Description

Spain is a hot, dry country, yet Jose Maria Armangue was interested in bobsleds. Annoyed by a lack of snow for an important event around the turn of the century, he fitted wheels to his sled, and later a small motor to get back up the hill.

The properly redesigned vehicle became Spain’s most popular cyclecar, fitting into a huge post- World War One cyclecar boom gripping the world until the mid 1920's. Armangue flourished, building taxis, workshops and garages, and distributing Citroens. During the Spanish Civil War in the late '30's he was making electric cars. Postwar, he turned once more to the production of miniature cars.

The microcar that emerged in 1954 was a success, and along with Biscuter, Kapi, and PTV, made David S. A. one of the four all-Spanish firms that produced microcars in significant quantities. Truly an original, blank-sheet-of-paper design, it featured a motor mounted behind, and turning with, the front wheel, which was in turn suspended on an amazing three-quarter-elliptic leaf spring. The gear lever, working in a huge H-slot in the dash, selected the gears via fingers running through the middle of the front kingpin. The characteristic large, white steering wheel (from an Auto-Union supplier) turned a large, primitive open crown-and-pinion via a Voisin-patent constant-velocity joint. The rear brake levers and cables were external. Typically of Spanish vehicles, several utilitarian body styles were available.

This car came directly from Spain where it had been restored. With its open body and odd steering feel, it is great fun to drive.

Manufacturer: David S.A., Barcelona Spain

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This was one of the vehicles sold at the Bruce Weiner Microcar Auction in February 2013. Website owner Harry Kraemer has all of the sale data from that auction in his Market Watch section of his Wheels & Wings site Flymall.org. See link below for the data.

Click here for auction sale report