Topic: Solved: Wendax 573 - Noval

[Wendax]

I guess they forgot to use an angular doorhandle. 

For one point, please respond and identify this car.

[Wendax]

up

[cmetisse]

This one is quite obscure, as it wasn't even mentioned in most "toutes les voitures du monde" of the era !
So, this is the Noval prototype of voiture sans permis !

It was only shown at the 1982 Paris motorshow, and withdrawn soon after. The project was made by Noval Portaflot, well known for their small trailers.
It would have been quite modern for a voiturette of its time : front-wheel drive, independent suspension all round, drop down windows...
Noval was quite ambitious, because they wanted to produce it with three types of engine : petrol (50 cc and 125 cc), diesel (with a french one, a Bernard 231 cc) and even electric.
I'm in touch with the man behind the project, he told me that they never built more than this unique running prototype.
One of the countless ill-fated french voiturette project of the eighties... 

[Wendax]

It surely is. Nice to see that this wasn't too easy for you. 

One more point for our voiture-sans-permis expert.

[Wendax]

I'm in touch with the man behind the project, he told me that they never built more than this unique running prototype.

Do you know which motorization the prototype had?

[cmetisse]

Yes, the prototype was mostly tested with the Bernard diesel.

This engine was a bit intriguing, firstly because it was the only french diesel ever used on a voiturette ! Then it was a very light unit (24 kilos without oil) and almost the smallest ever seen on a road vehicle (only superseeded by the Yanmar L40 AE 199cc, seen on the first Microcar 50 LD-GLD). But it wasn't really ready made for a small car, as it didn't had any electric starter.
In fact, the only brand who has used it a bit on a few cars was Erad. They had really tried about every engine that was available in these days, Sachs, Motobecane, BCB, Farymann, Lister-Petter...
Daniel Renard built about 130 Capucine 4/50 D with the Bernard. But again it wasn't well suited for a road car, and a bit underpowered as well.
The funny thing is that Bernard Moteurs bought out Erad later, in 1994. 

But for the Noval, it should have been one of the first diesel voiturette available on the market. Sadly (or not !  ), Noval stopped everything very early, and the car wasn't even typed approval by the Mines.

[Wendax]

Merci beaucoup for your detailed information. Always a pleasure to learn something new about those fascinating voitures sans permis.

[cmetisse]

It is indeed a great pleasure to talk about old voiturettes with one of my foreign readers ! 

And I'm sure Djetset will have a look on this puzzle, as he count himself among those rare people who are looking for GSP everytime they're coming to France !

In fact, the most surprising fact is that we have an american reader as well, who has two french voiturettes in his collection, and has subscribed for the magazine since our number one...

Mike is the most "exotic" of my readers !

[Djetset]

Thanks cmetisse. I was poised to claim the prize in the Pros section if the Noval hadn't appeared on your VSP radar, but I knew it would.

I remember seeing the car at le Salon de l'automobile in 1982 (my first year there, with all the fuss and excitement around the launch of the new Citroen BX, as well as the Ford Sierra and aerodynamic Audi 100). 

I still have the sales leaflet I picked up for the Noval (with a drawing of the car), but one thing is still bugging me!  What rear lights did it use? (possible Peugeot 104, but I really can't remember. I must be getting old!).   

[cmetisse]

In fact, I guess that they're sourced from a VW Golf MK I...

The shape is the same, but the design of the glass look a bit different. Perhaps it was a spare model for aftersale market. I'll ask to Bernard Duval, who was the boss of Noval back in 1982. 

[Wendax]

I still have the sales leaflet I picked up for the Noval (with a drawing of the car

Here it is: