Unfortunately only one photograph of Mlle. Serpolette's tricycle has come to light, as published in the Town and Country Journal of June 25, 1898 during her visit to Sydney, and reproduced here by courtesy of the State Library of South Australia. The caption on the photograph is "Mdlle. Serpolette on a Motor Tricycle", leaving open the possibility that the photograph was not taken in Sydney. It may have been taken earlier and distributed for publicity purposes. From the photograph and potted technical details that appeared in papers in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney, we can assemble the following technical description of the machine which was variously referred to as a "motor tricycle", "motor cycle" or even "motor car".
Other than the dual-blade front fork, the specification of the tricycle is very close to the De Dion Bouton tricycle of the period. The genuine De Dion Bouton was fitted with a girder front fork in 1898. [Since writing this in 2008, I have had on-going doubts about the tricycle on which Serpolette is pictured at the top of this page. I have found various Gladiator advertisements from the era, and none show the same front fork as the one on the tricycle in the photo. To me, the double bladed fork is more readily identified with the French Comoit motor ticycle. I will continue to worry until something becomes clear!] |
