Friday Lady’s fairground ride

• 

In times of war and shortage some people come up with inventive ideas, and this seems to be one of them. The picture, dated 26th October 1939, is captioned ‘A woman driving the new solution to the problem of wartime petrol rationing. Eighty mpg and up to 45mph.’

Fairground attraction

CCA 3 looks to be a Rytecraft Scootacar, which started life as a fairground attraction but was then turned into a 'roadworthy' vehicle using a Villiers single-cylinder 98cc engine with single forward speed and no suspension. Later, a 249cc version with three-speed manual transmission was available, too.

About 1000 are believed to have been built up until 1945 and the most famous one has to be the car registered BUC 515, which is now in the Brooklands Museum and which took Englishman Jim Parkinson on a 15,000-mile trip around the world in the mid-1960s. Mind you, this was the 98cc version, which supposedly had a top speed of just 12mph!

Vauxhall connection?

We have read that the first Rytecraft cars were made as a commission by Vauxhall to promote its Big Six model when that was launched, but we don’t know more than that. The Rytecraft’s grille and brightwork do match that of the Vauxhall in a miniature format, don’t they? Perhaps this is when the idea came about to turn the dodgem into a motor car?

Where in London?

You may also be able to point out the exact place where this photograph was taken. Note the signposting saying ‘To public trench shelter’ above ‘Avondale Park’. That’s a park located in Kensington, London, which narrows down the possibilities quite a bit. Any ideas?

(Words: Jeroen Booij; Picture: Reg Speller)

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.