Scootacars Ltd was a division of the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds, a builder of railway locomotives. The car was said to have been built because the wife of one of the directors wanted something easier to park than her Jaguar. Its shape was drawn by Henry Brown, previously responsible for the Rodley, who reportedly sat on a Villiers engine while an assistant drew an outline around him.
The result was a glass-fibre body 5 ft tall but only 52 in wide, soon nicknamed “the telephone booth”. It carried two people, one behind the other or squeezed side by side, and was steered with handlebars. A rear-mounted 197 cc Villiers single-cylinder two-stroke drove the single rear wheel by chain through a four-speed motorcycle gearbox, giving a top speed of 50 mph.
In 1960 came the De Luxe or Mk2, with a completely redesigned, roomier body seating three and a top speed of 55 mph, priced at £275, but it arrived too late to sell in large numbers. The De Luxe Twin Mk3 of 1961 had a 324 cc Villiers twin and could reach 68 mph, but only about 20 were built. Production stopped in 1964 after about 970 Scootacars had been made.
