Whaddyacallit #226 - Solved! 1949 Flea-Way

[Ray B.]

Ever seen this ?



Please, respond below and let us know the make and name of the car posted here.
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[DynaMike]

Late fourties Towne Shopper, built in San Diego, Ca. Two-cylinder two-stroke engine of 10.6 hp.

[Ray B.]

It looks very much like it, doesn't it ?

But it's NOT the Town Shopper, which I have posted some time ago and you can find here: http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=3946.0

It's not, or there a serious patent dispute here. You will spot the differences though.
Seen the difficulties of this one, I think I'll make it a 2 points puzzle.

[hugo90]

Apparently I have the same book you do, as I just happened upon it.

The Flea-Way, from France

[Ray B.]

You're perfectly right, except that for me it wasn't in a book but in an old copy of Popular Mechanics.
I am not sure if the name is the true one or if it's been translated by the magazine. An English name on a french car of this period feels odd... Even with the allies still around in the Nato bases, even flooded by  Coca-Cola bottles, Hershey's chocolade and Lucky Strikes packages, the french people weren't that good at foreign languages.

[ImpishGrin]

45 mph with 1 hp? I don't think 1 hp would be enough for even a bike to attain 45 mph

[Ray B.]

I guess this is taxable "horsepower" here.

[hugo90]

The book I found it in is "Microcars Stories" by Jan de Lange, which was published in France, so Flea Way is probably the correct name.  The same photo appears.