Also in my garage: rare classic microcars

By John Evans

| 12 Jul 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: rare microcars

At a recent Sunday-morning classic car meet, I was about to tuck into a bacon sandwich when a small yellow box purred by, doing around 15mph.

It came to a stop in front of the assorted Triumph Stags, Lotus Esprits and Ford Mustangs, then one side of it opened to reveal the driver.

Unfolding herself into a standing position, she effortlessly pushed the three-wheeler back to join the other vehicles, where it quickly attracted a curious and amused crowd.

The Willam Cyclo can hit 20mph, which feels like plenty

Only very small cars inspire these reactions, but, in the right conditions, such vehicles have much to commend them.

Louise Barrett, the owner and driver of that crowd-pleasing Willam Cyclo, agrees.

If you count the Sinclair C5 she also owns, itʼs her fourth microcar – and she loves them all.

“Theyʼre little adventures on three or four wheels,” says Louise, whose daily driver is a modern Fiat 500, while her home is filled with 1960s and ʼ70s memorabilia.

Inside the Willam Cyclo there’s room for two, just about

Her microcar adventure began during the COVID-19 pandemic when, working in A&E at a local hospital, she sadly witnessed the death of a patient.

“It reminded me how short life can be,” she remembers. “Iʼve always been drawn to the peculiar and offbeat, and saw the Willam on eBay.

“I won it with a bid of £2000. The next day I drove to Essex to collect it.”

No, she didnʼt then drive it back to Surrey; for all its charms, the Cyclo – designed by MH Willam, president of Lambretta France, and unveiled at the 1966 Paris Salon – is a temperamental creature, powered by a single-cylinder 47cc Lambretta scooter engine driving the front wheel.

Louise Barrett’s collection also includes this green ACOMA Mini-Comtesse

She has had the Willam refurbished – including an engine overhaul and reinforcements to the glassfibre body – but breakdowns are common, the most spectacular occurring on a drive to Brooklands in 2022.

“Things were going well, then it conked out on the dual carriageway near Ripley,” recalls Louise. “I pushed it on to the verge just as a fire engine was approaching.

“The crew told me to abandon it, but I refused and called The AA, who discovered that a fuel line had detached.

“Once it was running, the breakdown van and the fire brigade shadowed me to Brooklands.”

The Willam Cyclo’s 47cc engine is from a Lambretta scooter

No stranger to the unexpected – when not working as a senior lecturer in paediatric nursing, sheʼs a bingo caller – Louise admits that driving the Willam demands nerve.

“The top speed is less than 20mph, and some drivers shout at me and honk their horns,” she says. “Fortunately, most people seem to love it, and if it runs out of petrol, I can always pedal it.”

Louiseʼs other microcars include a 1974 ACOMA Mini-Comtesse single-seater, which is similar to the Willam but has a gullwing door and was bought from a chap in a pub car park for £500, and a 1970 SEAB Flipper, a four-wheeler whose front axle and drivetrain can turn through 360°.

She bought it last year for £1200 from the estate of a deceased collector.

The SEAB Flipper (left) is parked next to the Willam Cyclo – Louise also owns a Sinclair C5

Back to the 1976 Willam, which is, claims Louise, the only road-legal Cyclo left in the world – hence why she was recently offered £20,000 for it (she declined).

The engine is smooth and quiet, the steering direct and the turning circle hilariously small, but speed bumps present a serious hazard.

Itʼs a hoot and, if Louiseʼs plans come good, her Cyclo appears to have a big future.

“I work for a homeless charity at weekends and plan to drive the Willam around the UK to raise extra funds,” she says. “Because itʼs about the size of a doorway, Iʼll be sleeping in it.”

Images: Jack Harrison

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