A cyclecar for Canada: the mysterious and long-lost Louse

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Cyclecars tend to fit into two distinct categories: the distinctive and memorable, or the totally unrecognisable. This one undoubtedly fits into the latter category. Presented with a photograph of a tandem two-seater, the first to spring to mind would be the Bédélia. We should also remember the Peugeot Type 161, the English-built Tamplin and the Twombly from America, then we'd probably run out of ideas. If anything, this car most closely resembles a Bédélia, but the fact that its builder had the crazy idea of placing the driver in the front seat rules it out.

The fact that the picture comes from Canada - to be precise, from Greenwood, British Columbia - might give us a clue, but we'd still draw a blank. While we tend to think of cyclecars as a mainly European phenomenon, the USA had its fair share of constructors and Canada even had a few of its own, too, but none of the ones we know resemble this car.

We do, in fact, know its identity, but nothing else besides. It's called the Louse and we wonder if it was ever intended for production, or if it was just a one-off built by an enthusiastic amateur. The house in the background is suggestive of a fairly affluent area. Maybe the Louse's builders had a bit of disposable income and wanted to have a go at setting up a little operation out of a garden shed, a bit like old Godfrey and Nash?

Its design looks very typical of the 1920s cyclecar formula. Its engine appears to be a motorcycle V-twin, it has an unbraked front axle and the chain-drive to the rear axle is clearly visible. The steering is probably some extremely simple arrangement such as wire-and-bobbin.

Aside from all that, this car has us positively stumped. Have you ever come across the Louse before? Tell us all you know...

Words: Zack Stiling
Photo: Greenwood Museum Historical Photograph Collection
 

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