Go to the Archive index

ACROSS THE BORDER

by Derek Rayner

There are perhaps few participating cyclemotor enthusiasts in Scotland who regularly attend English events but there is one important collection of machines to note north of the border.  This is on display at the Museum of Transport in Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall.  Run by the Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, the collection has been transferred from the old tram sheds at Coplawhill on the south side of the Clyde to Kelvin Hall, whose role as a major Scottish Exhibition Centre has been superseded by new premises on the site of the Glasgow Garden Festival near thedocks.  An expanded collection, better displayed, is the result of this move to the new venue which is easily reached by Glasgow’s unique 4ft gauge underground railway (better known as the Clockwork Orange) from the City centre.  On display there is a fine collection of trams, buses, locomotives, engines and cars together with many other items in very pleasing settings and in spacious surroundings on the ground floor.

On the mezzanine floor is to be found an extensive collection of pedal cycles, motor cycles and microcars, the ones of particular interest to NACC members being as follows:

• A Messerschmitt and a BMW microcar;
• a 49cc Empolini (of Milan) three-wheel pickup;
• 1921 Ner-a-Car ‘scooter’;
• 1920 Kingsbury scooter (216cc);
• 1903 Humber-Beeston cycle with 372cc single cylinder engine and auxiliary pedal drive, being almost the forerunner of the moped of 40 - 50 years later;
• 1938 Norman Autocycle with Villiers Junior DeLuxe (98cc) (RE 8875);
• Scott Cyc-Auto of 1943 (98cc) (SN 9760);
• 1938 Argyle cycle with 1954 BSA Winged Wheel in rear wheel;
• a Cymota on a Raleigh Roadster c1957, donated by the Chief Constable of the City of Glasgow police in 1972 (KGD 125);
• 1960 Raleigh Moped;
• Honda P50 and
• an Ariel 3 tricycle
• not forgetting a 1984 Sinclair C5.  This latter exhibit proves that despite being only a few years old they are museum exhibits already and have their place in such a location - in their role of illustrating the development of the power assisted cycle concept.

Glasgow’s new museum is to be highly recommended for anyone with a transport interest, for in addition to being a well laid exhibition also - perhaps more importantly - it has no admission charges which is always a plus in the opinion of the author (especially since he’s aYorkshireman!).

First published - February 1989

   Go to the Archive index