1960 Centaur 49cc Folding Scooter

I saw this 1960 Centaur advertised a while ago. I’d bought too much at the time, so I passed on it. It had apparently come from Tyrells Racing Factory in Woking when they closed down their workshops, and was rumoured to have been used by them as a paddock bike in the early sixties.

I forgot all about it. Then a guy named Glen phoned me up the other day. He’d heard I was into oddball stuff, and wanted to know if I was interested.

He’d bought it, restored it, but was now ready to sell it and start another project. Aren’t we a fickle lot, we vintage enthusiasts?

I told him to bring it over, and now it’s resting in my garage while I decide what to do with it.

The engine is an American Clinton 49cc. It runs fine, and you start it like a lawnmower, with a pull-cord. I believe the company are still in existence, making industrial engines.

The scooter was manufactured by Lombard Industries in Massachusetts, between 1960 and 1962, and sold for $410.

Here’s my Centaur on display at Amberley Scooter and Microcar Show, August 2007…

This is the original folding scooter, the Valmobile.

Its inventor, M. Bouffort, demonstrates the Val Mobile, powered by a Villiers 98ccm, for le Scooter magazine (May, 1953 issue).

Here’s a photo of my old Hirano Valmobile – they were made by the Japanese under licence. I sold it in 1992.

It’s interesting to compare its design with the American Centaur.

Photos courtesy Scootering Magazine, 1992