The story
History
Jean-Claude Arié came to it from replicas. Two years earlier, the old microcarfan.com says, he had set up the manufacture of the Suncar, a replica built on the Renault 5 TS; the German Wikipedia says only that he had worked at Suncar.source 1source 2 In 1982 he founded Automobiles Arié at Annecy-le-Vieux, in Haute-Savoie, and announced a voiture sans permis, a licence-free car, called the Hopi, after the Hopi people of Arizona.source 2source 1
It did not appear until 1983, and when it did it was not licence-free at all. It had a 125 cc Fichtel & Sachs engine at the back and could reach 75 km/h, so its driver needed a licence.source 1source 2 It was an open leisure car, 2.32 m (7 ft 7 in) long, with a hard top and doors planned as options.source 1 The old site gives its weight as 240 kg (529 lb); the German Wikipedia gives 175 to 240 kg, perhaps the open car and the car with its options.source 1source 2 It cost 29,800 francs new.source 2
Fewer than ten Hopis were assembled before the marque stopped.source 1 When is disputed. The old site says the following year, 1984; the German Wikipedia says production ended in 1985, and that a company called Société Ad-Hoc took the business over.source 1source 2
What we do not know
How many wheels and seats the Hopi had, its width and height, what Société Ad-Hoc did with it and how the Suncar fits in are not in either source. The German Wikipedia leans on the old site for most of its figures, so the two accounts are not independent, and no French period source has been found.source 2
