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The Beaulieu SaleCollectors' Motor Cars
& Motorcycles and Automobilia
Saturday 7th September 2019
Beaulieu, National Motor Museum
1951 Nelco Solocar Electric Tricycle
Registration no. OBH 489
Frame no. 2003
The Solocar was an electrically powered invalid carriage manufactured by Nelco Ltd, an electrical engineering firm with premises on two sites in Shalford Road, Guildford, Surrey. During WW2 Nelco supplied electric motors to the Royal Navy, among other products, and after the war's end introduced the Solocar, which was intended for wounded ex-servicemen and the disabled. Not surprisingly, there was a boom in production of this type of vehicle during the mid-to-late 1940s, the Invacar that would later spawn the Greeves motorcycle being one of the better known. The Solocar was advertised as 'For the Disabled and the Infirm', and Nelco's copywriter succinctly summed up the appeal of such a machine: 'The ability to get about, to maintain daily interests and social contacts, plays an important part in the continued health and happiness of the disabled and the infirm.' Controllable with just one hand, the Solocar was claimed to be silent and vibrationless, capable of climbing any hill, and able to turn within its own length. A range of 35 miles between recharges was quoted. We are advised by the vendor that this example last ran in 2018 but needs new batteries. Offered for restoration and accompanied by old/current V5/V5C documents, the vehicle is sold strictly as viewed.
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