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Nick Sloan's story.
This is a substract of Nick's letter explaining his great interest in SCAT.
I'm not quite sure whether or not you are aware as to why I am interested in S.C.A.T.'s, but it all stems from the 1925 S.150 Ceirano my Father bought for me in 1954, and the connections between the Ceirano family with so many different makes, and of course the fact that they really were the founders of the Italian Motor Industry, selling out, as they did to F.I.A.T. around the turn of the century; 19th to 20th of course. The Welleyes Cyclecar, produced by Ceirano at that time, became the first F.I.A.T. I believe.
The last S.C.A.T.'s seem to have been produced in around 1923/24, and the first under the Ceirano name again, the CS range coming in around 1920/21. The last S.C.A.T's and the first Ceirano's appear suspiciously similar, both mechanically, and in appearance, but there are detail spec. differences, bore and stroke being quoted as 75x130, 75x120, and even 75x125, in the various reference sources I have. The wheelbases vary by a couple of inches (50mm to you), and the Ceirano has gained a pump for the cooling system, but I'll bet that the basic chassis was the same.
My S.150 Ceirano is a very early production car and very original. In the side of the gearbox there is a small oil level plug, stamped SCAT, suggesting to me that the SCAT parts bins were being used.
In 1913, when SCAT's had been in production for some while, the N.B. Car was introduced. John Newton of Newton & Bennett in Manchester, U.K., was on the SCAT Board of Directors, and, presumably at his suggestion the N.B. (Newton & Bennett) Car was introduced, mainly, I should think, for sale in the U.K. It was very much an Italian design, and similarities may be seen between it and the Ceirano 150, and indeed the Fiat 501.
Scanned photo's of an N.B. Radiator/Engine/Gearbox unit (click here), from a 1913 ( I think) copy of the Autocar Handbook, and a similar scanned photo of the Engine/Gearbox from the S.150 Ceirano Handbook of 1925 (click here), show distinct family resemblances, in my opinion.
A Mr. Hannam of Gillingham in Dorset, in the U.K., obviously liked the look of the N.B., and miraculously, the reply he received from Newton & Bennett, dated July the 22nd 1913, has survived, in it's original envelope with a King George the 5th penny stamp upon it, along with the leaflet for the N.B. Car. The letter heading makes no secret of the SCAT connection, and in fact it states that Mr. J.Newton. is a Director of SCAT, Italy. Click here.
On the back page of the N.B. Leaflet is a reference to the compressed air starter fitted to 'Our Larger cars' which were obviously the SCAT's, although on the N.B. a form of lever start was employed using the gear lever in a separate slot to that for the gear changing.
How I would have loved to send a Telegram addressed ' Scatissima'
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