Tuesday 11 September 2012

The British scooters on exhibit

The DKR Defiant had Dynastart and could reach 60 mph!

Yes, I'm a fan of the english football club Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Since I was ten years old and fell for the club logo of a wolf.
I'm not quite sure if I'm a fan of the DKR Defiant, a scooter made in Wolverhampton by the firm DKR Scooters Ltd. Their first scooter appeared in 1957, with a 150 cc big Villiers-engine (6,3 hp) and a "distinct" body.
1958 saw three DKR scooters; "Pegasus" (148 cc Villiers), "Defiant" (197 cc Villiers) and "Manx" (249 cc, twin-cylinder Villiers), with pretty much the same "distinct" body. 
In 1960 DKR launched the "Capella", with a more conventional body. But in 1966 all production ceased.
Robin Spalding is an English gentleman who cares for the scooters made in Britain. He has a collection of over 40 scooters. Among them Swallow Gadabout, Dayton Albatross, DKR Defiant, Triumph Tina and T10, Brockhouse Corgi, Phoenix, Douglas Vespa and more.
Coventry Transport Museum will feature his scooters in an exhibition that starts in November 2012 and ends in March 2013. Robin Spalding is currently also working on a book on the subject.
You can also read more about the DKR Scooters here.


1 comment:

  1. You really have to wonder what those British manufacturers were thinking (or smoking). At the time, you had the lithe Lambretta selling like crazy in the UK, and the curvaceous Vespa being made under license by Douglas. Then you try to sell this? Really, who would buy that horrible looking thing, when you could walk down the street and see a Vespa or Lambretta in comparison? It really is no wonder that the British motorcycle industry collapsed (and this coming from a guy that owns a Triumph motorcycle).

    -Paul

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