Some history by Martin Shelley, owner of this SCAT.

The history of my car is interesting, as many SCATs seem to have been exported to Australia and New Zealand when new through Newton and Bennett who invested in the company after its first year of trading and kept the enterprise afloat in exchange for the sole rights to sell these fine cars 'throughout the British Empire'. The chief designer of Newton and Bennett, R O Harper, also made significant contributions to these cars through his many inventions which were incorporated item by item. These include the novel starter using compressed air and of course the famous Newton and Bennett wheels with tapered hubs and square keys instead of splines like the Rudge Whitworth pattern so common in the period. My car has these wheels but no starter other than a modern one fitted for practical purposes when the vehicle was rebuilt, as it also has a 9 litre Simplex engine in place of the original 4 1/2 litre pair cast four cylinder SCAT engine originally fitted (which fortunately I have).

The car (or more correctly cars as there was most of two cars found dismantled together) was discovered in 1989 near Adelaide in South Australia and was exported back to the UK. It was eventually rebuilt as a homage to the car which won the 1911 Targa Florio, but with many detailed improvements as it was intended for use in VSCC Edwardian competition events, in which class of competition it has done very well over recent years.

After passing through a number of hands as a restoration project, it was returned to running order by Richard Black, a noted UK VSCC member who has restored several other well known cars in recent years. It has competed in circuit races, sprints, speed hillclimbs and many long distance events including the 2003 Paris Madrid Centenary and the 2004 Paris Bordeaux Centenary. In 2005 I took her to Clermont Ferrand for the Centenary of the Coupe Gordon Bennett and to Dieppe for the Retro event celebrating the Circuit de Seine Inferieure where the 1907, 1908 and 1912 Grand Frix de l'ACF were run. I also participated in the Isle of Man car TT centenary celebrations and raced and hillclimbed her successfully in my first year of VSCC competition.

The SCAT wins friends wherever she appears and impresses with her fast and steady handling, making her a joy to drive. I had considered buying a Brescia Bugatti or a 30/98 Vauxhall but happened across the SCAT and am very glad I did because she has delivered everything I have asked of her. With the car came a full complement of spares from the second car, and I am now attempting to complete the search for enough parts to build a sister car, of similar date but with the pair cast T head sidevalve 4 1/2 litre engine and a more weatherproof (!) body.