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In the years following World War I, German’s economy was in a slump, with economic sanctions placed by the Treaty of Versailles. Max Vidal and Sohns, previously a fire-fighting equipment supplier to German’s coal industry, changed focus in 1926 to building automobiles. They started with a simple commercial vehicle, the Tempo T1, a tricycle delivery […]

Renault’s Clio is a long-running Supermini-class car. Since 1990, it has been produced in four generations; this is an example of a limited-production model based on the first generation of Clio, 1990-1998. The Clio has been one of Europe’s best sellers since its introduction, and has been credited with restoring Renault’s market position after a

In 1954, PlastiCar, Incorporated of Doylestown, PA. introduced two plastic body sports cars; one roadster, the Rogue, and one hardtop, the Marquis (note: the Marquis was also available as an aluminum body by order). Both of these new plastic body cars were copies of European race cars raced by Jean-Louis Rosier that were aluminum bodied

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Known as the APE (ah-pay), Italian for “bee”, this little three-wheeled workhorse often found itself as busy as its namesake. Designed by the inventor of the Vespa scooter, aircraft engineer Corradino D’Ascario, it was seen as a means to re-mobilize Italian businesses after the war during the period of the Miracolo Economico. In continuous production since

In 1891, Panhard built a batch of four identical cars, followed by series after series of increasing numbers. While Benz and Daimler had built cars earlier, they were individual examples. Chronologically, this makes Panhard et Levassor the world’s first marque of car in continuous, series production. Panhard et Levassor was also the first manufacturer to

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The “L-Category” is a class of cars and mopeds in France that can be driven without a driver’s license. This new category called sans permis (without license), began in the mid-1970s, and ACOMA became a large manufacturer of these modern microcars, taking 30% of the market. In fact, in 1979 ACOMA was the largest manufacturer

In 1926 brothers Otto and Wilhelm Maisch formed Maisch & Co. to produce small 2-stroke engines of JLO design, plus bicycles and parts. In 1932, the brothers began producing scooters and motorcycles under the Maico name.   Seeing an opportunity to enter Germany’s thriving small car market for pennies on the DM, Maico bought Champion’s