About what is it? Quiz #468: 1922 Scotsman

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We thought this quiz was going to be challenging – and we were right! We only had two answers, but thank goodness one of them was almost correct in every detail – and in 99 words, too.

As Gerd Klioba rightly says, this is the 1922 Scotsman, designed by J. Hall Nicol. He also correctly identified the names of the three models: 10/20hp, 11hp and 14/40hp – in fact our original picture is of the 11hp model. He also got the name of the company (Scotsman Motor Car Co Ltd of Glasgow) and the fact that the 14/40 was powered by Sage-built overhead-cam engine and was, unlike the other two models, called the ‘Flying Scotsman’ (incidentally the unofficial name of the famous London to Edinburgh express from the 1870s, but never used for the locomotive until 1923 and never officially for the train until 1924, after the demise of the car!) Racking up even more points, Gerd knew that the company’s director was Sir Harry Lauder, and just how famous he was at the time.

But the overhead cam engine wasn’t a six-cylinder, but a four – as we can see from the plug leads and the length of the block in the picture here of the 14/40hp Scotsman. No, it’s not Dr. Doolittle’s pushmi-pullyu, it’s simply two views of the front of the car, placed back to back. We’ve included the caption to the picture, which comes from the January 21st 1922 issue of The Autocar, confirming the Flying Scotsman name and the number of cylinders.

Gerd is absolutely correct in saying that the Australian Southern Six prototype had a six-cylinder ohc Sage engine, and in the photo we’ve seen of that engine on the internet it is just as neat as, but longer than, the four-cylinder. The Autocar article also gives the bore and stroke, at 73 x 140 mm, and quotes 2,344cc – which is exactly correct for a four-cylinder. But it gives Gerd’s figure of 2,354cc elsewhere on the same page – so we’ll let him off with that one!

Finally, we come to the scores. Ronnie Johnston gets 1 point for a good try – he got the country correct. Congratulations Gerd! You are this weeks winner and recieve the full 5 points in the six months competition, sponsored by Hans Compter Rare Cars.

Words by Peter Moss. Photograph from the Richard Roberts Archive.

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