1964 ARDEX TYPE H

Ardex was a very small French company that specialized in cyclecars. Production was very limited, and their showroom in Nanterre was only open on Monday and Saturday for prospective buyers to look at the latest offerings. Their post-war production began with the Type T in 1952, which received some minor updates to become the Type E a few years later. Most sources incorrectly cite 1955 as the end of Ardex production, as there is very little information regarding the history of Ardex. In reality, the Type E was a new model at this time, with the Type H, Type M, and a couple of prototype models still to come, which adds a great deal of confusion to the already rather mysterious past of the company.

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Luckily, this Type H came with a significant history file, including original ads and brochures, the original manuals, the original sales paperwork and registration documents, and even a stack of letters that were exchanged between the original owner and the head of Ardex, Marcel Tamine (on official Ardex letterhead, no less). These letters detail the buying process, the build schedule, and the delivery of this car, as well as numerous letters regarding technical assistance and replacement components.

In this paperwork, it is detailed that the Type H was not presented for production approval until December of 1960, resulting in production commencing in 1961. Then moving forward to April of 1964, the original owner of this car inquired about the Type H, which he subsequently placed an order for. The finished car was delivered in September of 1964, after a slight production delay due to a parts supplier. Total production was less than 50 cars, with only one other known surviving example, located in the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.

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The Type H has a wooden body, originally wrapped in marine-grade vinyl (red or green, though other colors could be chosen for a cost). This example actually had a steel 'skin' fitted over it at some point, which was done surprisingly well. They were fitted with only one seat standard, but a passenger seat could be optioned (as seen in this example), provided that the combined weight of the occupants was no more than 308 pounds (140 kg). This example also came with the original (extremely crude) sidescreens.

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Though the 48cc VAP 57 engine only produces 1.75 horsepower, the car's unbelievably light weight of 190 pounds (86 kg) resulted in reasonable performance for the class. It utilizes a centrifugal clutch, with a belt-drive to the 'transmission', which is a sliding shaft with 2 different drive sprockets, which then send power to the driven sprocket at the left rear wheel. You select the 'low' or 'high' gear via the large lever off of the steering column, though it is intended to be left in 'high' gear, unless there is a steep incline that the car is not able to climb, in which case you would slow nearly to a stop, engage 'low' to traverse your obstacle, and then as soon as is practical, you release the throttle and gently engage 'high' gear again.