The Hunslet Engine Company was founded in 1864 in Hunslet in south Leeds and manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years. The last industrial steam engine built in Britain was built at Hunslet in 1971 for export to Trangkil sugar mill in Central Java, Indonesia. The company continues today, building diesel locomotives from shunters to locomotives weighing over 100 tons.
But after World War II demand for steam and diesel locomotives declined, and Hunslet sought other products to sell – including medical and aerospace equipment. One seemingly promising avenue for expansion was in small, inexpensive road transport, and in the mid-1950s Hunslet ventured into the microcar market, quite popular at the time, and developed the Scootacar. Another reason for building such a car was allegedly that the wife of one of Hunslet’s directors wanted something easier to park than her Jaguar.
The shape of the car was designed by Henry Brown. He had previously been responsible for the Rodley, another microcar built in Leeds – from 1954 to 1956. The Rodley’s shape was no more than several square boxes with rounded corners, but the Scootacar took advantage of its fibreglass body, rather than the Rodley’s steel one, to introduce some curves into the design. Brown conceived the shape by sitting on a Villiers engine and having an assistant draw an outline around him. The result was very tall for its size at 60 inches high, 87 inches long and only 52 inches wide. These proportions did not go unnoticed: the Scootacar was nicknamed “the telephone booth”. Two people could be carried, with the passenger behind the driver or just squeezed alongside.
Power came from a rear-mounted Villiers 9E 197 cc single-cylinder two-stroke engine coupled to a four-speed motorcycle-type gearbox and chain drive to the single rear wheel. Steering was by handlebars. The car had independent front suspension using coil springs, and the wheels were 8 inches in diameter, with the spare mounted externally at the rear. The top speed was 50mph.
In 1960 came the De Luxe or Mark 2, with a totally redesigned body with more room and seating for three, with a single driver’s seat and a bench seat behind, but it appeared too late to sell in any great numbers. It had a top speed of 55mph. Finally, in 1961, the De Luxe Twin Mark 3 cars were produced, with a 324cc Villiers 3T twin and a top speed of 68mph. By this time the Mini, launched in 1959, had effectively taken over the market for small, affordable cars.
Production stopped in 1964, after a total of about 970 Scootacars had been made, only about 20 with the larger engine.
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