The name "LEITRA" stands for Light Individual TRAnsport in a variety of Western languages, and better than anything tells it all in one concise expression. This pretty little velomobile  --it is not a mere trike anymore!-- has been invented, perfected, and is manufactured since mid- 1980's by Carl- Georg Rasmussen of Copenhagen, Denmark. Hand- built at a rate of between of 1-2 vehicles per month, more than 170 units have been delivered to customers, and practically all of them are in constant use. Evangelism aside, withouth doubt the Leitra represents the finest, most optimal weather- independent, all- year- round human- powered vehicle concept there is.
    If this sounds too good to be true, then consider, that the three- wheel Leitra WITH the glassfibre- reinforced plastic fairing weights no more than 27 kg, and mere 12 to 13 kg without one!. That is less than many an ordinary 2-wheel upright city bike!
    The secret lies in the Leitra having a strong, thin- member space- frame as in an airplane (indeed, before he elected to devote his time to building all- weather trikes, Rasmussen originally intended to build single- seater airplanes). Apart from its weight- saving effect, that frame doubles as a protective cage for the rider. Thus, in the event of a crash the "pilot" sits protected inside both a hardshell fairing, and a superstrong "easy chair." It tells something of the safety  of the Leitras that, in more than 1.5 (projected) million kilometers driven since its appearance on public roads, and thus involvement in a number of traffic accidents, no single rider has ever been injured.
    Perchance that very image of security is also why Leitras appeal so strongly to older people, an age group that usually isn't too well represented among bicycle riders. In fact vehicles #100 and #101 were delivered to a couple, then 73 and 81 years old, who sold their car and bought a velomobile each to retain basic weather- independent mobility, and keep in trim at the same time!

    This picture was taken in July of 1993, when, with the imminent HPV Championships in nearby Farum, a whole group of recumbent riders from near and far descended upon the Leitra workshop outside of Copenhagen, and camped on the floor for a couple of nights. The gentelman in the leftmost, early- model cabriolet Leitra, bodyguarded by his teen daughter Goda, is Professor Vytautas Dovydenas from Riga, author of a scholarly textbook on velomobiles. The gentelman in the blue racing jersey in the back, mobbed by past and future customers, is Carl- Georg Rasmussen himself. Here is a bigger, more- detailed picture of the scene. And more Leitras may be found elsewhere in this w3eb.