Ça Monte

From the 1930s to 1984, there were various manufacturers of so-called microcars in France. In 1984, there was a change in the law that made it impossible to use microcars in normal traffic. The small vehicles were classified as too dangerous to take part in regular traffic. This is understandable and it is all the more surprising that today, more and more micro-vehicles are becoming more and more widespread, with safety apparently being given little consideration. Just think of the various semi- or fully electric mini delivery vans or a wide variety of cargo bikes, which are often larger than historic microcars. The safety or rather insecurity of all the e-scooters should only be mentioned in passing here. In the past, these microcars had to be cheap above all or allow driving without a license.

Charles Mochet founded his company in 1924 in Puteaux, west of Paris, and in 1927 he built his first cyclecar, the C.M., which was powered by a 4 hp petrol engine. After 1929 he devoted himself primarily to small three- or four-wheeled vehicles with pedal drive. These velocars were quite successful and easy to drive among their peers. He even offered the pedal-driven mini-cars with different bodywork (Touriste, Fourgonnette and Conduite Intérieur). After Charles Mochet died in 1934, his son Georges took over the company. Even before the Second World War, he equipped the pedal-driven vehicles with combustion auxiliary motors, similar to today’s e-bikes whose pedal drives are supported by electric motors. Due to fuel restrictions, the demand for pedal-driven vehicles increased during the war and the Mochet company was even able to expand with civilian products during the war! The H model, from 1943, was the first Mochet vehicle to be powered exclusively by a two-stroke engine, although there were still pedals, but these were only intended for emergency use. The successor model K finally dispensed with the pedals and 650 of these vehicles were sold by 1949. The CM 125 model from 1950 looked like a real small car and was a good third cheaper than a Citroën 2CV. In 1953, an attempt was made to break into the market for “real” cars with a very sleek two-seater roadster with 750 cc, which looked a bit like a small Facel Vega. Since the price could not compete with the big car companies, only two of these Mochet C.M. 750s were built. From 1954, the C.M. Luxe was available as an inside-driver with a closed body, three-speed gearbox and electric starter. The 125 Y Grand Luxe, as well as its mini-station wagon Commerciale, also had a reverse gear. You could even order a 175 cc engine and the top model was then called the C.M. 175 Y Grand Luxe. Until 1957, these microcars could be driven without a driver’s license and when a driver’s license became compulsory for these microcars, Georges Mochet decided to stop production in 1958.

This Mochet C.M. 125 Y Grand Luxe (with a three-speed gearbox, reverse gear and electric starter) was registered to a teacher in Indre-et-Loire near Tours on March 17, 1955. The vehicle comes with an original roof rack and a folder in which every piece of paper is filed in a separate transparent sheet. All correspondence between Mademoiselle Institutrise (French teacher) and the Mochet company, from the order to delivery, including the down payment and final payment receipt (totaling 315,000 old francs), is available. For a reason that is no longer known, the single-cylinder two-stroke engine had to be overhauled by Ydral, the manufacturer of the engine, on August 29, 1956; the receipt for this is also available. To prevent this from happening again, Mademoiselle had written down the running-in instructions that the Ydral company had given her on a piece of paper. Unfortunately, it is not known how long the teacher had had the car. Although the small car is in its original condition, there is no receipt until August 31, 2011, when the vehicle was last registered in France. On April 22, 2013, the car was brought to Germany by a collector of microcars. At this point, the vehicle was last driven under its own power, as the collector never started it again. As the hall in which the collection is located has to be cleared out for a new building, we were given the Mochet for sale. A small, proper car that is looking for a new garage. We would love to know what kind of person Mademoiselle was and she would certainly like it if someone looked after the small car, as it would be a shame if it were left to decay. The fabric roof is not a convertible top, by the way, because it is firmly bolted to the body, but you can open the front part despite the roof rack. In the 1950s, things were looking up – ça monte.