THE COLLECTION

This Argyll was manufactured at the Alexandria works in 1910. A farmer adapted it for use as a bandsaw. He altered the rear to accommodate the saw itself, which was driven by the engine. The car was rescued in 1965, escaping neglect or destruction. It was restored in 1985 by its present owner, whose father leased Argyll cars as part of his garage business and bought the car from the nephew of the last manager of the Argyll service department in London, which closed just before the Second World War (1939–1945). In the early years of car manufacture, a customer chose a body to suit a selected chassis – pick ‘n’ mix. A streamlined Landaulette could be fitted on a 15/30hp chassis (speed @ 1000 rpm / maximum speed), for example.

This Argyll is the popular 12.4 model made at the first factory at Bridgeton, Glasgow, and was originally ordered by a Scot living in Canada. He later cancelled the order and a local doctor bought the car instead. He gave it to his son in the late 1930s, who ran it until the Second World War, when a shortage of tyres forced it off the road. The shed that housed it started to collapse around the car, but a local enthusiast rescued it, saving it from further damage. It is displayed as found. It originally cost £425 and was fitted with the Burt McCallum sleeve-valve engine, which gave it a top speed of 60 miles per hour.

In 1982, the Duke of Argyll launched a new sports car in the grounds of Inveraray Castle. It was built by Bob Henderson and Argyll Turbo Cars at Lochgilphead, and went into series production six years later, but few were made. Development costs amounted to £250,000. The structure is a combination of box-section chassis and tubular space-frame: by undoing 10 bolts, the entire rear end, suspension, gearbox and Rover V8 engine come away. Its top speed is 130 miles per hour. The new car was named after the original Argyll, in honour of a grandfather of one of the investors who worked in the Argyll factory at Alexandria. The car is designed to last – it has a glass-fibre body made next door to the old Arrol-Johnston factory in Dumfries by Solway Marine.

The Austin Seven was introduced in 1922 as a revolutionary low-cost small car. It was mass-produced, and competed in Scotland against cars like the Galloway, another budget car made by Arrol-Johnston of Dumfries. But the Austin Seven sold for half the price, and by 1930 Arrol-Johnston were defunct. It was one of Scotland’s most popular cars. A lawyer in Edinburgh bought this one for £135 and used it until the 1950s. He then put it in his back garden, where it stood till 1975, when it was bought for restoration – but first a tree that had grown through the body had to be sawn away! This is a comparatively rare cabriolet Pearl model: the series included an Opal and a Ruby model.

An AC 3000 made in 1982 near Glasgow in series production. AC stands for Autocarriers from the early company name. Their most famous model was the Cobra, which later became an American muscle car. The AC Company had a long history of car making and a final AC the 3000ME was made after the Cobra ceased production in 1973. Initially built at the Thames Ditton Factory, 100 were made from 1979 onwards. Production was transferred to Hillington, near Glasgow in 1984, when AC Scotland was formed. Thirty-four more were built here, and they were probably the last production cars in Scotland. With a 3-litre V6 Ford engine imported from Africa, the car cost £13,881 in 1984. We believe that this is one of only 4 or 5 left in Scotland.

Only 111 GT40s were built at Ford’s Advanced Vehicle Division in Slough. It is a dramatic-looking car, standing only forty inches high. It was designed to win Le Mans, and did so every year from 1966–1969. Replicas were made in Surrey from 1981 by Safir Engineering Limited. The cars normally had a 4.7 litre, 350 brake-horse-power (bhp) Ford engine coupled to a ZF 5-speed gearbox and cost £42,500 (or £37,500 without the engine). The engine in this example is a modified Range Rover V8 giving 255bhp. For road use, a modified Renault gearbox was used, giving a top speed of 160 miles per hour. A Jaguar gearbox was used for racing. This example is thought to be the only GT40 owned, built and kept in Scotland.

Ford’s "Tin Lizzie" put the world on wheels, and in 1919 40% of all cars on the road in Scotland were Model Ts. During its 18-year production run, l6 million were manufactured, with few changes to the original design. The Model T was introduced in America in 1908 and was soon available on the British market. By 1911 it was so successful that Ford built a new factory in Manchester to avoid shipping the cars across the Atlantic. In the same year, a Model T was the first car to climb Ben Nevis as a publicity stunt. After the First World War it looked as if its low price would destroy the British-owned car industry and Governments intervened, introducing tough taxation to favour small-engined and efficient British cars. The Model T has a large two-litre engine and only two pedals, though this example has three (refer to the sheet on the windscreen). There is no clutch and the gearbox is ‘semi-automatic’. Up to 1925 it was available only in black – the cheapest paint to manufacture and the quickest to dry: ‘You can have any colour you want as long as it's black’, said Henry Ford.

The Suez crisis of 1956 demonstrated the vulnerability of Europe’s oil: petrol prices soared and manufacturers rushed to produce cheap small cars. Rootes at Linwood produced the Slug. This evolved into the Imp, which had a rear-wheel transaxle-gearbox coupled to a lightweight aluminium Coventry Climax fire-pump engine in the boot. Nearby, Pressed Steel, who were already making bodies for Rover and Volvo also produced the Imp's bodywork. It took just over two years to build the factory and manufacture the first Imp, but this left insufficient time for testing, and although the press reports at the launch were very complimentary, these cars soon gained a reputation for unreliability. Singer and Sunbeam versions of the Imp were made, together with a Commer van.

In the 1970s, there was an interest in cheap, fun vehicles such as the Bond. To fulfil the demand, several manufacturers produced ‘sand buggies’. However, they were not generally produced in large quantities (as in this example, which is believed to be the last survivor of only forty). Cars of this type were usually delivered in kit form. This enabled the buyer to spread the cost and customise their car. The Parabug was based on the running gear (i.e. chassis and 1200cc engine etc.) of a 1961 Volkswagen Beetle. It was designed as an off-road car with an open glass-fibre body and soft roof, and was manufactured by the Aberglen Company in Aberdeen. This example was sold to a surfer who lived in Dorset, who had great fun before outgrowing it.

Few racing cars were produced in Scotland and only one in quantity: the JP. Thirty or so were manufactured in Bellshill, Lanarkshire by Joe Potts. This example was used for hill climbs and has only one petrol-tank, instead of the three usually used for longer distance racing. We are putting the car forward for trials to re-establish the car on hill-climbing circuits. It has a Jap engine. Others had a Norton 500cc engine. Ron Flockart had one before joining BRM. Joe Potts was an unassuming man whose contribution to British motor racing has never been properly recognised.

This electric car was developed by Scottish Aviation in Prestwick with finance from the Electricity Council. It was designed when the small car was at the height of its popularity, and was intended for shoppers. It has a top speed of 35 miles per hour with a 20-mile range between charges. Although demonstrated by Stirling Moss with some success, the Scamp could not match conventional cars. The batteries did not last long enough, and the Electricity Council insisted that the car be tested by the Motor Industry Research Association. The suspension collapsed during the tests, so the Electricity Council claimed that the car was not roadworthy and was therefore unfit for their showrooms. After 12 were made, they withdrew from the development and Scottish Aviation abandoned the project.

This is a rare and original bike. The date of this motorcycle can easily be confirmed by checking the frame and engine numbers with the still extant company records. These machines raced and won records at the Isle of Man TT and were the premier bike of the 1920s. Their top speed was over 90 miles per hour. A Lanarkshire-registered bike, it is believed that this machine was originally sold by Joe Potts Senior to a Mr Robert Coke of Bellshill. The Bellshill garage became famous in the 1950s when Joe Potts’ son sponsored the racing motorcyclist Bob Macintyre. Sunbeam motorcycles like this one entered the Scottish Six Days Trials (the toughest in Britain), winning a gold medal in 1926. But like many motorcycle-manufacturers, Sunbeam were in trouble by 1929 and ICI took them over.

When the Chrysler Sunbeam was rushed into production at the Linwood plant, it was an obvious candidate for Chrysler’s Competitions Department. None however, could be made available, so the competitions manager persuaded the local Linwood development department to build him a competition car out of normal working hours. Their Avenger’s running gear was retained in the new car and it seemed an ideal successor to the all-conquering BRM engined Tiger Avenger. A more powerful, specially tuned 230bhp Lotus engine was used. By now, Chrysler had been taken over by Peugeot who badged the car as a Talbot. In 1981, the car won the World Rally Championship for all car makes. In 1982 the year production ended after only 2308 had been made.

The late 1920s marked the start of leisure motoring in Scotland. One way to enjoy the beautiful Scottish countryside was by caravan. Caravans were usually hired out by the week – Dan Thomson’s Trailer Caravans of Falkirk being the most popular. Hire prices ranged from £2-10/- (£2.50) per week, with purchase prices from £65. Advertising claimed that Thomson Trailers were so light that there was little extra to be spent during a tour on petrol or oil, and that they could be pulled by a seven-horse-power car. Thomson's fitted the trailer bar to the car. This caravan has been dated to 1931, and the ornate scrolls over the end window and door have identified it as a Thomson. It has always been kept in Scotland, being relegated for use as a garden shed after the Second World War. It was restored in 1982.

Our 1955 Vauxhall Velox was a popular family saloon. With its American styling, it was one of the more flamboyant cars of British manufacture. Unusually for the time, it had no starting handle, and in addition to the electric starter it also had a fashionable 3-speed column gear-change. The Velox was issued to Navy officers at this site between 1954 and 1958, when the Admiralty owned the building.

The Sewing Machine Company of Cleveland, Ohio built this White Steamer in 1903. We believe this to be the first steam-powered car to be used in Scotland. With its multiplicity of levers and gauges, a steam car could be daunting for the inexperienced, but experts found them outstandingly reliable and enjoyed their impressive acceleration. At the turn of the twentieth century, steam cars held most of the land speed records. The advantages of the steam car were its quietness, the absence of gear changing and ease of starting. No clutch or gear change was necessary, and the power was continuous once pressure was up. The boiler works at a pressure of 350 pounds per square inch. (A domestic pressure cooker works at about 15psi.) The Steamer consumed petrol (20mpg) and water (100mpg), mainly from horse troughs.

OTHER ITEMS ON DISPLAY

Flags – the Saltire and Union (it is known as a Jack when it is on a stern of a ship). These flags were used at Victory Europe (VE Day) street celebrations in Glasgow at the end of the Second World War.

Wing tip – from the port wing of an Avro Lancaster. The aircraft was destroyed by a mid-air explosion on 14th September 1944, whilst on a navigation exercise over Loch Lomond. The crew of seven perished. A local farmer found the wing and used it to bridge a stream.

The Rolls-Royce Merlin MK 3 [Engine No. 144183 made at Hillington] was recovered from the crash site of a Hawker Hurricane MK1 at Balado Bridge, Kinross. The aircraft (T9521) from 56 Operational Training Unit (OTU) piloted by PO R W James collided in mid air on 11th November 1942 during formation-flying practice with the Hurricane MK1 (V7080) piloted by Sgt N J H Carter. Both pilots died. The Canadian Car and Foundry Co built Hurricane T9521 in December 1940. It was in service with 112 and 402 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force 52 and 56 OTU Royal Air Force. The wing tip and engine are on loan from the Scotland-West Aircraft Investigation Group [SWAIG], who research, locate and preserve artefacts of aircraft from the Second World War.

AND MANY MORE...

… Plus Scottish motoring heroes such as Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard and many others. Our displays change from time to time, so please check if you are coming to see a specific item.