W H AT ’ S I N M Y GA RAG E
The Skeoch Utility Car
BACK TO THE FUTURE 1921-2021 The Skeoch utility car was one of Scotland’s first affordable cars and was built in Dalbeattie in 1921 by car designer, James Baird Skeoch. The car provided a comfortable two-seater which was suitable for business or pleasure. The car was launched at the Scottish Motor Trade Association’s 1921 Scottish Motor Show held in Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall. The Skeoch car was meant to be produced in volume (for the time) in the Burnside Motor Works, however only twelve were produced before a fire ripped through the works destroying all the cars in build and crashing the ambitions of the designer in December 1921. The founder’s son, Ronald Anderson Skeoch, began thinking about resurrecting the Skeoch and had gathered several genuine parts
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but he sadly died in 2017 before he could realise this dream. James’s granddaughter Fiona Sinclair and her parents Archie and Betty (James’s daughter) were clearing Ronald Skeoch’s house when they came across the car parts and original linen drawings, original photographs, and several radiator badges. With a background in conservation architecture, Fiona was keen to see her late uncle’s dream realised. So, the idea was hatched to recreate a replica of the original Dalbeattiemanufactured 1920s car, hopefully
Main picture: The original 1921 Skeoch Utility Car. Above left: Founder, James Baird Skeoch. Right: Ronald Anderson Skeoch. Centre: Burnisde Motor Works. Left: The original catalogue for the 1921 Scottish Motor Exhibition,
