Velocar
Encyclopedia
Velomobile
A velomobile or bicycle car is a human-powered vehicle, enclosed for aerodynamic advantage and protection from weather and collisions. They are virtually always single-passenger vehicles. They are derived from recumbent bicycles and tricycles, with the addition of a full fairing . There are few...
s made in the 1930s and 40s by Mochet et Cie of Puteaux
Puteaux
Puteaux is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department from the center of Paris....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Charles Mochet was the inventive maker of lightweight powered cyclecars (Le P'tit Auto) and pedal-powered cars (quadracycles), mainly two-seaters, built on a tubular-steel chassis with bicycle-sized wheels and aerodynamic bodywork. The popularity of the little cars declined in the late '30s as cheaper, powered cars became available, only to rise rapidly when petrol became almost unobtainable during WW-2
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 1939-1945.
However, Charles Mochet's stroke of genius was to make what was the first performance recumbent bicycle
Recumbent bicycle
A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons; the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by back and buttocks...
, or vélo couché, using a design which was based on half of a four-wheeled Velocar. This machine, called by the factory the 'Velo-Velocar', or 'V-V' for short, broke many world cycling records in 1933. Although Mochet had verified with the UCI and the UVF that his recumbents were completely legal for competition, they were declared ineligible at a later hearing and permanently banned from competition by cycling's governing body, the UCI
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....
, at the behest of the makers of standard upright cycles.Mochet had perhaps also broken an unspoken rule that only 'First-Category' riders could attempt records, his rider, Francis Faure, being only a second-category rider.
Although road and track versions of the recumbents were built in small numbers between 1933-1945, as well as, in 1935, a simplified version called the 'Velorizontal', and record-breaking continued in non-cycling categories, the Recumbent impetus was lost after the war, the last Mochet model being the 1940 "Vélorizontal'. Around 30 Mochet recumbents survive (2009) in museums and private collections.
Re-discovery of the Mochet concept in the late 1970s led to the subsequent development of recumbent cycles which took place in the U.S in the 1980s.
Charles Mochet had died suddenly in 1934 just after the UCI ban and the business was carried on by his widow and son Georges. After the war, Georges continued making mainly powered microcars in the 'Sans Permis' category from 1945 to 1957. Georges Mochet died in 2008.