Scott 1915ca. Standard 3¾ HP Two Speed 532cc 2 cyl TS 3501

Scott 1915ca. Standard 3 ¾ HP Two Speed 532cc water-cooled two-stroke twin combination frame # 823/640 engine # 4129

Alfred Scott, a gifted Yorkshire engineering genius, starts experimenting with twin cylinder two-stroke power around the year 1900, when he mounts his little air-cooled twin in front of the steering head of his Premier bicycle. He keeps on refining his design and by 1910 the open-framed machine, so much different from standard motorcycle practice, is attracting more and more attention. In 1912 Frank Applebee leads the Senior TT race from start to finish on his Scott, averaging almost 50 mph over the bad roads in the island. It is the first TT win by a two-stroke. This feat is repeated the next year when Tim Wood wins on a Scott. From 1922 on Scotts will be available in several cubic capacities, but when the 1920 models were presented at the 1919 Olympia show, only the 532 cc machine with bore and stroke of 73x 63.5 mm was available. A quote from the introduction to the 1920 sales catalogue:
“The Scott is in a class by itself. THE ONLY MOTOR BICYCLE FOR ALL PERSONS – FOR ALL PURPOSES. For example. As a SPEEDMOUNT, the Scott is notorious for its exceptional power on hills, and can more than hold its own with engines of the same capacity, as shown in the T.T. race when the Scott, with the smallest capacity on the list, made the two quickest laps in the race. FOR ALL WEATHER RIDING, its immunity from side slip, its protection from mud, and proved reliability, are all essential for serious winter work.”

According to factory records held by the VMCC the frame and engine of the machine we offer here were originally paired at the factory and despatched on January 30, 1920 to A.E. Snell in Plymouth as a sidecar combination. However, the logbook mentions frame # 640 and this frame, according to VMCC correspondence, dates from late 1914 and was part of a military machine despatched on December 11, 1914 to Vickers Ltd., Erith, complete with a gun chassis and a special list of spares. The gun chassis is possibly the one fitted to this machine.

With the machine comes a buff continuation logbook issued in 1925 which shows a last tax stamp from 1930. Up to recently the combination was in family ownership, that started in the mid-1960s. Since purchase the Scott has been kept on static display as part of an important private collection and will require recommissioning and/or sympathetic restoration before further use. The machine comes with Lucas Acetylene lighting system, an old-style V5 and the aforementioned buff logbook.

In their day, Scotts were highly regarded and had an enviable record in the long distance reliability events that were so popular in the 1920s, and today in vintage circles they are highly prized for their excellent handling and for their impressive turn of speed which would put to shame many a comparable machine of later vintage.