old motor bikes

jim · Post by **jim** » Wed 21 Apr, 2010 11:46 am

"Scootacars Ltd is a subsidiary of Hunslet (Holdings) Ltd, whose largest unit is the Hunslet Engine concern----at Jack Lane, Leeds."Quoted from "The Hunslet Engine Works" by D. H. Townsley (199, Plateway Press, more details and two good photos on pps 230,.234/5.Not like the Bond Bug Si, they were later than the Scootacar and regarded as a whizzy lads car at the time, the Scootacar was aimed at young families and looked a bit like an egg on wheels.

Hats Off · Post by **Hats Off** » Wed 21 Apr, 2010 5:00 pm

Here is a Scootacar in action :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr8tt61mUTYRegards.

Brandy · Post by **Brandy** » Wed 21 Apr, 2010 7:45 pm

Looks very similar to the peel P50.

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Wed 21 Apr, 2010 9:45 pm

Hats Off wrote: Here is a Scootacar in action :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr8tt61mUTYRegards. Wow, thanks a lot for that unexpected thrill Hats Off - I NEVER imagined I'd ever have a ride in one of these little motors, but this video clip is "as good as". The sound of the splendid Villiers 197 was a real echo from the good times of the 50s and 60s.

kango · Post by **kango** » Wed 21 Apr, 2010 11:31 pm

BLAKEY wrote: Admittedly not a motorbike, but the unhappy "Scootercar" was made in, I believe, Hunslet in the 1960s, and one main agent was Frank Leach in Headingley Lane (premises now Alba Tyres). The Scootercar sooned earned the unfortunate nickname of "the bobbing sentry box" as a result of its appearance and riding characteristics. Steady on there sir!!! I had one of these little beggers (there were two types I had the mark 1) best fun I ever had, built as far as I can remember by Rodley's(an Hunslet offshoot company)at Rodley; they also made invalid carriages. Rumour had it that it was designed for the chairmans wife because she found the bentley too big to park!!!(honestly)

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Thu 22 Apr, 2010 9:17 am

kango wrote: BLAKEY wrote: Admittedly not a motorbike, but the unhappy "Scootercar" was made in, I believe, Hunslet in the 1960s, and one main agent was Frank Leach in Headingley Lane (premises now Alba Tyres). The Scootercar sooned earned the unfortunate nickname of "the bobbing sentry box" as a result of its appearance and riding characteristics. Steady on there sir!!! I had one of these little beggers (there were two types I had the mark 1) best fun I ever had, built as far as I can remember by Rodley's(an Hunslet offshoot company)at Rodley; they also made invalid carriages. Rumour had it that it was designed for the chairmans wife because she found the bentley too big to park!!!(honestly) Oh heck, I've unintentionally done it again kango and no offence meant, but honestly that WAS a nickname bandied around Headingley at the time. I would have loved to have had one and, as I said in my reply to Hats Off, his video clip is most enjoyable and is as near as I'm likely to get now. Incidentally I wonder how many were produced - have you any idea ?? If the Chairman's good lady is still around I should be ready for some flack if she reads your theory I had a lunatic fearless friend, bless him, who owned either a Heinkel or an Isetta left hand drive bubble car in which I was often forcibly hurtled around the district, rigid with terror, in the vulnerable offside seat while being told to "stop flapping like an old woman brother !!" Oh what happy days they were and I wish we could return to them and I do mean that.

Hats Off · Post by **Hats Off** » Thu 22 Apr, 2010 12:29 pm

BLAKEY wrote: Incidentally I wonder how many were produced - have you any idea ?? If the Chairman's good lady is still around I should be ready for some flack if she reads your theory Blakey, there is a bit of info here about the Scootacar :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ScootacarRegards.

Uno Hoo · Post by **Uno Hoo** » Thu 22 Apr, 2010 2:15 pm

I enjoyed the clip of the "Scootacar" as well. One of the Hunslet Engineering bigwigs lived in Calverley, and had one. He was a large man who looked most incongruous in it. I imagine that the poor little Villiers had a struggle ascending Whitecote Hill on its way to work!

Uno Hoo · Post by **Uno Hoo** » Thu 22 Apr, 2010 2:29 pm

My dad had a Panther coupled to a Busmar "Astral" sidecar. Reg'n XUB 812. It was a 600 c.c single-cylinder, and an absolute brute to kick-start. With hindsight it was claustrophobic as rear sidecar passenger, but the "Astral" was probably the ultimate sidecar design, and was certainly a head-turner. ISTR that Phelan & Moore Ltd., its maker stayed in business a good few years after the heyday of British bikes. I suppose the Leeds connection in dad's case was that he bought it new from, I think, Watson Cairns. Swapped it later for a Triumph Speed Twin which was an altogether more amenable machine.

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Thu 22 Apr, 2010 8:07 pm

Anyone visiting the Red House Museum at Gomersal will find an interesting little exhibition about the nearby Panther factory.