Introduced in 1901. Discontinued in 1907. Decks and singles show up from time to time, but original boxes are very scarce. Anecdotally, red decks are harder to find than blue. Note that both of the singles shown above have small holes in the center of the top and bottom ends. This is because the cards were used for an early store window display in which a number of cards were strung together in a garland.
The image below shows a card design from another manufacturer (from the United Kingdom, I believe) with a similar theme, although unlike Motorette, this card depicts a motorized tricycle, not an automobile. But, both machines offered an equally precarious seat for the passenger!
SALES DATA
A blue Motorette No. 1 deck (no joker, no box) sold on eBay for $107 on 9/23/16.
A red Motorette No. 1 single sold on eBay for $35 on 8/01/16; not an unreasonable hammer price as singles of this back design are scarce.
A red Motorette No. 1 single sold on eBay for $44 on 11/19/16. The same day a blue Motorette No. 1 single sold for $63.
A VG/EX blue Motorette No. 1 deck (no joker/no box) sold on eBay for $82.50 on 3/08/17. The latter two sales viewed together indicate that prices for Bicycle cards sometime fluctuate substantially for no apparent reason.
One of several blue Motorette No. 1 singles sold on eBay for $12.00 on 7/25/21.
