The Corgi Motorcycle Co Ltd. was a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

manufacturer based in

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

that produced 98 cc scooters developed by managing director

John Dolphin John Robert Vernon Dolphin (1 October 19052 May 1973) was a British engineer and inventor, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service and then became the Commanding Officer of the top-secret Second World War Special Operations Executive (SOE) ...

from the military

Welbike The Welbike is a British single-seat folding motorcycle produced during World War II at the direction of Station IX — the "Inter Services Research Bureau" — based at Welwyn, UK, for use by Special Operations Executive (SOE). It has the di ...

motorcycle. Production of the Corgi scooter for the UK market began in 1948 and 27,050 were manufactured before production ended in October 1954.

History

Founded by managing director John Dolphin at the end of the Second World War in 1946 the Corgi Motorcycle Company was formed to develop a civilian version of his 98 cc Welbike, which had been designed at The Frythe in Hertfordshire to be dropped by parachute to support airborne troops. The main difference between the Corgi scooter and the Welbike were that frame was more solid (as weight was no longer such an issue) and the Corgi had a fuel tank in the normal motorcycle position between the handlebars and the saddle. Both were otherwise very similar with small wheels and folding handlebars and seat. Both had 98 cc

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

engine with a single gear. The original Corgi scooter was started by pushing, but the Mark 2 was fitted with a kick start and two clutches – a conventional handlebar operated clutch and a "dog-clutch" operated by folding down the right hand footrest to engage the rear wheel, to enable the Corgi to be kick-started and run whilst stationary. 015SFEC VINTAGE-VEHICLES

Brockhouse Engineering of Southport built Corgi scooters, powered by an

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

Spryt Autocycle engine) under licence. Many of these were exported to the United States between 1947 and 1954. Sold through a department store, the Corgi was branded the Indian Papoose in the US market. Production of the Corgi scooter for the UK market began in 1948. 27,050 were manufactured before production ended in October 1954.

Owners' club

A club for fans of the Brockhouse Corgi was established in June 1948 after a letter was published in ''Motor Cycling'' suggesting that owners meet up at Kew Green in south west London that weekend. By 1952 the club had become international and owners were making continental camping trips on their machines.Miller, Peter. From Welbike to Corgi. FWtoC Publishing. . p119 A Brockhouse Corgi owners' club was restarted in 2011 for everyone interested in the machine. Its aim was to assist owners restore their Corgis and to inform other interested parties of the machine's history.

Uses

As a marketing stunt a Corgi scooter was ridden across the American continent. They were also used by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

as transport for maintenance staff and were kept aboard aircraft for use by aircrew. Corgi scooters were available with optional sidecars, which were also produced by Brockhouse and a dealer called Jack Olding produced various accessories for the machine including a body kit, making the Corgi look like a step-thru scooter.

Sources

External links

An owners view of the Corgi scooter

*

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; 29 June 1911 – 1 December 2004) was Prince of the Netherlands from 6 September 1948 to 30 April 1980 as the husband of Queen Juliana. They had four daughters to ...

br>takes delivery of his second Corgi
{{British motorcycle manufacturers Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom