Angus vintage vehicle enthusiasts have been rewarded with international interest for their special showcase of Scottish motoring heritage.
On what was the site of the old Glamis railway station, Strathmore Vintage Vehicle Club’s Bridge View House base has this week been the venue for a unique collection of exhibits.
The special event, featuring 25 vehicles from early bicycles to tractors, trucks and cars, was put together as the club’s contribution to Scotland’s Tartan Day celebrations in the county.
The exhibition has only a couple of days to run but club officials have already welcomed visitors from as far afield as Australia to the event.
It has also given the club the chance to tell the story of some of Tayside’s little-known automotive heritage, including the Dundee-built Werbell, the first car to climb the Law, and possibly Scotland’s oldest car, the Forfar-built Innes, whose remnants are a star attraction in a Canadian museum.
Club vice-chairman Stephen Dear said: “We don’t think there’s ever been a display dedicated to Scottish motoring of this scale under one roof and the response to it has been fantastic.
“The comments we have had from the public have been very encouraging and for us to be able to do something like this in our own base is a dream that we have held for a very long time.
“Although the full display ends at the weekend, the intention is to continue a semi-permanent rotating display of items, which we hope visitors will enjoy coming to see.”
Many rarities have caught the eye of Glamis visitors but the stories behind three locally connected marques have provoked most interest, even though no examples of the cars in question remain.
They include the Werbell, made by brothers William and Edward Raikes Bell and John Kirkland.
Only eight of the touring cars rolled out of the Dundee garage from 1907 to 1909 but on February 25 1908, William Raikes Bell became the first man to drive to the top of the city’s Law in one.
The Dalhousie, of Carnoustie’s Anderson-Grice Company, built between 1906 and 1910, is another vehicle known only by surviving photographs but at least in the case of Forfar’s Innes, there is a tangible link to its fascinating past.
“The date of the car was reckoned to be around 1896-97,” Mr Dear said.
“The man who produced it was George Innes, who was in business in Service Road, Forfar as an engineer and manufacturer of oil engines and printing equipment around the turn of the century.
“George Innes never intended to manufacture motor vehicles and the car he built was for his own personal use and a one-off.”
He added: “In 1911 Innes and his family emigrated to Canada, they dismantled the car and took only the engine, chassis, axles, wheels and transmission etc. He passed away in January 1918.
“The remains of the car reside in storage at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Canada. But the Strathmore Vintage Vehicle Club would someday love to see it come back home to its birthplace.”