Hi all you happy Hopperists! Or should that be Hopperartti? This is the first of what I hope will be a regular column from the US of A. This will be a unique perspective on the cyclecar scene because I am not an American! Actually I am an expat Australian, living here for the last 2 ½ years.

To my delight, American's seem to take very kindly to three-wheelers, however all the ones I have seen so far have the wheels around the wrong way, one up front and two behind. However they do not have the same effect on bystanders as an alien spacecraft, so little children do not run and hide behind their mothers skirts and grumpy old men do not shake their walking sticks at the approach of a three wheeler. The reason for this seems to be that Harley Davidson produced the 'Servicar" for many years, so it was a common sight from the late 1920's till the early'50's. This is now only available as an aftermarket kit, being very popular with the older generation for touring, as well as the younger for its novelty value, because negotiating corners quickly, for Americans does not seem to be on their agenda. Neither have the 'joys' of roundabouts been discovered yet in some states, as I have only seen one here so far. Then again, this is Washington State, not know for being very adventurous you know. Rather rural, thank God.

Quite unlike California where the cyclecar thrives. Particularly those powered by superbikes. Shattering performance, plus 2 front wheels yes, but with a capital B, they all have the same design fault, namely, the driven wheel is in the center of the lane, which all you ex-bikers know only too well is a no no. Plus the rear weight bias, would add up to quite a few heart stopping moments when pressing on in the wet, I would imagine. FWD is the only way to go!

Never having driven a Hopper, I do not know the exact handling characteristics, however, if coming into a corner too fast with power on and understeer starts, just lift of temporarily to pop the tail out thus pointing you back in the right direction, then replant welly on the loud pedal. Correct? Or do they oversteer? If you had the foresight to tip a little Castrol "R" into the petrol, you could well imagine yourself in your Moggy, low on the Brooklands banking, with the smell of Castrol "R" in the air, as you hear the sound of ripping calico and feel the front wheels kick as your gloved hands steady the corded rim of your steering wheel as one of the Bentley Boys thunder past with a flashing light. Flashing light? Flashing light?? Yes, well, er, um, I u-suppose I was going a tad faster that I should officer.

So why is anything less than 1000cc not appropriate for everyone in the USA? Simple. It is the tyranny of distance, just as it is in Australia. Don't forget, the land mass of OZ is almost the same as the USA. This means that if I wanted to enter my Hopper in on of the many excellent kit car race programs available, on the east coast, I would have to drive from Seattle to New York, almost 3,000miles! Taking around 55 hours! That's like driving from London to Rome, back to London, and then back to Rome again! I would not like to do it, not even in a Triking, which, in my opinion is overpriced, overweight and over here! 

I believe in the assertion that less is more, plus Colin Chapman's famous comment "Add lightness". Here in the US, John F Kennedy's popular notions about the corruptive aspects of power don't apply to motor vehicles, because power often tops their list of vital automotive attributes.   Too much is sometimes just barely enough. Blame the distances.

So in 2 ½ years in Washington State I have never seen a 2CV, therefore I believe that in most of the states it could be a challenge to locate a donor car. The best states to find one would be those closest to Quebec in Canada. Alternatively, buy one actually in Canada because an American will thus only be paying half price due to the $ exchange rate, same as Australia, where there are actually a few 2CV's, But very few. One could be purchased at Auction, but beware, the Auctioneer will always create fictitious bids in an attempt to raise the price to a level the seller will accept. Always stand as close to the auctioneer as you can, so you can watch the other bidders, to see if anyone is actually bidding against you.

Another and better alternative I believe would be to offer the Hopper Kit to the Californian market, including all the 2CV bits necessary. Shipping costs would naturally increase due to the extra weight, but only marginally as volume would not increase much. California is indeed the home of the cyclecar market, despite the exchange rate disadvantage, as an American has to pay $1.45 for every one pound sterling, but the Hopper would still be the best fun per dollar available because building a traditional hot rod is an extremely expensive operation here. Trikings cost, an outrageous 17,000 pounds, plus shipping, fully assembled.

'Continued next Issue - Cyclecar Racing in the USA'

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