It was the three-wheeler machine gun car, called the ‘Guncar’ that was evaluated but not ordered, but quite a number of more conventional Scott sidecar outfits were used by the Motor Machine-Gun Service. They were not a success in the cloying mud of the Western Front, and were generally too delicate for the average Squaddie to use. One delivery of brand new machines was parked up overnight in a marquee, during a hard frost, and in the morning every machine had a cracked cylinder block !! No antifreeze, and no-one had thought to drain them down overnight. The Clyno sidecar outfits that were also ordered were much more robust, and did quite well, but were of little practical use, and so the MMGS was disbanded. My uncle Charles Victor Toms (born 1898), was one of those transferred to the new Tank Corps from the MMGS. I have his pay book and photographs taken in WW1.
Alfred Scott was very disappointed that his Guncar was rejected, but it evolved into the ‘Sociable’ three-wheeler car, which in truth was too unconventional in appearance to appeal to many buyers.
Brian
