A Brief History of the Marque
Manufactured: 1955-1958
Headed by Jean Avot, the company was a member of the aviation industry located on rue de Ponthieu at the Toussus-de-Noble airport near Paris, and was the French distributor for Cessna. They were licenced to build the machines developed by Egon Brutsch and to these they made many modifications.
Displayed at the 1955 Paris Salon as La Brutsch-Avolette, it appeared at the 1956 show as L'Avolette.
The frame was substantially stiffened front and rear to form a cage, the steering mechanism was changed to use a flexible Bowden cable system, it had an optional hard-top, and a number of fittings were chrome-plated. Front suspension was by Neidhart, rear by Niemann, and a more conventional framed windshield replaced the original sculpted plexiglass.
Several different models were produced - three employed Ydral 125 & 175cc engines, two had F&S 200cc and 250cc units, and a four-wheel model was released with a Maico Maicoletta engine, the 250 MD Record capable of 110km/h. The two rear wheels of this machine were quite close together.
A Lambretta-powered "New Avolette" was displayed in 1957 but did not enter production.
A version of the Rollera was built in 1958 and possibly '59 which had an AMC engine, with two wheels at the rear and one at the front. A very fine example was sold at Sotherbys for over $63,000.
Sources: Bruce Weiner Museum, et al.
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