The story behind the reprinting of How to Build a Cyclecar.

In 1994 I was given a copy of 'How to build a cyclecar'. First printed in 1913, it is a handbook and guide for any aspiring cyclecariste giving simple instructions to build your own cyclecar. This little book changed my life. Not only did it prove to be useful in building The Grafton Cyclecar!, a close friend who is a graphic designer scanned this precious book and it has been reprinted for everyone to own a copy

It is a book that provides a window into a period of time when the pioneer motoring spirit became accessible to the ordinary person. A cyclecar made engineers think that a car can be built on a modiste budget with simple mechanics. Later cars, like the Austin 7, the Mini, microcars and the smart car, all have there roots back with the cyclecar. For the price of a book, 'How to build a cyclecar' gave someone the start to build his own Cyclecar.

Since reprinting How to build a cyclecar, with a collaboration with Antar Press, we have started to produce bound volumes of 'The Cyclecar'. A magazine which cyclecar owners, drivers and makers could buy weekly at the time. These are a treasure trove of stories, adverts, ideas and concepts from the world of cyclecars at the time. Rare copies are often in private collections with the odd single copy sometimes appearing for sale online. We are lucky to have access to a complete run of these hard to find magazines and with modern scanning and printing methods, along with lots of time and patience, we are now starting to produce reprints, starting with 'The Cyclecar - Volume 1'.