Aventure - 1882

One-off of a pedal vehicle created for road use.

Designed by two French inventors, it was driven by them in 1882 from Paris to Calais. On the way back to Paris, the vehicle was forced to stop for a mechanicalstructural fault in Rouen, where it was left in a cellar. Later the two friends hid it and left for the war (where it is believed they died). Of the crew’s equipment only the two helmets, shown in the window, remain. It is curious the difference in the crew’s jobs: the driver in the front seat drove and the one in the rear seat pedalled. A significant detail is the steering wheel which had been fitted even before the day when a petrol fuelled engine was applied to a vehicle for the first time. Two original candle-lit carriage lamps are installed on the body sides.

Bodywork
In fabric and carved wood decorated; metal nose in a coal scuttle shape. Front compartment with padded seat; fabric foldable hood. Wood footboards and trunk.

Front wheel diameter 89 cm, rear wheels diameter 95 cm
width: 119 cm
steering wheel: wood with the gear levers controlled by the driver’s feet
brake: buffer brake on the rear wheels