What is "bedelia"

thumb|Bédélia from 1910 in 1975 at the Nürburgring Bédélia (in English usually written as Bedelia) was the archetype of the French cyclecars.

This automobile was manufactured by the Bourbeau et Devaux Co. of Paris from 1910 to 1925 to a design by Robert Bourbeau. Rather than scaling down existing motor-car designs, Bourbeau chose to adapt mainly motor-cycle practice for his design, giving rise to the cyclecar designation. The low and light car carried its two passengers in tandem with the passenger seated at the front, while in the rear was the person doing the steering. Single-cylinder or 10 hp V-twin engines were used. Drive was to the rear wheels through a belt which could be moved between pulleys to give a two speed transmission. The front axle was centre pivotted with suspension by a single mid mounted coil spring and the steering was by a cable and bobbin. Elliptic leaf springs were used at the rear. The method of changing gear was unusual. The rear driver had to operate a lever which slackened the belt by moving the rear axle forwards and then the passenger had to move the belt between pulleys by means of a separate lever. How the car was driven without a passenger is not explained. On later cars the levers were moved so that the driver could steer the car for himself. Before World War I, Bédélia cyclecars sold very well, even in Britain.

A Bédélia won the 1913 Cyclecar Grand Prix held at Amiens. A Morgan came in first, Morgan enthusiasts have claimed it as a win to the present day and it was largely on publicity from this success that Morgan broke into the French market, resulting in the creation of the Darmont company and, tangentially, Sandford. Nevertheless the second placed French car was subsequently awarded the victory.

Manufacturing rights were obtained by a dealer, a Monsieur Binet in 1920 and he had an updated version of the cars made for him by Mahieux of Levallois-Perret, Seine. The body design was modified to let the driver and passengers sit and a conventional three speed gearbox was fitted. Engines of up to 990 cc were offered.

Bedelia may refer to:

• Bédélia, the archetype of the French cyclecars
• Bedelia (novel), a 1945 novel by Vera Caspary
• Bedelia (film), a 1946 film
• Bonnie Bedelia (born 1948), actress
• Amelia Bedelia, the protagonist and title character of a series of American children's books written by Peggy Parish
• Delia, an Irish given name
• Bedelia (Saturday Night Live)

Bedelia is a novel by Vera Caspary first published in 1945 about a blissfully happy newlywed couple in which the husband learns that his wife may have a criminal past. His growing suspicion and discovery of corroborating evidence lead him to think that she might be a serial killer, and that he could be her next victim.

Set in small-town Connecticut in the winter of 1913-14, Bedelia, whose eponymous heroine was called "the wickedest woman who ever loved" on the cover of an early edition of the book, is usually subsumed under the genre of pulp fiction. However, a 2005 annotated edition published by The Feminist Press at the City University of New York shows that Caspary's novel can be seen as a contribution to feminist thought in that it raised the level of awareness amongst its readers of the unequal, if not desperate, position of freedom-loving women in pre- World War I Western society.

Bedelia is dedicated to film producer Isadore "Igee" Goldsmith, then Caspary's husband.

Bedelia is a 1946 British drama film directed by Lance Comfort and starring Margaret Lockwood, Ian Hunter and Barry K. Barnes. It is an adaptation of the novel Bedelia by Vera Caspary with events moved from the United States to England and Monaco.