Velocar

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Velocar was the name used for Mochet et Cie’s streamlined pedal-powered vehicles in the 1930s and 1940s, and also for the company’s recumbent bicycles. The French maker, Charles Mochet, built lightweight pedal cars and two-seat quadricycles on a tubular steel frame with small wheels and aerodynamic bodies, like a tiny car with bicycle wheels.

In 1933, Mochet created the Velo-Velocar, the first high‑performance recumbent bicycle. It used part of the Velocar design and set many records. Although racing authorities initially allowed recumbents, the UCI later banned them, possibly due to politics and rider class rules. Recumbents continued in some non‑UCI events.

Between 1933 and 1945, Mochet made road and track recumbents, plus a simpler version called the Velorizontal in 1935. After World War II the recumbent idea faded, and the last Mochet model appeared in 1940. About 35 Mochet recumbents survive in museums and private collections.

Interest in Mochet’s concept revived in California in the late 1970s and helped spark modern recumbent bikes in the United States in the 1980s.

Charles Mochet died suddenly in 1934, soon after the UCI ban. The business was run by his widow and their son Georges. After the war Georges continued making small powered cars until 1957. Georges Mochet died in 2008.