Dunkley Motorized Perambulators in England From the 1920s

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In 1923, Dunkley entered the history books with a fairly unlikely motor vehicle – a motorized perambulator. The Dunkley Pramotor was a scooter attached to the rear of a large baby pram, and the nanny rode standing astride the engine on the scooter platform. Initially powered by a 1HP horizontal single-speed two-stroke which required a push the bathtub and leap aboard with your ankle-length dress start, the following year a 2-speed version was offered with a kickstarter and clutch lever making life oh so much easier for intrepid nursie.

These brilliantly thought-out contraptions were promptly banned from footpaths and parks meaning they had to share the road with lumbering milk carts, motor bicycles and the local laird’s Hispanic Wheezer. This proved problematical of course, with a one-horse engine having difficulty pacing the milko’s cart let alone Sir Richcant’s 17 liter behemoth, so Dunkley’s solution was to produce a 750cc version of the Pramotor.
This is the Dunkley Pramotor, introduced in 1921, or 1923 according to some sources. The Pramotor was a scooter attached to the rear of a large baby pram, and the intrepid nanny rode standing astride the engine on the scooter platform. Early versions were powered by a 1 HP horizontal single-speed two-stroke engine. It was manufactured by W.H. Dunkley of Birmingham, UK.

This was clearly taken on the same photoshoot. Note the heavyweight wheels on the pram to carry the weight of the scooter attachment.

This version has a seat for more relaxing pram-driving.

This is the hard-top version, with stream-lined nose. No seat for the nanny on this model.

This illustration may well have been the inspiration for Dunkley’s device.

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