The Skeoch is the only cyclecar
Small, inexpensive automobile that filled the gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car. ever to have been produced commercially in Scotland, manufactured by the Skeoch Utility Car Co. of Dalbeattie in Kirkudbrightshire.[1]
Designed and assembled by James Skeoch, with the body built by Sims & Wilson of Cathcart, the Skeoch was the cheapest car on display at the 1921 Scottish Motor Show, priced at £180, equivalent to about £10,770 as at 2024.[1][a]Calculated using the retail price index.[2] The car sold within ten minutes, and a further nine were ordered, but a fire at Skeoch’s uninsured workshop brought production to an end after those ten had been delivered.[3] No examples of the Skeoch have survived.[4]
The Skeoch was powered by a 348 cc single-cylinder Precision engine, with a Burman 2-speed gearbox and chain drive. It was built on an ash frame, with quarter-elliptic springs front and rear, and had acetylene lighting.[1]
A recreation of the car, built by members of the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed, was completed in 2021.[5] The fully operational replica was built from the original plans discovered in the home of Ron Skeoch, James Skeoch’s son, after his death in 2017.[3]
