What caught my attention about this little three-wheeled roadster I suspect may be what also caught your attention: that huge lion-head badge in the middle of the grille. Well, to be fair, I’m not even really sure that is a grille, because this thing is rear-engined, with a two-cylinder, 15 horsepower two-stroke 322cc engine out back. I think it’s air-cooled as well? Also, this is a three-wheeler, though the body design seeks to disguise that a good bit. It’s an interesting little car I wasn’t aware of before, and it’s called a Powerdrive. Also, look at that lion head!
The Powerdrive was built from 1955 to 1957, by a designer named David Gottlieb, who had experience designing interesting and fun microcars when he designed the Allard Clipper, which I’ve actually written about before.
You remember, right? Allard was a sports car maker who decided to get into the microcar business after the war, since there was a big and growing demand in the UK for cheap transportation.
The Clipper was a sleek little thing and was Britain’s first fiberglass-bodied car, but it was also kind of a steaming pile and suffered all sorts of problems, including overheating all of the driving excitement that comes from a one-wheel drive (the left rear, if you’re curious) car. It wasn’t really a hit.
The Powerdrive wasn’t really one, either. It was a bit more mature and refined than the clipper, and larger, too, able to sit three abreast in its bench seat, snugly, and if the people aren’t terribly huge, and it featured luggage compartments front and rear. Being three-wheelers meant they could get the tax breaks offered for three-wheeled cars weighing under around 900 pounds, which was a huge advantage.
You know, the Powerdrive also had only one powered wheel, the lone rear one, via chain, but somehow that seems less weird than the Clipper that powered just one on one side. I mean, it likely barely matters, but still.
According to that ad, these were £412 back in 1956, which translates to about $16,000 American dollars today. For comparison, a 1958 Austin-Healey “Bugeye” Sprite (the first year those were sold, and the closest four-wheel equivalent to this thing I can think of) sold for £669, which would compute to about $24,000 USD today. So, yeah, it was dirt cheap.
Of course, the Bugeye Sprite is a much more real and capable car than the little Powerdrive, though the Powerdrive did have hydraulic brakes and an electric starter, and wasn’t as crude as a lot of microcars of that era.
It’s not clear how many of these were actually ever sold, and it’s hard to say they were a success – but damn, that’s a fierce lion-head.
What I got from that Clipper pic:
“I can get 70 miles to the gallon on this hog!”
What I got from that Clipper pic:
“I can get 70 miles to the gallon on this hog!”
I realize that I probably read waaaaaayyyy too many British classic car magazines when I saw “322cc” and my brain instantly responded with “Anzani.”