A superb and rare photo of the Violet cycle racing car from 1924 before the French Grand Prix at Lyon.

A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured mainly between 1910 and the late 1920s. Cyclecars were characterized by their use of basic materials and sometimes fragile engineering and were largely contrived to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car. Their demise was largely the result of production economies in the manufacture of more substantial economy cars such as the Austin 7 and the consequent affordability of such vehicles. Vehicles with similar qualities produced after World War II, are generally categorized as microcars.

The number of cyclecar manufacturers was less than a dozen in each of the UK and France in 1911, but by 1914, there were over 100 manufacturers in each country, as well as others in Germany, Austria and other European countries. By 1912, the A.C. Sociable was described as "one of the most popular cycle cars on the road, both for pleasure and for business", though another source states that the "Humberette" was the most popular of cycle cars at that time. Many of the numerous makes were relatively short-lived, but others became better known, often through racing success, this including names such as Bédélia of France and both G.N. and Morgan from Britain.

This is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of automotive history in a wonderful way.  This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 12" (ca. 20 x 30 cm).  It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.