The Invacar (abbreviated from "invalid carriage") was a small single-seater

microcar Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are oft ...

vehicle designed for use by disabled drivers, and distributed for free in the UK.

History

In 1948,

Bert Greeves Bert Greeves MBE (born Oscar Bertram Greeves, 5 June 1906 – 15 July 1993) was a British engineer who founded Invacar Ltd in 1942 and Greeves motor cycles in 1953. Twice married with one daughter, he was appointed MBE in 1972. Early lif ...

adapted a motorbike for exclusively manual control with the help of his paralysed cousin, Derry Preston-Cobb, as transport for Preston-Cobb. In the number of former servicemen disabled in the Second World War they spotted a commercial opportunity and approached the UK government for support, leading to the creation of Invacar Ltd. The British Ministry of Pensions distributed Invacars free to disabled people from 1948 until the 1970s. Most early vehicles were powered by an air-cooled Villiers 197 cc engine with Dynastart, but when production of that engine ceased in the early 1970s it was replaced by a much more powerful 4-stroke 500 cc or 600 cc Steyr-Puch engine, giving a reported top speed of . During the 1960s and 70s the Invacar, with its modern

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

shell and ice-blue colouring—nicknamed Ministry Blue after the Ministry of Health —was produced in the tens of thousands. Developments—including an extended wheelbase, widened track and use of Austin

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

wheels—saw the Invacars right through to the end of the final

DHSS The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. Hi ...

contract in 1977. More than 50 variants were produced. On 31 March 2003, all Invacars owned by the government were recalled and scrapped because of safety concerns. The veteran vehicle could not meet modern-day government regulations, which required approval under the Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval scheme as part of a standard set by the European Union. There were still around 200 Invacars in Britain before the 2003 recall and scrapping programme. Hundreds of stockpiled Invacars in government warehouses were scrapped, along with all their spare parts. A few examples survive in the hands of private owners and museums in Britain and abroad. Invacars can still be used on UK roads; only vehicles owned by the government were scrapped. All Invacars were owned by the government and leased to disabled drivers as part of their disability benefit. Their use had been in decline since the introduction of the Motability scheme, which offers disabled drivers a conventional car with modified options. In 2018 it featured in BBC 4 programme ''The NHS: A People's History'' with

Alex Brooker Alexander James Brooker (born 15 May 1984) is an English journalist and presenter best known for his television work with Channel 4. Since 2012, Brooker has co-hosted '' The Last Leg'', a Channel 4 panel show with Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe ...

Notes

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

The Thundersley/AC INVACAR

Invacar Ltd from The Invalid Carriage Register

* ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-45907925/the-disability-vehicle-so-tiny-it-couldn-t-take-passengers 'My car was so small my date sat on the floor' - BBC News Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Microcars Companies based in Essex Cars introduced in 1948

History

See also

Notes

References

External links