microcarfan
  • Pre-war voiturette
  • France
  • Single cylinder

Le Zèbre

Also known as Le Zèbre Type A, Le Zebre

Its two founders could not agree whose name the car should carry, so, the story goes, they named it after a clerk at their old firm who ran fast and often: the Zebra. The single-cylinder two-seater cost 3,000 francs when a comparable small car cost 4,000.

Red single-cylinder two-seater with a buttoned gold seat and red wheels on a white plinth.
A red 1909 Le Zèbre Type A from the front three-quarter at the Franschhoek Motor Museum, South Africa, in October 2016.Photo: naeem mayet, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

Le Zèbre

Type A · Paris

Built
1909–⁠1931The single-cylinder Type A 1909–⁠1917, revived about 1921–⁠23
Country
FranceParis, then Suresnes
Maker
Le ZèbreBizet Constructions, then from 1911 the Société anonyme des Automobiles Le Zèbre
Engine
601 cc single, in frontType A, 85 × 106 mm, 5 CV; later four-cylinder types of 785, 998 and 1,743 cc and 2 litres
Weight
300 kgThe Type A, by English Wikipedia
Seats
2The Type A
Wheels
4Front engine, shaft drive to the rear wheels
Price new
3,000 FThe Type A in 1909; under 3,000 F by one account
Production
about 9,500All models, 1909–⁠1931
Survives
about 250Complete cars counted in 1996

Not yet recordedpower, top speed and length.

How big is it?

True proportion

Length unknown

No reliable length has been found. The Fiat 500, the Peel P50 and the adult stay, so the gap is shown, not hidden.

  • A two-seater of about 300 kg
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.

Beside its contemporaries

The French microcars on the road in 1909, on the same 3.5 m scale. Lengths of cars without a page yet come from the census and are unverified.

  1. Peugeot Bébé1905–⁠1916 · France

    2.62 m

  2. Le Zèbre1909–⁠1931 · France

The story

History

Jules Salomon was the son of a café-owner in Cahors and a graduate of the École de commerce et d’industrie de Bordeaux. At his first job, with Rouart frères, Beau de Rochas taught him the basics of mechanics.123 He moved restlessly from firm to firm, staying, it is said, two hours at Delaunay-Belleville, before he settled at Georges Richard, the firm that became Unic in 1904–⁠05.2 A salesman there, Jacques Bizet, was the son of Georges Bizet, the composer of Carmen. The two men shared a love of music, and Bizet, who dreamed of glory, asked Salomon to design a car that would carry his name.12 Salomon has his own place among the designers of small cars.

Salomon drew the Type A in 1909 while still working for Georges Richard, and more than a hundred were built that year in Unic’s own premises.2 It was a two-seater with a single cylinder of 601 cc in front, rated at 5 CV, two speeds and reverse, and a shaft to the rear wheels, and it weighed about 300 kg (661 lb).134 It was designed to be cheap to make, and it sold for under 3,000 francs, when a comparable rival cost about 4,000 F on average and a mid-range car 10,000 F.21 The partners could not agree whose name to give it, and chose “Le Zèbre”, said to be the nickname of a clerk at Unic who ran fast and often.32 English and French Wikipedia name Georges Richard as Salomon’s partner, with Bizet’s money; Gazoline and German Wikipedia name Salomon and Bizet, which is the better-supported account.132

In October 1909 the two left Unic and set up in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, as Bizet Constructions. Émile Akar and Joseph Lamy bought in, and Lamy became sales director.132 Omnia described the car on 1 January 1910, and its editor, Baudry de Saunier, the leading French motoring writer of the day, never stopped praising it.321 Some have filed it with the cyclecars, but with its shaft drive and a gearbox with reverse it was a small conventional car, as Gazoline insists.12

La marque ne produit toujours que le monocylindre Type A qui, bien que de dimensions réduites, n’est pas un cyclecar comme le laissent entendre certains, mais bien une véritable voiture, aux performances très appréciables.

Eric Favre, Gazoline, 2003. In English: “The firm still made only the single-cylinder Type A, which, though small, was not a cyclecar as some suggest, but a real car with very creditable performance.”2

Four cylinders and a war

The company was incorporated in 1911 as the Société anonyme des Automobiles Le Zèbre.32 In 1912 two four-cylinder models arrived: the Type B, a 1,743 cc four-seater at 6,000 F, and the Type C, a two-seat torpedo of 785 cc on a 200 cm (79 in) wheelbase, while the Type A carried on.12 German Wikipedia gives the small fours as 785 and 942 cc.3 After several moves the firm settled at Suresnes.12 In the war the little cars proved able to go anywhere, and from 1915 the War Ministry ordered 40 a month as liaison cars, with other military parts; Le Zèbre kept its staff while its rivals were turned over to shells.12

The men who left

In 1917 Salomon and Bizet fell out; Gazoline sets Bizet’s dissolute life against Salomon’s rigour.2 Salomon went to André Citroën and designed the Citroën Type A of 1919 and then, with Edmond Moyet, the Citroën 5HP of 1922, which was, according to Gazoline, directly derived from Le Zèbre drawings. He later worked for Peugeot and Rosengart, and died at Suresnes in 1963.12 In 1921 Moyet, Akar and Lamy left with André Morel, the former Berliet tester who sold Le Zèbres in the south, to found Amilcar, a name made from Akar’s and Lamy’s, and the maker of the Amilcar CC.12 That same year Morel drove a Le Zèbre in the Limonest hill climb near Lyon, the only competition entry by the make that Gazoline knows of; the result is not recorded.2

The firm lasted another decade. The four-cylinder Type D of 1919, 998 cc and 8 CV with four speeds, replaced the old range, but customers asked for the single, and the “eternal Type A” came back on the Type C chassis.12 Early in 1923 only the Types A and D were catalogued, followed by the Type E, a sporting D, a 10 HP built under an Amilcar licence, and the Type C again.2 Harry Ricardo designed the 2-litre Type Z of late 1924, and only 550 were sold between 1925 and 1930. A Ricardo opposed-piston two-stroke diesel prototype stood on the stand at the 1931 Paris Salon, but the firm closed that year, and its liquidation dragged on until 1938.132

Black and white advertisement with a drawing of a small open car, slogans and a price list.
Plate I · 1912 A 1912 advertisement for “la voiturette le Zèbre”, three times faster than the horse.Photo: Alden Jewell, Public domain, via Flickr
Green printed share certificate with a decorative border, two stamps and a serial number.
Plate II · 1919 A 100-franc share in the Société anonyme des Automobiles Le Zèbre, dated 26 July 1919, now a collectors’ item.Photo: Edhac-Edham, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 23

  • Yellow single-cylinder two-seater with black seats and wooden wheels on a chequered tile floor. Opens a larger view

    1 A yellow 1910 Le Zèbre Type A with black buttoned seats at the Musée automobile de Vendée, France, in September 2013.

  • Red single-cylinder two-seater with a brass radiator and black hood on gravel before a dark wall. Opens a larger view

    2 A red 1909 Le Zèbre Type A with a black hood at the Musée Automobile Reims Champagne, France, in July 2010.

  • Red two-seater with a black hood, brass radiator and lamps and red wheels in a museum hall. Opens a larger view

    3 A red 1910 Le Zèbre Type A torpedo from the front three-quarter at the Cité de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France, in April 2016.

  • Cream two-seater with a beige hood, brass lamps and wooden wheels on gravel among other veteran cars. Opens a larger view

    4 A cream 1913 Le Zèbre Type A torpedo with its hood up at the Cité de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France, in June 2013.

  • Red two-seater with wooden wheels on grass, a man in a white hat leaning over its bonnet. Opens a larger view

    5 A red Le Zèbre Type A two-seater with brass lamps and a black hood at an outdoor meeting in October 2013.

18 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Green two-seater with yellow wheels and brass lamps on a wooden floor, a loose brass radiator beside it. Opens a larger view

    6 A green 1911 Le Zèbre Type A4 with yellow wheels beside a spare radiator at Autoworld, Brussels, Belgium, in August 2021.

  • Pale green two-seater with brass lamps and pale wheels on grass, spectators under a red marquee. Opens a larger view

    7 A pale green Le Zèbre Type A with its windscreen up at the Villemanoche gathering, Yonne, France, in June 2019.

  • Side view of a veteran car with wooden wheels and a fringed canopy, men aboard and beside it. Opens a larger view

    8 A 1911 Le Zèbre with a fringed canopy in profile before the New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run, Minnesota, in August 2012.

  • Green two-seater with a tan hood and brass radiator behind a rope barrier, yellow cars behind. Opens a larger view

    9 A green Le Zèbre Type A with its hood up in the Col·lecció d’Automòbils Salvador Claret, Sils, Spain, in June 2018.

  • Red two-seater with a black hood, spare tyre and red wooden wheels on pale pebbles. Opens a larger view

    10 A red 1910 Le Zèbre Type A torpedo with a black hood at the Cité de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France, in April 2016.

  • Cream two-seater with a folded hood frame, wooden wheels and brass lamps on pebbles. Opens a larger view

    11 A cream 1913 Le Zèbre Type A torpedo from the right at the Cité de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France, in April 2016.

  • Side view of a pale green two-seater with brass trim and pale wheels on a grassy slope. Opens a larger view

    12 A pale green Le Zèbre Type A on a grass bank at the Villemanoche gathering, Yonne, France, in June 2019.

  • Front of a small yellow car with a brass radiator, script roundel and brass lamps on a tiled floor. Opens a larger view

    13 A yellow 1910 Le Zèbre Type A head-on at the Musée automobile de Vendée, France, in September 2013.

  • Front of a red two-seater with a gold buttoned seat, brass radiator and red wheels on a white plinth. Opens a larger view

    14 A red 1909 Le Zèbre Type A, A 2180, head-on at the Franschhoek Motor Museum, South Africa, in October 2016.

  • A small veteran car with a fringed canopy driving along a path between grass and trees. Opens a larger view

    15 A 1911 Le Zèbre on a tree-lined road during the New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run, Minnesota, in August 2012.

  • Small veteran car with a fringed canopy and two men aboard crossing a suburban road junction. Opens a larger view

    16 A 1911 Le Zèbre with a fringed canopy crossing a road on the New London to New Brighton Antique Car Run, Minnesota, in August 2012.

  • Turquoise two-seater with brass radiator and wooden wheels on a lane, people watching from the grass. Opens a larger view

    17 A turquoise Le Zèbre Type A arriving with its crew at an outdoor classic meeting in May 2015.

  • Green two-seater with a tan hood, brass radiator and badges, behind a rope barrier. Opens a larger view

    18 A green 1910 Le Zèbre Type A with a tan hood in the Col·lecció d’Automòbils Salvador Claret, Sils, Spain, in 2009.

  • Black two-seater with a cream hood, brass lamps and black wheels on a terracotta tiled floor. Opens a larger view

    19 A black 1911 Le Zèbre with a cream hood in the Monaco Top Cars Collection in 2009.

  • Green two-seater with brass radiator and lamps and yellow wheels in a large museum hall. Opens a larger view

    20 A green Le Zèbre Type A with yellow wheels at Autoworld, Brussels, Belgium, in December 2018.

  • Dark green two-seater with brass lamps under a canopy roof at an indoor show, visitors behind. Opens a larger view

    21 A dark green 1910 Le Zèbre Type A at the Rétro Auto show in Évreux, France, in October 2017.

  • Rear of a small veteran car with a folded black hood and a brown trunk, on grass. Opens a larger view

    22 The tail of a pale green Le Zèbre Type A with its luggage trunk at the Villemanoche gathering, Yonne, France, in June 2019.

  • Front of a red two-seater with a black hood, brass radiator and two brass lamps on gravel. Opens a larger view

    23 A red 1910 Le Zèbre Type A torpedo head-on at the Cité de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France, in May 2018.

The car: Type C 7

  • Green two-seater with a cream hood and brass radiator on gravel before palace gardens. Opens a larger view

    24 A green 1912 Le Zèbre C4 with a cream hood at the Classic-Gala Schwetzingen, Germany, in September 2022.

  • Yellow two-seater with wire wheels and a brass radiator parked on snow by a green shed. Opens a larger view

    25 A yellow 1914 Le Zèbre Type C two-seater on a snowy yard in January 2025.

  • Pale yellow two-seater with a brass radiator and gold wire wheels parked on tarmac by a garage. Opens a larger view

    26 A pale yellow 1914 Le Zèbre Type C on a gravel yard in July 2020.

  • Red two-seater with a black hood and wooden wheels, its owners chatting beside it. Opens a larger view

    27 A red 1913 Le Zèbre C5 with a black hood at the Konz old-timer meeting, Germany, in July 2008.

  • Pale green two-seater with wire wheels, a spare on the side and a black hood, on grass. Opens a larger view

    28 A pale green 1912 Le Zèbre Type C with wire wheels at a classic car meeting in June 2016.

  • Green four-cylinder two-seater with a tan hood, brass lamps and wooden wheels on pebbles. Opens a larger view

    29 A green 1913 Le Zèbre Type C torpedo with a tan hood at the Cité de l’Automobile, Mulhouse, France, in April 2016.

  • Front of a pale green two-seater with a black hood and brass radiator on cut grass. Opens a larger view

    30 A pale green 1912 Le Zèbre Type C with a black hood head-on at a classic car meeting in June 2016.

Inside and details 7

  • Looking over a wooden steering wheel and brass fittings to a folded windscreen and a car park. Opens a larger view

    31 The driver’s view of a Le Zèbre Type A, with wooden wheel and brass fittings, at Villemanoche, Yonne, France, in June 2019.

  • Close view of a chrome radiator top with a temperature gauge cap and a blue script badge. Opens a larger view

    32 The MotoMeter cap and blue enamel ‘le Zèbre’ roundel on a 1920s Le Zèbre tourer at the Goodwood Breakfast Club, England, in July 2008.

  • Close view of a brass radiator with a script badge between two large brass headlamps. Opens a larger view

    33 The brass radiator, roundel and twin headlamps of a green Le Zèbre Type A at Autoworld, Brussels, Belgium, in May 2011.

  • Head-on close view of a brass radiator with a script badge and two large glass headlamps. Opens a larger view

    34 The brass radiator and big headlamps of a Le Zèbre Type A among museum mannequins, July 2019.

  • Close view of a brass radiator shell with a script roundel, green wings either side and a rope below. Opens a larger view

    35 The brass radiator and ‘le Zèbre’ roundel of a Le Zèbre Type A in the Col·lecció d’Automòbils Salvador Claret, Sils, Spain, in 2009.

  • Close-up of a round brass badge with flowing ‘le Zèbre’ lettering on a red background. Opens a larger view

    36 The red and brass ‘le Zèbre’ script roundel on the radiator of a 1913 Le Zèbre C5 at Konz, Germany, in July 2008.

  • Close view of a brass radiator with a script badge flanked by two big acetylene headlamps. Opens a larger view

    37 The brass radiator, roundel and acetylene headlamps of a 1910 Le Zèbre Type A at the Rétro Auto show in Évreux, France, in October 2017.

Variants and relatives 6

  • Dark blue open tourer with a tall black radiator, wire wheels and a white number plate. Opens a larger view

    38 A dark blue 1920s Le Zèbre tourer, SV 6280, with its blue radiator roundel at the Goodwood Breakfast Club, England, in July 2008.

  • Side view of a long dark blue open tourer with wire wheels, people talking beside it. Opens a larger view

    39 A dark blue 1920s Le Zèbre tourer, SV 6280, in profile at the Goodwood Breakfast Club, England, in July 2008.

  • Maroon open special with an exposed engine, wire wheels and big lamps on a snowy yard. Opens a larger view

    40 A maroon 1918 Le Zèbre-based ‘Curtis Special’ with an exposed engine on a snowy yard in January 2025.

  • Black and maroon four-door open tourer with a cream hood parked on a sunny city street. Opens a larger view

    41 A black and maroon Le Zèbre Type Z tourer of the 1920s on a street in Adelaide, South Australia, in January 2011.

  • Rear of a maroon and black tourer with its hood up and a spare wheel on the back, in sunshine. Opens a larger view

    42 A black and maroon Le Zèbre Type Z tourer from the rear three-quarter in Adelaide, South Australia, in January 2011.

  • Maroon and black tourer with a black hood, bonnet side open, on a lawn beside a display board. Opens a larger view

    43 A 1925 Le Zèbre Type Z 10 tourer with its bonnet open at a car show in Australia in November 2015.

Period photographs 1

  • A sepia photograph of a soldier in a steel helmet seated in a small open car with brass lamps before a gateway. Opens a larger view

    44 René Boulanger in soldier’s uniform and helmet at the wheel of a Le Zèbre Type A two-seater, photographed between 1914 and 1918.

Picture credits (44)
  1. 1 Alf van Beem, CC0
  2. 2 Alf van Beem, CC0
  3. 3 Alf van Beem, Public domain
  4. 4 Charles01, CC BY-SA 3.0
  5. 5 gérard, CC BY-SA 2.0
  6. 6 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  7. 7 François GOGLINS, CC BY-SA 4.0
  8. 8 Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0
  9. 9 Alberto-g-rovi, CC BY 3.0
  10. 10 Alf van Beem, Public domain
  11. 11 Alf van Beem, Public domain
  12. 12 François GOGLINS, CC BY-SA 4.0
  13. 13 Alf van Beem, CC0
  14. 14 naeem mayet, CC BY 2.0
  15. 15 Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0
  16. 16 Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0
  17. 17 A1AA1A, CC BY-SA 4.0
  18. 18 Buch-t, Public domain
  19. 19 Buch-t, Public domain
  20. 20 Miguel Discart, CC BY-SA 2.0
  21. 21 Frédéric BISSON, CC BY 2.0
  22. 22 François GOGLINS, CC BY-SA 4.0
  23. 23 joergens.mi, CC BY-SA 3.0
  24. 24 Alexander Migl, CC BY-SA 4.0
  25. 25 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  26. 26 Glachlan, CC0
  27. 27 Berthold Werner, Public domain
  28. 28 Blood Destructor, CC BY-SA 4.0
  29. 29 Alf van Beem, Public domain
  30. 30 Blood Destructor, CC BY-SA 4.0
  31. 31 François GOGLINS, CC BY-SA 4.0
  32. 32 Brian Snelson, CC BY 2.0
  33. 33 Thomas Quine, CC BY 2.0
  34. 34 Bachelot Pierre J-P, CC BY-SA 3.0
  35. 35 Buch-t, Public domain
  36. 36 Berthold Werner, Public domain
  37. 37 Frédéric BISSON, CC BY 2.0
  38. 38 Supermac1961, CC BY 2.0
  39. 39 Brian Snelson, CC BY 2.0
  40. 40 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  41. 41 Ilox, Public domain
  42. 42 Ilox, CC0
  43. 43 GTHO, CC BY-SA 4.0
  44. 44 Boulanger family archive, CC BY-SA 4.0

Variants

From one cylinder to Ricardo’s two litres

The Le Zèbre range
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
Type A, 5 CV1909–⁠17; c.1921–⁠23Single-cylinder two-seater, two speeds and reverse, shaft drive; later on the Type C chassisMore than 100 in 1909; total not recorded
Type B, 10 CV1912–⁠1917Four cylinders, 1,743 cc; a four-seater at 6,000 FNot recorded
Type C1912/13–17; 1923Four cylinders, 785 cc; a two-seat torpedo on a 200 cm wheelbaseNot recorded
Type D, 8 CV1919–⁠1923Four cylinders, 998 cc, four speeds; 10,200–16,500 FNot recorded
Type E1923–A sporting Type DNot recorded
Type Z, 10 CV1925–⁠1930Harry Ricardo’s 2-litre design550

Specification

The Type A, 1909–⁠1917

Engine and drive

EngineSingle cylinder, in front12
Capacity601 cc, 85 × 106 mm, rated 5 CV34“600 cc” in English Wikipedia
PowerNot found
GearboxTwo speeds and reverse1
Final driveShaft1

Body and chassis

SeatsTwo12
Wheelbase180 cm (71 in)1German Wikipedia, from Omnia (1910), gives 2,700 mm, perhaps the overall length
Track1,000 mm (39 in)3

Dimensions

Weight300 kg (661 lb)1
Length, widthNot found

Performance and running

Top speedNot found
Price new3,000 F in 190914Under 3,000 F, against about 4,000 F for a comparable car, by Gazoline

How many were built?

Every figure, with its source

About 9,500 of all modelsAbout 9,500 cars of every type, 1909–⁠1931. Gazoline and English Wikipedia agree, though both may draw on Philippe Schram’s history of the firm. No total for the Type A alone has been found.

  1. about 9,500all models, 1909–⁠1931One source

    Gazoline (2003) and English Wikipedia, perhaps both from Schram, so counted as one21

  2. 550Type Zs, 1925–⁠1930Two sources agree

    English Wikipedia and Gazoline12

  3. more than 100Type As in 1909, built in Unic’s premisesOne source

    Gazoline2

  • Two sources agreetwo good sources give the figure
  • One sourcea good source, alone
  • Unconfirmeda lead only, not yet checked

Famous for

Three points

  1. Under 3,000 francs

    A single-cylinder two-seater for about three-quarters of the price of a comparable small car.

  2. Bizet’s son

    Jacques Bizet, son of the composer of Carmen, wanted a car to make his own name.

  3. A school for designers

    Its designer went on to the Citroën Type A and 5HP, its backers to Amilcar, and Harry Ricardo drew its last car.

Survivors and collecting

Today

About 250 Le Zèbres survive. German Wikipedia says 250 complete cars were counted in 1996, more than 20 of them in Belgium; Gazoline gives the same number. Only two Type Zs are known.32 Philippe Schram, who wrote the marque’s history (also published in German), keeps a register on his site, which also lists toys and a centenary in 2009.5 A 1919 share certificate is collected in its own right.13 The sources read record no result from any of the big auction houses. The film Le Zèbre (1992), by Jean Poiret, has nothing to do with the car.6

A small veteran car with a passenger standing to wave, passing a crowded grandstand on a track.
Plate III · 1960 A Le Zèbre Type A waved past the grandstand at Zandvoort, in the Netherlands, on a Pioneer Automobile Club run on 9 October 1960.Photo: Joop van Bilsen (Anefo), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Numbered as in the text

The fullest history read is Eric Favre’s for Gazoline; the Wikipedias draw on Philippe Schram’s book on the firm, which was not read, and Baudry de Saunier’s praise in Omnia was not found. Sources are given as plain text; the links are on the Credits page.

  1. English Wikipedia, Le Zèbre, read in full. Used as a lead; it draws on Schram and Georgano.
  2. Eric Favre, “Le Zèbre invente l’auto populaire !”, Gazoline, 2003, read in full.
  3. German Wikipedia, Le Zèbre, read in full. Used as a lead; it cites Linz and Schrader, Georgano, Schram, Gazoline and Omnia (1 January 1910 and 6 July 1912).
  4. French Wikipedia, Le Zèbre (entreprise), read in full. Used as a lead; it cites Gazoline and a 1966 Suresnes historical society article on Salomon.
  5. lezebre.eu, Philippe Schram’s site on the marque: index and book pages only.
  6. French Wikipedia, Le Zèbre, disambiguation page.