Taking its name from Phoebus, the Greek God who drove the sun across the heavens each day, Phebus motor vehicles were built between 1899 and 1903 by Noe Boyer & Cie in the Parisian suberb of Suresnes.

Initially Phebus offered Aster-engined tricycles, one of which was ridden by Charles Jarrott at a breakneck speed of 39mph on the Crystal Palace Velodrome.

The great French rider Beconnais also won the prestigious Coupe des Motocycles de l’ACF in 1899 on a Phebus bicylette, covering 100km in 1hr 46mins.

The four-wheeler Automobilette Phebus appeared in 1898 and in England these were marketed by F W Wellington of St George’s Square, London.

In the Automotor Journal in January 1900 they reported that the new De Dion-engined Phebus ‘takes Primrose and Haverstock Hills with the greatest of ease’.

This vehicle was acquired for the Ward Brothers’ Collection in 2006.

It is, in our opinion, the most attractive configuration of all Phebus cars, with the fold-open front seat enabling a passen...