Ever hear of the Motocompo? From 1981 through 1983, Honda sold the Motocompo as a weirdo folding commuter scooter for urban markets, powered by a 49cc air-cooled two-stroke single. It was actually made to fit inside the truck of some of Honda’s sub-compact cars. The idea was, Johnny White Collar would drive his cage to a parking lot outside the city, pull the scooter out of the trunk, and then ride to the office, smelling like two-stroke smoke.

It was a smart idea, but not so smart in areas that weren’t scooter friendly. Although the Motocompo is often seen as a sales failure, Honda did make about 50,000 of these, which isn’t really a bad production run. Honda made concept bikes in later years to revive the idea, and other companies have made their own take on the formula (see: Katalis Spacebar). But the Motocompo itself has been dead since the mid-’80s.

Honda might be reviving the concept in a slightly different format, though, if we are reading the tea leaves correctly. In various locations around the world, Honda has been protecting the Motocompacto or Moto Compacto name. The regulatory paperwork indicates they’re going to use it for a folding electric scooter, instead of a gas-powered vehicle like the original Motocompo.

If that’s true, it’s probably a superior system, as it’s hard to imagine commuters being excited about hauling oil- and gas-leaking motorcycles around in their car trunks these days, which might explain the original Motocompo’s slower sales. However, as always, the question will come down to cost and local traffic regulations. Riders would have to be saving a lot of coin and time to make this worthwhile, if prices are high. Perhaps an escooter or ebike would make a lot of sense in this case, though, as such vehicles are often not subject to laws banning lanesplitting and filtering. Maybe, just maybe, the Motocompacto could finally be the cheat code North Americans need to unlock sensible two-wheeled transport through the gridlock?