Osenat presents a special three-wheeled trio

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Every so often, a sale takes place which seems to have been tailor-made for us at PreWarCar.com, and if we're not careful Osenat's Paris sale on 16th April is precisely the thought of thing that could lead us into a difficult conversation with our bank manager.

The sale consists almost entirely of Veteran, Vintage and post-Vintage cars, plus a pair of 1950s garage-finds which are no less interesting, but what really stands out is the fact that there are no fewer than three three-wheelers up for grabs.

Two tricycle rivals from Victorian France

Not surprisingly, one of these is a De Dion Bouton tricycle of c.1902 manufacture. Presented in a very handsome, patinated condition, it looks in excellent order but will probably need some recommissioning as it has been stored in a collectiong for a few decades. With an estimate of €50,000-60,000 (£45,000-55,000), it's about time it was given some exercise in the Brighton Run, Pioneer Run, or Team Jarrott tricycle races.

As lovely as the De Dion is, we think the other tricycle is rather more interesting, not to mention more versatile and usable. It's a Comiot from c.1900 - a marque we'll wager you've never heard of - and it has the advantage of being a convertible of sorts. It was only within the recent weeks that its true identity was established. Previously, it was believed to be a Clément, and it was as such that we exhibited it on our stand at Salon Rétromobile, so we were excited to discover that it's actually something more unusual still.

Comiot was originally a bicycle parts supplier which had the exclusive rights to the Eadie and Perry brands, but it started building motor-tricycles in 1897. As one would expect, Comiots used De Dion Bouton engines, but they otherwise differed significantly from De Dions, relying heavily on Eadie parts. What's more, they even differed significantly from one another, each being built to a unique specification. Remarkably, a Comiot competing in the 1897 Paris-Trouville race finished ahead of all the De Dions entered. From 1900, Comiot adopted De Dion rear axles, such as we see on this tricycle. At some stage, the marque was bought by Eadie.

Its party piece, though, is the convertible front end. Simply remove the front wheel, and in its place install a two-wheeled subframe with fore-chair, and - hey presto - you've got an instant quadricycle. We believe it to be eligible for all the same events as the De Dion, but with a €45,000-55,000 (£40,000-50,000) estimate it looks even better value.

A Peugeot perfect for autojumbling

One of the other great Gallic tricycle makers, albeit of a very different character, was Peugeot with its Triporteur, a handy little hybid of a motorcycle and a pick-up which French market-traders loved. While one tends to think of the Triporteur as a post-war creation, it was in fact launched in 1939 and Osenat's is from that very first year of production. We don't know anything of its history, but it's obviously been restored to a high standard and is in very nice condition. We can think of 101 occasions when a Triporteur could come in handy, so it makes sense to keep one to hand, and for only €3500-5000 (£3000-4500) it's almost too good to resist.

If you really are a stickler for four wheels, don't go away. You can choose between all sorts of things, from a sweet little 1909 Le Zèbre and an 'oily rag' Citroën C3 boulangère to a dashing boat-tailed Ceirano to an exquisite Voisin C1 coupé chauffeur by Binder, and we haven't even got started on the automobilia, so you'd best take a good look at what's in store.
 

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