Charlatte

Charlatte's automobile activity was the final chapter of a small French leisure-car design created by Jean-Claude Hrubon, later known for the Dallas. Hrubon conceived an extremely short, open, doorless vehicle inspired visually by the Mini Moke but not connected to the British Mini-derived original. The first examples appeared under Hrubon, followed by Automobiles Schmitt production at Guebwiller from 1981 to 1984. Établissements Charlatte S.A., based at 17 rue Paul Bert in Migennes, Yonne, then acquired the program and marketed the car as La Puce—'the flea'—from about 1984. Its flat panels, exposed cabin and tiny dimensions made it look like a miniature Moke. A 50 cc gasoline version qualified for France's licence-free voiture-sans-permis rules. Sources also document an optional 1,000 cc four-cylinder engine, transforming performance, but do not preserve its donor make, output, gearbox, dimensions, weight, price or homologation details. Across Hrubon, Schmitt and Charlatte, roughly 200 examples are reported as kits or complete registered vehicles from 1981–87; no defensible manufacturer split survives, so that total is not assigned wholesale to Charlatte. Sources conflict on the precise Charlatte dates: general encyclopedias say production began in 1984 or 1985 and ended in 1986 or 1988, while the dedicated succession archive gives 1984–87. The catalog uses the latter production envelope and discloses the uncertainty rather than converting possible legal existence into vehicle output. One La Puce row accounts for both factory engine forms because no distinct model names or generations are documented. Charlatte is separate from Hrubon and Schmitt manufacturer provenance, Jean-Claude Hrubon's Dallas, the original Mini Moke and Charlatte Manutention's later industrial airport tractors/ground-support equipment unless individually researched under that separate product history.

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