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Scottish Aviation · 1965–present

Scottish Aviation Scamp

Scottish Aviation Scamp
Photo: DeFacto · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source ↗

The Scottish Aviation Scamp is a small concept electric city car that was designed between 1964 and 1966 by Scottish Aviation. The name was chosen as a contraction of SCottish (from Scottish Aviation) and AMP (for electric current).

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

All Scottish Aviation Scamp data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

Concept

The Scamp was developed by the Project Department of Scottish Aviation as a small, two-seater urban commuter vehicle. The department had been thinking about electric vehicles, inspired by the battery-powered tugs used to move baggage trucks at Prestwick Airport. These were plugged into charger in the basement of the airport terminal in between jobs. It was considered sensible that an electric car could be recharged where it would be expected to park, i.e. at the owner's home, with a recharge time of 8 hours overnight considered reasonable. The head of the department, Gordon Watson, was at the railway station in his home town when a commuter train was due in. He observed wives waiting in cars in the car park to take their husbands on the short journey home. He realised the husbands would benefit from having their own car dedicated to the 'station run', for which a small, cheap vehicle would be ideal, with performance, comfort and a wide range of uses not being important for such a specific short purpose. This led to Scottish Aviation's concept of an electric car. It would be the second car in a household. It would probably be used by only one member of that household to undertake, probably on a daily basis, a specific, known journey or pattern of journeys, after which it would be at home and could be completely recharged overnight from a standard 13 amp domestic socket. A few quick calculations showed that the electricity cost would be better than 150 miles (240 kilometres) per gallon. The specification that emerged was: It would be powered by batteries which could be fully re-charged from a domestic supply in 8 hours. It would be very small, very manoeuvrable, and therefore easily parked. It would seat two adults, or one adult and two small children, plus some hand lug

Development

The original design study was followed in early 1965 by the construction of a test vehicle. It was originally not much more than a seat on a chassis and became known as "the farm cart" in the factory. This vehicle demonstrated that the theoretical calculations in the design study were correct. It was capable of a top speed of 36 mph (58 km/h) and an acceleration of 0-30 mph (48 km/h) in 10.5 seconds. In simulated urban conditions of six stops and starts per mile (1.6 km), it achieved a range of 18 miles (29 km) between charges, against an original target of 15 miles (24 km). With a constant throttle setting, the range increased to 26 miles (42 km). In late July 1965, Scottish Aviation approached the Central Electricity Generating Board as a result of being happy with the progress that was being made. The aim was to market the Scamp through the area electricity boards' regional showrooms. This approach was followed by visits to Scottish Aviation at Prestwick by senior personnel from the Electricity Council and the South West Electricity Board, who were sufficiently impressed to equip "the farm cart" with a wooden, light metal alloy and Perspex body and register it for use on the road as DAG 908C. This would allow it to be demonstrated at the Bristol headquarters of the SWEB, and in London. The tour finished with a press conference about electric cars at which the Scamp was driven by Stirling Moss. This generated almost 200 enquiries from prospective customers and distributors around the world. Encouraged by this reception, Scottish Aviation manufactured a batch of 12 pre-production Scamps to be used for further development and market studies. The first of these left Prestwick at the end of February 1967 to be the centrepiece of the Electricity Council stand at the Ideal

Testing and cancellation

Scottish Aviation had not set out to revolutionise the motor industry, but had produced an unconventional car which was evaluated against conventional standards. The Electricity Council submitted two vehicles to the Motor Industry Research Association for testing. Car 13A 0004 was evaluated in 1967, and the following year car 13A 0003 was given an endurance test. The evaluation of the Scamp in 1967 noted the following:During the examination and use of this vehicle, several features that justify a brief mention became noticeable. Although it was not intended to make an exhaustive criticism of the design of the vehicle, a few of the points that arose were considered to be of interest. The 0.62 inch diameter knobs used internally for latches and covers were inconvenient and flimsy. The demister slots were crude and quite inadequate for the size of windscreen. The total space provided for luggage, shopping, oddments etc, seemed to be the two open boxes flanking the rear battery. The cover for this battery was inadequately located. The hole to which it gave access provided for topping up the cells but was just too small for access to the terminals. The door providing access to the charging socket was so small that making the connection properly was difficult. The spring loading of this door had weakened considerably after a few charging periods. When the charger was connected, there was no interlock to prevent the vehicle being driven away with the connection still in place. It was not easy to tell from within the car whether the control was positioned for Forward, Off or Reverse and it was therefore easy to leave it parked in any one of these three positions. The drive chains and sprockets were usually unprotected from loose stones and weather effects, the chains were show

Survivors

Of the 13 vehicles built (1 prototype, 12 pre-production), only 5 are believed to survive: Scamp, registration DTD 141E, painted yellow. This was part of the National Motor Museum collection until sold in 1995 to National Museums Scotland. It was displayed for several years at the National Museum of Flight until moving in 2012 to the National Museums Collection Centre at Granton in Edinburgh. Scamp, registration LHT 147E, painted red, previously on display at Myreton Motor Museum, now displayed at Dundee Museum of Transport. Scamp, registration LHT 149E, painted light blue, held by the Grampian Transport Museum, formerly the Scottish Motor Museum Trust in the entrance hall of Loch Lomond Factory Outlets. Scamp, registration LHT 150E, painted white, in private ownership. Scamp, registration OSD 697H, painted white, in private ownership.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name
Scottish Aviation Scamp
Manufacturer
Scottish Aviation
Production
1965 12 units
Body style
Microcar
Layout
Rear-wheel drive
Engine
4 48-volt batteries, 2 electric motors
Length
84 in
Width
46 in
Designer
Dr. W.G. Watson
sp
uk

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

Sources