EPISODE 134:  ONCE UPON A  TIME THERE WAS  A MOTOR CAR CALLED  THE LITTLE SKEOCH

(also called  The Skeoch Motorcycle  Car)

alan  skeoch

Nov. 27. 2018

     REVISED OCT. 2020 (slightly)

It has  now been  two years since I touched base with the men rebuilding The Litle Skeoch Motor Car

in Scotland.  It is a daunting task.  We had planned on a  visit to their workshop but sad events

got in the way…and  Covid 19 makes such visits difficult today.  How the world has changed.

Maybe I can get a progress report from Scotland.  Meanwhile I feel this story should be part

of the Episodes (#134) just in case it gets lost.

alan

Maybe we should bring back the LITTLE SKEOCH MOTOR CAR.   It was small,, cheap and  simple…sort of  a  4 wheel bicycle  seating two people with a chain drive and  small

motorcycle  engine.  So small that only two very slim people could  ride in it since the

car was  only 31 inches  wide and a  little over 8 feet long.  

Some of  you may think this  is some kind  of joke.  Wrong.  In 1920, James Skeoch built his first Little Skeoch, then entered it in a Scottish auto show and sold it

in ten minutes.   All  told less than a dozen Little Skeoch’s  were built in his small factory.  Ten  were quickly purchased at that auto show. Price?  180 pounds…which was the cheapest car in the show.  None have survived.   Sadly in 1921 a fire  consumed  his little factory and as  a  result the Burnside Motor Company in Dalbeattie,  Scotland, ceased to exist.

Pictures of the Skeoch production line were retrieved from Skeoch  family albums.   Not exactly an automated  factory.

But the LITTLE SKEOCHS were real mini cars and seemed about to make a big splash in the booming car market of the 1920’s

until  fire ended  the enterprise.  Everything became a  blackened  pile  of scrap  iron.

James Skeoch moved on.   His skills were valued.  He had a  long successful career and  died  in 1954.

Not many people, by 1954, were even  aware that there was  such a  car as the SKEOCH.   Memories are short especially since 

none of the Little Skeochs  survived.   Gone  Gone Gone.    

Well, not quite.

POSSIBLE REBIRTH OF THE LITTLE SKEOCH

The Skeoch is  about to be  reborn.  All was  not lost.  By good fortune the motor and  gearbox of one of the Little Skeoch’s

has  been found.  A group of men, largely retired mechanics and carpenters, have decided to  rebuild the car and to do so

in the same Scottish town where the originals  were built.  Dalbeattie.

This is  Fiona  Sinclair, granddaughter of James Skeoch. Her family records  and  artifacts  gave a  big boost the idea of

rebuilding the car.   When  Ron Skeoch, James Skeoch’s son died, treasures were found  in his  home…  The plans, radiator and  other 

parts  of the Little Skeoch 

And this is Geoff Allison of  Dalbeattie, Scotland, who is one  of the prime movers of the restoration project..  He has founded

the Dalbeattie Men’s  Shed which  is hardly a glorious name for the little factory where All the bits  and pieces

of the Little Skeoch have been assembled along with quite a gathering of men…engineers, mechanics, widowers,…some

men  who are just lonely and want something to do  in their retired years  that seems meaningful.   

The brainchild  behind the project is Martin  Shelley, a  car enthusiast, who suggested that the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed might

consider doing something remarkable and then  dropped the bits and pieces on to their work  benches.   

Their job makes  me think of

the Nursery Rhyme about Humpty Dumpty. Only this  time Humpty Dumpty,  i.e. The Little Skeoch, could be put back together again,

HUMPTY DUMPTY SAT ON THE WALL

HUMPTY DUMPTY HAD  A GREAT FALL

ALL THE KING’S HORSES

AND ALL THE KING’S MEN

COULDN’T PUT HUMPTY TOGETHER AGAIN.

…Then  along came GEORGE ALLISON and his men from Dalbeattie, Scotland…who

plan to put Humpty togehter again.

.

 

i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article12137301.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/Mens-Shed-Dalbeattie.jpg 810w” src=”https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article12137301.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Mens-Shed-Dalbeattie.jpg” alt=”Dalbeattie Men’s Shed members Geoff Thomas, John Forrest, Robin Gilchrist and Geoff Allison with part of the original engine and plans for the Skeoch car.” content=”https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article12137301.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Mens-Shed-Dalbeattie.jpg” class=””>

Dalbeattie Men’s Shed members Geoff Thomas, John Forrest, Robin Gilchrist and Geoff Allison with part of the original engine and plans for the Skeoch car. (Image: Jim McEwan)

Will the  Little Skeoch ever see the light of  day again nearly a century later?   That remains to be seen.  The job is demanding and the cost  of  the right parts is high but 

the  men are  optimistic.  And  Fiona Sinclair hopes a  reborn Little Skeoch  will be on the road so  her mother, the daughter of  James  Skeoch will be able to take the first ride.

These four men are only part of the gathering of men devoted to the project…about three  dozen strong.   Men who  wanted something to do and both Shelley and Allison found that

something.

 “This is a truly local car, it was the only cycle car ever made in Scotland and it was manufactured right here in Dalbeattie.

“This was a Dalbeattie man building a car the likes of which has never been built since.

“We have already had a lot of interest from visitors staying here.

“It’s already attracting a lot of attention and when it is finally road-worthy will really put Dalbeattie on the map.”

Project manager, Men’s Shed member Robin Gilchrist, 73, reckons sufficient local skills exist to do the job “in-house”.

He said: “We will draw in a lot of expertise because some of the work is quite technical in nature.

“There’s enough specialists in Dalbeattie who can help us do the precision engineering work.”

 Quotes  from an interview with journalist Stephen  Norris (Scottish  Daily Record,  March  6, 2018)

alan skeoch

Nov. 27, 2018

Geoff

On Tue, 6 Oct 2020 at 22:55, ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> wrote:

HI GEOFF,

HOPE YOU AND THE BOYS ARE WELL…VERY FRIGHTENING TIMES FOR ALL OF US…I EXPECT YOUR

SHOP IS CLOSED.  OUR PLAN TO VISIT LAST YEAR DID NOT HAPPEND DUE  TO SAD DEATH OF OUR

DAUGHTER IN LAW.

I MAY SEND SOME STORIES…NOW AT 135 OF THEM MEANT TO HELP THOSE IN ISOLATION…TRAPPED

IN THEIR ROOMS BUT SOME MIGHT INTEREST YOU AND THE BOYS

ALAN

Good morning Alan,

The pandemic closed our Shed in March, and the lockdown rules in Scotland, being the most stringent in the UK, mean that we are unlikely to re-open before April 2021. We are trying to keep our previously active members in touch with each other via email, telephone and video conferencing. We have also managed to move some of the Shed activities to individual’s homes so they can progress their projects within isolation/distancing rules. More than half our members have managed to keep projects such as 3D printing face masks, engraving, bicycle and engine refurbishment alive – and the biggest of these re-locations was the Skeoch. I recommend our Skeoch webpage https://dalbeattiemensshed.co.uk/skeoch to you for a brief history of how the project has progressed. We moved the car and workshop equipment out in June, primarily to improve the health and wellbeing of one of our members with advanced Parkinson’s. Since that time the project has accelerated almost to completion.  Apart from some minor adjustments the vehicle [less hood(canopy) and radiator badge] is finished awaiting space in a paint shop for finish painting – see the September update on our website. I am re-scheming the unveiling of the finished car as our original intentions have been crushed by the pandemic. We were hoping to display the car at the 2021 Scottish Motor Show, 100 years after it’s first exhibition there in February 1921 – but the Show will not run in 2021. Our reserve intention was to display the car in the Glasgow Transport Museum  thus keeping the launch near to where James Skeoch’s daughter resides, and close to an airport for people wishing to fly in – the museums are closed for the foreseeable future too. At present it’s looking like a triple launch: we will display the car in the picture window of Paterson ATV [ https://www.patersonatv.co.uk/] for a couple of weeks after completion for Dalbeattie townsfolk; I am working with the Chief Executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association [SMTA own the Scottish Motor Show], to put together a multipage article for their trade magazine [https://content.yudu.com/web/fiqy/0A4403c/autoretailerissue02/html/index.html] aiming for the February 2021 edition; and finally I am working with the organisers of the RHS,  Royal Highland Show, [https://www.whatsoninedinburgh.co.uk/event/084117-royal-highland-show-2021/] to see if we can display the Skeoch on the Dumfries & Galloway stand in June 2021. The RHS is held adjacent to Edinburgh airport so is close to Glasgow and James Skeoch’s daughter as well as being convenient for anyone flying in.

Picking up on a couple of items in your 132-4 newsletters 

You were chasing Skeoch heritage in Bute. Before our Shed closed for the pandemic we had a visit from a relative of one of our members who has gaelic as is his first language, and the Skeoch name was discussed. The visitor reminded us that in Scots gaelic the root ‘ach’ means from, and Skeoch is probably a corruption of Sgitheanach meaning from Skye! Just a thought.

I liked your pictures in 132 – I toured NE USA and SE Canada with my daughter in August 2019 and spent some time in Toronto, we enjoyed the scenery but it was not as colorful as your photos. My daughter returned to Toronto with 2 of her colleagues in October 2019 too. My annual break with my daughter this year was Nashville, Memphis, Natchez and New Orleans in September but that was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Good to hear from you again, stay well

P.S.   BELOW IS AN ARICLE  ON THE SKEOCH MOTOR CAR WRITTEN

FOR BBC  SCOTLAND NEWS ,  Feb. 27, 2018

Drive to rebuild ‘forgotten’ early car

By Nichola Rutherford
BBC Scotland News

Published

27 February 2018

IMAGE COPYRIGHTDALBEATTIE MUSEUM

When James Skeoch designed and built one of Scotland’s firstaffordable cars, he must have dreamed of huge success. 

With a price-tag of just £180, the first Skeoch Utility Car was the cheapest on display at the Scottish Motor Show in 1921. 

It sold within 10 minutes and a further nine were quickly snapped up by customers keen to join the automobile revolution. 

But within months Skeoch’s business was in ruins. His uninsured workshop in Dalbeattie, Dumfries and Galloway, burned to the ground. 

Since then the Skeoch Utility Car has been largely forgotten by all but keen historians of Scotland’s motor industry. 

Now, almost 100 years later, plans are are being drawn up to recreate the so-called “cycle car” in the town where it was manufactured. 

IMAGE COPYRIGHTDALBEATTIE MUSEUM

The ambitious project has been taken on by a group of mainly retired local men, known as Dalbeattie Men’s Shed. 

Using some of the original parts and working from the original drawings, they hope to build a working Skeoch car in time to mark its centenary. 

Motoring enthusiast Martin Shelley approached the Men’s Shed with the idea for the project after reading about the group on the BBC Scotland website last year. 

IMAGE COPYRIGHTDALBEATTIE MUSEUM

The group, which meets in a workshop in Dalbeattie twice a week, was named Shed of the Year for its efforts to “help as many local people as possible”.

“Using the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed’s energy, enthusiasm and skills to recreate the car seemed like a match made in heaven,” Mr Shelley said.

He said “cycle cars” were first invented in the early 1900s and they got their name after using motorcycle engines and wheels. 

They became increasingly popular after World War One, when soldiers returned home from the front line, having become used to driving. 

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Mr Shelley said: “After World War One, the ordinary working man was much more used to the idea of riding a motorcycle or driving a car so they knew about the technology and now they wanted to try and build their own cars. 

“In the early 20s, there was a huge flowering of people making these cars. As it turned out, Skeoch in Dalbeattie were the only people in Scotland to ever attempt to make these things commercially.”

The original drawings and parts – including the radiator badge – were found in the Wishaw home of Ron Skeoch, James Skeoch’s son, after he died last year. 

Mr Shelley said he hoped they could be used to capture the “spirit” of the 1920s vehicle. 

“You could make a replica of the car which would pass muster, using a modern engine and a modern gear box and using modern parts. But the spirit of the car is very much based on the parts that were available in 1920,” he said. 

“This project will be very like the original car and that to me is what the joy of the whole thing is.”

The granddaughter of James Skeoch, Fiona Sinclair, is also involved in the project. 

She never knew her grandfather – he died in 1954 – but she hopes that her mother – Skeoch’s daughter – will get the chance to ride in one his cars.

“I think it’s going to mean a lot to my family,” she said. “It’s tragic that the fire put an end to his ambition. 

“I’m actually rather hoping I can physically get to sit in the car, I’m not quite sure I could be trusted with driving it. 

“It’s only got two gears apparently but I think it would be rather wonderful. What I really hope is that my mother gets the opportunity to actually sit in the car as well.” 

The project is “immensely exciting”, said Geoff Allison, the secretary of the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed, which has members with engineering and mechanical skills. 

“It’s engineering-rich, it’s Dalbeattie-rich, it’s community-rich, it fills so many of our requirements,” he added. 

“It’s big, it’s going to be eye-catching, it’s going to be something for posterity. It’s got a lot to recommend it.”