partnership between Charles Deutsch and Rene Bonnet that began in 1938 to build race cars. D-B cars were very successful on the racing circuit and dominated the world’s race tracks through the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1961 the partners split. Deutsch wanted to continue using Panhard running gear on their race

In 1956, Renault announced the Dauphine, a 4CV development. The mechanics are similar to those of the 4CV, but the body is a 3-box type. It has a welded stress-carrying center section to which the front and rear assemblies are bolted. The Dauphine quickly became Renault’s leading model. The car you see here is a

This company began in 1938 under the name New-Map and was better known for manufacturing motorcycles. While the microcar was somewhat of a novelty, it quickly found favor in the harsh post-war period. The Rolux, produced in Clermont-Ferrand, France, was originally fitted with a 100cc Fichtel & Sachs engine. The engine was mounted in the

Robert and Raul de Rovin began building cyclecars and motorcycles in the 1920s. After World War II ended, the French government encouraged the development of economy cars to get the nation moving again after the devastation of war. Low purchase price and cheap maintenance were essential. Rovin began production of the D2 — a doorless