Equipment
Disc wheels, single spare, 856cc engine, MotoMeter.
Condition
#3 Good
Runs and drives well. Flaws not noticeable to passersby. Most common condition.
From the Academy of Arts collection. Old driver quality paint with numerous chips and cracks. Worn top. Tidy frame. Used but maintained and complete engine bay with its little side-valve four that looks like it could almost fit in the palm of your hand. An adorable little car with a neat ducktail rear not visible in the photo. Worn condition aside, it's one of the more charming cars in this entire auction and got just as much attention as the Duesenberg and the Bugatti displayed a few feet away.
Market commentary
In teaching about design it's good to have examples of the ridiculous (or at least practical) to balance the sublime. This 5CV is a good example of the former, a solid, stolid, practical automobile that will function as family church transport as well as hauling milk, croissants or bags of potatoes to market during the week. If there is a symbol of the present gilets jeunes revolt in France over increased gasoline taxes "to save the environment" at the expense of rural farmers this is it. It was sold at Bonhams Greenwich auction in 2013 for $24,200 during the buildup of the Academy of Arts University collection and its price here, even considering the attention it got during the preview, is appropriate five years later.