More about microcars
The microcars at the Bubble Car Museum are post-war, under 700cc and built for economic motoring. Many are three-wheel vehicles. The earliest three-wheelers were great fun, with a high degree of novelty. But they were also noisy, uncomfortable, and not considered to be serious vehicles for long-distance travel!
From these early three-wheelers, the bubble cars and microcars started to emerge. They were built to appeal to a wider audience, with all the modern comforts of a scaled-down saloon.
Advertising boards showed four people crammed inside the new machines, as the manufacturers tried to appeal to families. In Britain some of these models became household names: Reliant, Bond, Frisky, Coronet, Berkeley, Noble, Scootacar, AC and others.
They often had two-stroke engines; a few electric cars were made, but they were rare. The cost of buying these contraptions was around £300 to £500 at a time when average earnings were between £20 and £50 a week.
“Bubble car” was a term usually applied to vehicles with a rounded appearance and dome roof, such as the Isetta, Heinkel and Messerschmitt models. The Bonds were marketed as “mini cars”. They were not built for longevity, so it’s a credit to collectors that so many still survive today.
Probably the most popular microcar we see in the UK today is the Mercedes Smart Car. However, in France there are some interesting alternatives: the “voiture sans permis” micro cars can be driven on a public road by anyone aged fourteen or over. The driver must complete a seven-hour training course to get an AM category licence, and then they can drive freely, with a top speed of 28 mph!