Charles Benoit and Abel Bardin joined in 1922 and designed their first motorcycle in 1923, a 175 cc (10.7 cu in) single cylinder two-stroke-engined bike.

Unlike most French makers of the era, Motobecane used Swiss thread bottom brackets for most models.

Considered the second most prestigious French bicycle (after Peugeot, whose more durable design they emulated, but ahead of Gitane), Motobécane's mid-range bikes were good value; the company kept prices reasonable by matching high-quality frames with lower-priced, but higher-quality components from Japan, at a time when competitors were putting higher-priced, lower quality French components on mid-range bikes.

They included some hidden cabling through the top tube and full use of Shimano's Adamax 600 ax components which had been designed specifically for aerodynamics.

French bottom brackets, like Italian ones, used right-hand threading on the fixed cups, making them subject to loosening by precession.

Motobécane broke ranks with most other French manufacturers in the mid-70s, using Swiss-threaded bottom brackets (also difficult to find replacement parts for now).

Swiss bottom brackets were identical to French, save that the fixed cups were reverse-threaded (like English ones), making them immune to loosening by precession.

After this series and from 1961, with the use of Japanese parts and adding rear suspension, the Models V50 and higher were able to reach a speed of 45 km/h (28 mph) hour and with a power of 1.2 kW (1.6 bhp).

In 1942, responding to the disappearance of civilian fuel supplies, the directors instructed an engineer called Éric Jaulmes to look into the possibility of producing a two-seater pedal car to compete with the Vélocar.

[4] A single central fin on the tail-piece of the body was featured not for aerodynamic reasons but in order to accommodate the rear wheel.

Long lens photographs appearing in L’Auto-Journal in December 1961 showed the results of a serious Motobécane project to fight back by developing a small “quadricycle” format automobile.

[5][6][7] Although the manufacturer was unfamiliar with automobile technology, they were happy to incorporate into the design a form of the innovative infinitely variable transmission which a few years later became a defining feature of DAF cars.

[5] Power came from a 125 cc two stroke engine installed at an angle of 7 degrees from the vertical in order to keep the flat front hood/bonnet low enough for the windscreen to be foldable forwards over it in the manner of a traditional Jeep.

[5] The prototype's motor-cycle connections were apparent from the large spoked wheels which might not have survived on a production version of the car.