Adieu, mopeds

St. Quentin, France

Tough new European pollution laws brought an end to the era of the moped in France, as the last French-built Mobylette rolled off the production line last week. Introduced in 1949, the Mobylette was really just a souped-up bicycle with a tiny motor. But the French loved it. For decades, children rode them to school, farmers rode them to market, and no French film was complete without a shot of a girl swinging onto the back of her boyfriend’s moped as he sped from her parents’ home. But the engine could not be efficiently modified to meet new emissions standards, so the moped had to go. “For us, it was the turning of a very important page,” said factory head Pedro Alvarez. “It pains the heart a little.” Motorized scooters, which meet the pollution standards, will still be sold.

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