ABC Skootamota

ca.1919. Alexander James Brown, pictured left, worked as a watchman at the Skootamota Works, at Somerton, Cowes, Isle of Wight.

1919. Exhibit at the Brooklands Museum.

1919. Exhibit at Grampian Transport Museum.

1923. Exhibit at Lakeland Motor Museum.

ABC Skootamota were motorcycles built between 1919 and 1923.

1919 The scooter first appeared, being one of several designed by Granville Bradshaw. It was one of the best designs of the times. It was a simple affair, consisting of a tubular frame with no suspension, and sixteen-inch wire-wheels with external contracting hand brakes for each. The engine was positioned above the rear wheel and had an eoi valve layout.

Selsdon Aero and Engineering Co started production on behalf of Gilbert Campling Ltd which held the sole rights for the ABC Skootamota motor scooter.

1919 Public company, Gilbert Campling Ltd, floated in 1919 to acquire as a going concern the business and assets of Selsdon Aero and Engineering Company and of Gilbert Campling Ltd which held the sole rights for the ABC Skootamota motor scooter which the new company would produce and market. Engines would be made at Croydon and the assembly of scooters at a new factory at Somerton near Cowes purchased from J. Samuel White and Co

1920 The Skootamota had a design change, to a single cylinder 123cc OHV engine by ABC, also a Bradshaw design, and transmission by chain to the rear wheel. The fuel tank was positioned over the engine and the saddle to the front so that the rider could sit when in motion.

Post 1923 The machine was then built and marketed by Gilbert Campling of Albermarle Street, Piccadilly, London.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 674 X
• [1] Yesterday's Antique Motorcycles web site
• The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle by Peter Henshaw. Published 2007. ISBN 978 1 8401 3967 9