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MINIATURE RACE CAR SPECIALISTS

 Rowell Motors, based in Dundee in Scotland, were one of only two British companies that produced cars and engines specifically for competition. Wilfred G Rowell gave his name to the company that marketed their products through Brian Sherriff's model shop in Victoria Road, Dundee. As far as is known, Rowell Motors contracted out the manufacturing of all its products and the model shop was an accommodation address and distribution point. Rowell introduced the first of the serious 10cc racing engines in this country in 1948, followed by a range of components, tyres and wheels, and finally a complete car, the Rapier.  A mark II version of the engine followed in 1950 along with a more conventional tethered car, the Sabre, that was almost a direct copy of the very successful Dooling Arrow from America. More development followed for the 10cc motor, and a series 2 version was released, which was the last product to be marketed.  Like so many other companies involved with tethered car racing, a change in the market, problems with material and labour supply during the years of austerity in Britain and the superiority of the American products were to be the downfall of this company. Rowell Motors continued to sell off stock through the early fifties and items could still be purchased from Sherriff's until the shop was demolished for redevelopment in the mid 60s. The Rowell 60 still holds the record as the fastest commercial British engine to power a tethered car.  The engines, cars and accessories that were produced on behalf of Rowell remain rare and desirable items.

Wilfred George (Wilf) Rowell. Design engineer, working on industrial cranes.
Along with Brian Sherriff and T Scott registered Rowell Motors as a limited company in 1949. Continued working on cranes until his death in 1980.

Victoria Road in Dundee around 1949. Brian Sherriff's shop is on the right hand side of the road towards the end of the photo. The area was demolished in the mid 1960s and much of the remaining Rowell stock was consigned to a skip at this time.

 

Review of Products

The Mk I Rowell 60, introduced in 1948, is essentially a British version of the American McCoy. Quite crudely cast and relatively heavy, it was available for car or aeroplane use at £12. It was also offered in a glow version for 50p less, but none of these have yet been discovered. It was not on par with the American motors in terms of power, but because of import and currency restrictions, was on general sale, unlike the motors from the States that could only be obtained by clandestine means.

A Mk II version of the motor, was announced in 1950, and was considerably cheaper at £9-17-6. The crankcase was lightened with the rounded cast exhaust stack distinguishing it from the square machined version on the Mk I. The transfer bypass was also enlarged and a new die cast piston fitted. A die cast back plate with a downdraught venturi completed the changes. These alterations still left the motor short on power compared with the Doolings and McCoys.

The final motor to be produced was the Mk II series 2. The only distinguishing feature is the venturi that is set at an even steeper angle, requiring a new back plate casting. Rowell's claimed 1 3/4 bhp for this engine? Even at this stage, coil ignition via a standard Lucas contact breaker was the norm, even though glow plugs or magnetos were almost universal for high speed competition. 

Rowell Motors supplied a complete range of components for tethered car use including the clutch unit illustrated here, engine mounts, wheels, tyres, coils and accumulators. All of these, like the motors, were manufactured elsewhere and branded as Rowell items.
The Rapier car was quite unlike anything offered by any other manufacturer. With the exception of the gearbox and nose castings it was built from stock materials and suitable for home building. The lovely aluminium body shown here was produced for the complete cars. Home constructed cars would have carved balsa, paper or GRP bodies. The complete car would cost £29 (in excess of £1000 today)
The Sabre, now with a conventional chassis pan, is a British version of the American Dooling Arrow. Even the wheels and tyres are similar to the products from the States. Rowell's could supply a hand formed aluminium body for this model as well, although none of these seem to have survived.

For a more detailed version of the Rowell 'story', click here.