Microcar

Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and typically with an engine smaller than 700 cc (43 cu in). Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are often covered by separate regulations from normal cars, having relaxed requirements for registration and licensing.

Voiturette is a term used by some small cars and tricycles manufactured from 1895 to 1910.

Cyclecars are a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured mainly between 1910 and the late 1920s.

The first cars to be described as microcars (earlier equivalents were called voiturettes or cyclecars) were built in the United Kingdom and Germany following World War II, and remained popular until the 1960s. They were originally called minicars, but later became known as microcars.

France also produced large numbers of similar tiny vehicles called voiturettes, but they were rarely sold abroad.

Microcars have three or four wheels, although most were three-wheelers which, in many countries, meant that they qualified for lower taxes and were licensed as motorcycles. Another common characteristic is an engine displacement of less than 700 cc (43 cu in), although several cars with engines up to 1,000 cc (61 cu in) have also been classified as microcars. Often, the engine was originally designed for a motorcycle.

Microcars originated in the years following World War II, when motorcycles were commonly used. To provide better weather protection, three-wheeled microcars began increasing in popularity in the United Kingdom, where they could be driven using only a motorcycle licence. One of the first microcars was the 1949 Bond Minicar.

Microcars also became popular in Europe. A demand for cheap personal motorised transport emerged, and their greater fuel efficiency meant that microcars became even more significant when fuel prices rose, partly due to the 1956 Suez Crisis.