Tag Archives: scout

Rover Scout Concept

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1991 Rover Scout Concept

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | November 27, 2019

Photo – Brightwells

This Rover concept car was a little ahead of its time. Where it to be introduced today, they would sell quite a lot of them. It’s basically a Rover Metro five-door hatchback with some lower body cladding, headlight guards, roof rails, and sporty graphics. In today’s word, that means it is a crossover. It’s off-road-ready!*

Power is from a 1.4-liter inline-four. The Scout was one of six “lifestyle” concepts based on the Metro that were built around this time. Land Rover would ultimately enter the space that this was intended to fill with the Rover 200-based Freelander.

This car has covered just over 1,000 miles since new and is coming from a private collection without a pre-sale estimate or a reserve. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

*Not really.

Update: Sold $3,307.

Glide Scout

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1910 Glide Model 45 Scout Touring

Offered by Bonhams | Tupelo, Mississippi | April 26-27, 2019

Photo – Bonhams

Anyone with any degree of mechanical knowledge could’ve opened an automobile company before 1910. In this case, J.B. Bartholomew of Peoria, Illinois, made peanut and coffee roasters before building his first car in 1901. In 1903 the Glidemobile went into production, and the name was shortened the following year to just Glide.

The 1910 Glide model range consisted of the Model 45 which was powered by a 45 horsepower 5.8-liter inline-four. Three factory body styles were offered, a three-passenger roadster, the five-passenger Scout touring, and a seven-passenger Special touring. This is the middle car, which cost $2,500 when new.

It is a larger car than the photos would have you believe, and it is one of only a few Glides known to exist. Formerly a part of the Imperial Palace collection, it is the first car we are featuring from the now-closed Tupelo Automobile Museum. It should sell for between $38,000-$53,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $76,160.

American Underslung Scout

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1913 American Underslung Model 22-B Scout

For Sale at Hyman Ltd | St. Louis, Missouri

Photo - Hyman Ltd.

Photo – Hyman Ltd.

The American Motor Car Company of Indianapolis, Indiana built some of the coolest pre-WWI cars in America. The Underslung model line – which was new for 1909 – featured a, well, low-slung chassis that make the cars look incredible sporty.

The Scout was the two-passenger roadster. Larger cars were also offered. The Model 22 was offered for 1912 and 1913 only and 1914 was the final model year for the American Underslung. It uses a 4.1-liter straight-four making about 25 horsepower.

This car was restored in the 1980s and has been used heavily since. The listing on Hyman Ltd’s website says it better than I can, so read more about it there. In summary, it says that this car has more character than just about anything else you could drive – and they’re right. It’s an amazing old car that can be used and driven. You could have a lot of fun in this car. It is priced right too, for what it is (in the $100,000 range). Check out more cars for sale by them here.

Here’s video of a similar car:

BSA Scout

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1935 BSA Scout Series I

Offered by Bonhams | Oxford, U.K. | March 8, 2014

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Birmingham Small Arms Company began motorized vehicle production in 1907 with some prototype cars. Motorcycles arrived in 1910 and would become the company’s signature product through the 1960s and into the 1970s. BSA motorcycles are some of the most classic British bikes from the era.

Early BSA cars were kind of a mess and it wasn’t until their fourth attempt at automobile production that they finally got it right (or as close to right as they would before realizing that maybe they should stick with motorcycles). The Scout was introduced in 1935 and used a 1.1-liter straight-four engine making 9 (RAC) horsepower (which I think is around 30hp in today’s terms).

The Scout was available in six series through 1939 and established BSA as a builder of reliable automobiles. Unfortunately the War killed any hopes of them continuing after the Scout ceased production. It’s a small, light car with really good looks. This one was a basket case when it was found in the 1970s and eventually restored to great condition. It’s a cool little car from a company better known for their two-wheelers. It should sell for between $10,000-$13,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Bonhams’ Oxford sale.

Update: Sold $20,249.

Bonhams Harrogate Highlights

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Bonhams recent motorcycle and car auction at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate, U.K. featured a few interesting sales. Unfortunately, three of our featured vehicles here on the site did not sell: the Triumph 1800 Roadster, Bristol Beaufighter and the Brough Superior SS100.

Some of the highlights include a 1963 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. The 40 Series of the Land Cruiser range were made from 1960 until 1984 (and even longer in Brazil. These cars – er, uh, Jeeps – are much beloved by the off-road community. This particular model looks brand new and was owned by the Rover Car Co as an “evaluation” vehicle. It sold for about $26,000. Bonhams has these pictures locked, but I’ll do what I can for the other cars.

At most British auctions, there is a large selection of British cars. Two that I’d like to focus on are a 1946 Hillman Minx Drophead Coupe and this 1934 BSA Scout Roadster.

This isn’t the exact car – the exact car had striking red brakes and wheel caps. BSA, Birmingham Small Arms Company, is known primarily as a motorcycle manufacturer but they built cars from 1909 until 1926 and again from 1929 until 1940. Some of these cars where sporty three-wheelers but they built a number of four-wheeled variants as well. This 8.9 horsepower Scout uses a 1,075cc engine that was rebuilt about three years ago. It sold for about $12,000.

The Hillman Minx was produced from the early 1930s through 1970. The immediate postwar Minx (the example sold at Bonhams a 1946) did not differ much from the pre-war Minx. The model is commonplace but the Drophead Coupe body style is quite rare. A driver in nice black paint sold for about $5,700.

There were two interesting old trucks that passed across the block at this sale: a 1925 Autocar 27KS 5-Ton Truck in original running condition sold for about $10,000. And a 1927 International SF24 1.5-Ton Flat-Bed Truck in restored-as-necessary condition with an engine rebuild at some point brought about the same price.

Check out the complete results here (with pictures!).