1971 WILLAM CITY A3

Country of origin: France 
Years of production: 1969-1971 
Number produced: ~900 
Engine: Lambro 123cc horizontal 2-stroke single-cylinder 
Cooling: Forced air 
Transmission: Sequential 4-speed w/ inverting assembly 
Starter: Dynastart 
Electrical: 12V 
Power: 5.6 hp 
Top speed: ~35 mph 
Dimensions (LxWxH): 78”x48”x55” 
Weight: 650 pounds 
Construction: Steel body on tubular steel chassis 
Brakes: All-wheel hydraulic manual drum 
Suspension: F & R coilover damper 
Steering: Reduction box 
Tire size: 4.00-8

In France, M. H. Willame sold a number of Italian microcars under his ‘Willam’ brand. The biggest focus was on these very square microcars, which were produced by Innocenti-Lambretta. In Italy, they were sold under the 'Lawil' brand (Lawil being a combination of the names of designer, Carlo Lavezzari, and Henri Willame, who was the president of the French branch of Lambretta). The only notable difference between the Italian Lawil and French Willam cars was that the Lawils utilized a 246cc twin-cylinder with 12 hp, while the French market used the single-cylinder version to fall into the sub-125cc class of vehicles, which had a lesser licensing requirement and cheaper annual costs than vehicles over 125cc.

While the Willams are much more conventionally constructed and operated than a lot of microcars, earlier models, such as this A3, were slightly more unusual than later cars in that they used a horizontal single-cylinder from the Lambro truck, with an internal sequential gearbox as you’d find on a motorcycle. Though they didn’t have an actual reverse gear, they utilized an inverting assembly, controlled via a lever on the firewall, which switched all forward gears into reverse gears.