Lot number	204
Hammer value	£550
Description	Nelco Solocar
Registration	JUO 687
Year	c.1950
Colour	Blue

One of the many boasts made by Reselco, the manufacturer of the Nelco Solocar was that it would carry a 19 stone person up Porlock Hill in Devon – no mean feat even with today's technology.

Costing a thumping £280 ex-works in 1950, the aspiring owner was urged to spend an additional £35 on the battery charger (possibly a wise move) and a further five pounds on indicators. With a top speed of 10mph and an impressive 35 mile range, it sold surprisingly well, its armchair comfort, available weather protection and high build quality making it the Rolls-Royce of bath-chairs.

A total of six six-volt batteries were installed, driving a ¾ hp 36-volt electric motor which had two speeds and could also be used as a brake. It was housed in an elegant, cast alloy transaxle, the electrical control mechanism being operated by twisting the steering arm which engaged a series of contacts located within the steering head.

A file of information includes a full wiring diagram, photocopy of the handbook and a brief pictorial history of the Invalid Tricycle.

Purchased many years ago by the vendor at a dispersal sale at Caradoc Court near Ross on Wye, it is reputed to have been ‘thrashed’ around the rose garden by Caradoc Court’s one-time resident Tony Gaze. The Australian fighter-ace and Grand-Prix driver presumably picked up all he needed to know about on-the-limit handling as he shot through the ‘parterre’, later graduating to an HWM-Alta and the ex-Alberto Ascari Ferrari 500 on the Grand Prix circuit. During World War II, Gaze had flown his Spitfires from RAF West Hampnett and shortly after hostilities ended, suggested to its owner Freddie March (The Earl of Richmond) that its perimeter track would make the perfect race circuit. Britain's first post-war motor race took place at Goodwood two years later in 1948!

Now in need of more than a quick pit-stop, it is nonetheless a fabulous piece of social and motoring history and an item which will give its new owner something to talk about where ever he goes, as long as it is within a 17.5 mile radius of home!