microcarfan
  • Licence-free car
  • Italy
  • Three wheels
  • Gullwing doors

BMA Amica

Also known as Nuova Amica

A two-seat plastic three-wheeler with a fat rubber band all the way round it, so that it looked like a fairground dodgem, and canvas gullwing doors that came off to make an open car.

Red boxy two-door microcar with rectangular headlamps and amica lettering on the nose, parked on herringbone paving.
A red Amica 1000 S1 automatic, a later four-wheeled Amica, in the Netherlands in 2012.Photo: free photos & art, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

BMA Amica

Amica · Alfonsine

Built
1971–⁠1994BMA built small vehicles from 1971 until about 1994
Country
ItalyAlfonsine, near Ravenna
Maker
BMA, AlfonsineTaken over by Grecav in 1991 or 1994
Engine
125 cc, with a variatorThe French version; up to 223 cc in Italy
Power
5.6 hpAbout 4.2 kW, French version
Length
2,130 mm1,410 mm wide
Weight
285 kgThe French 125 cc Amica, by the old site
Seats
2Side by side
Wheels
3Three on the Amica; the Nuova Amica also came with four

Not yet recordedtop speed.

How big is it?

True proportion

2.13 m

It is 840 mm shorter than a Fiat 500, about 1.2 adults laid end to end.

  • 1.41 m wide
  • 285 kg: about four adults
  • Wide enough for two adults side by side
Drawn at true proportion. The track is 3.6 metres long; the adult stands at the same scale. The Peel P50 is the smallest production car, on every page for comparison.

The story

History

BMA, of Alfonsine near Ravenna, began making small vehicles in 1971; the German Wikipedia says it specialised in little utility vehicles.12 What the initials stood for is not known. The original microcarfan.com, in its page on Willam, says a Monsieur Baldi founded both BMA and the firm that made the Baldi Frog, but nothing else confirms it, and Baldi was at Sanremo in Liguria while BMA was in Romagna.3

Its first car, the Amica, was a three-wheeler with a plastic body and gullwing doors.12 Underneath was a sturdy tubular chassis; the body was ABS, and the two gullwing doors were canvas. Take them off and the Amica became an open car. A broad rubber rubbing strip ran right round the body.1 At 2.13 m (7 ft) long and 1.41 m (4 ft 8 in) wide, and 285 kg (628 lb), it was roomy enough for two adults side by side, and the old site’s author found it pleasant.1

Comment ne pas penser à une auto tamponneuse !

The old microcarfan.com’s collector-author, BMA page, archived in 2007 and 2015. In English: “How can you not think of a dodgem car!”1

In Italy the Amica had engines of up to 223 cc. The version sold in France as a licence-free car made do with a 125 cc of 5.6 hp and a variator.1 From 1976 it was imported by Willam, the French importer that also sold the Willam City and several other Italian small cars.14

The Brio, driven on one wheel

The Brio of 1978 was a single-seater on three wheels. Under the rear bench sat the familiar 47 cc Sachs Saxonette with its two-speed automatic box, and its chain drove only the right rear wheel.12 It had no ventilation at all: on a hot day the only cure was to take the doors off or remove the top. Willam imported it for a few years.1 It was built until 1984 by the old site’s account, or 1986 by the German Wikipedia’s.12

The Nuova Amica

The Nuova Amica replaced the Amica in 1980, and later came with four wheels as well as three, the four-wheeler sold alongside the three-wheeler rather than instead of it.12 The old site lists 50, 125 and 250 cc two-strokes and then a 360 cc diesel; the German Wikipedia gives 360 cc petrol and diesel engines. Only the 125 seems to have reached France, and only for a short time.12 In the early 1990s, the old site says, the company changed its name; Grecav took it over in 1991 or 1994.152

Black lettering reading amica 1000 S1 automatic and a small bma logo beside an orange and red tail lamp on red plastic.
The amica 1000 S1 automatic lettering and BMA logo on the tail of a BMA Amica, photographed in 2012.Photo: free photos & art, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Grecav

1991–⁠2013 · a record on this page

Grecav, of Gonzaga near Mantua, was formed in 1964 by merging two older firms, Fratelli Grespan (founded in 1956) and Cavalletti (1922). It bought BMA in 1991, according to the English Wikipedia; the German Wikipedia says 1994.52 In 2007, the old site noted, Grecav was still making licence-free cars.1 A court in Mantua declared it bankrupt in 2013, and its assets were sold at auction in 2017.5

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 4

  • Blue boxy two-door microcar with twin white stripes over its nose and a chrome grille bar, parked on a brick street. Opens a larger view

    1 A blue Amica 1250 with white bonnet stripes in Berlicum, Netherlands, in 2014.

  • Small rounded yellow two-door microcar with cream wheels, parked by a steel fence in front of tall grass. Opens a larger view

    2 A yellow Amica 1100, the rounded later four-wheeled Amica, parked in Katwijk in 2021.

  • Red boxy microcar seen from the rear left, with a large hatch window and a yellow Dutch plate, beside a grey hatchback. Opens a larger view

    3 A red BMA Amica 1000 S1 from behind in the Netherlands in 2012, with its square tail and large rear window.

  • Rear of a red boxy microcar with amica lettering on the bumper, a roof rack and a round speed disc, parked on brick paving. Opens a larger view

    4 A red four-wheeled BMA Amica from behind, with its 40 km/h disc, in the Netherlands in 2021.

Variants and relatives 4

  • Pale turquoise boxy microcar with amica lettering on the nose, standing on paving in a sunlit street with parked cars. Opens a larger view

    5 A cyan Amica 1000 in a street in The Hague in 2012.

  • Small rounded red two-door microcar with a grey roof box, parked on a brick pavement beside bicycles and a white van. Opens a larger view

    6 A red Amica 1100 with a roof box outside a shop in The Hague in 2012.

  • Red rounded two-door microcar seen from the front right, parked on paving before a white tiled wall. Opens a larger view

    7 A red rounded later Amica in the Netherlands in 2010, with Sieberg lettering on its flank.

  • Rounded yellow two-door microcar with yellow wheels and a flower decoration on the dashboard, parked on brick paving. Opens a larger view

    8 A yellow Amica Sport on a Dutch pavement in 2012.

Picture credits (8)
  1. 1 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  2. 2 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  3. 3 free photos & art, CC BY 2.0
  4. 4 crash71100, CC0
  5. 5 FaceMePLS from The Hague, The Netherlands, CC BY 2.0
  6. 6 FaceMePLS from The Hague, The Netherlands, CC BY 2.0
  7. 7 Joost J. Bakker from IJmuiden, CC BY 2.0
  8. 8 free photos & art, CC BY 2.0

Variants

Three wheels, one, or four

The BMA range
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
Amica1971–⁠1980Two seats, ABS body, canvas gullwing doors, a rubber band all roundNot known
Brio1978–⁠1984 or 1986One seat; a 47 cc Sachs driving only the right rear wheelNot known
Nuova Amica, three wheels1980–The Amica’s replacement; petrol engines and a 360 cc dieselNot known
Nuova Amica, four wheels1980s–Sold beside the three-wheeler, not instead of itNot known

Specification

The French Amica, from the old site

Engine and drive

Engine125 cc, 5.6 hp, with a variator1Up to 223 cc in Italy; 50–223 cc in the German Wikipedia
BrioSachs Saxonette 47 cc under the seat, two-speed automatic, chain to the right rear wheel12
Nuova Amica50, 125 or 250 cc two-strokes, then a 360 cc diesel360 cc petrol and diesel engines in the German Wikipedia

Body and chassis

ChassisTubular steel
BodyABS plastic, with a rubber band round it
DoorsCanvas gullwings, removable12

Dimensions

Length2,130 mm
Width1,410 mm
Weight285 kg

Famous for

Three points

  1. A dodgem on the road

    A rubber rubbing strip all round the plastic body.

  2. Canvas gullwings

    Doors that lifted up, and came off to make an open car.

  3. One driven wheel

    The single-seat Brio’s chain turned only its right rear wheel.

Survivors and collecting

Today

No survivor of the three-wheeled Amica or of the Brio is documented, in a museum or at auction, and no club has been found. The old site’s owner appears to have had a Brio of his own, judging by the title of a post of 2011.1

Sources

Numbered as in the text

Only the old microcarfan.com describes these cars in detail; the German Wikipedia gives the outline. No production figures, prices or period road tests were found. Sources are given as plain text; the links are on the Credits page.

  1. The original microcarfan.com (2006–⁠2016), marque page “BMA”, one collector’s account, read in full from the archived copies of 2007 and 2015.
  2. German Wikipedia, BMA (Automobilhersteller), citing Linz and Schrader (2008) and Georgano (2001).
  3. The original microcarfan.com, marque page “WILLAM”, section on the Baldi Frog, read in full from the archived copy.
  4. Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum, “1977 Willam Sulky”, tour page, read via the Internet Archive.
  5. English Wikipedia, Grecav, citing the Gazzetta di Mantova, 2 September 2017.