IS IT a car? Is it a bike?
No, it’s a 1920s deluxe Model A petrol-powered Bath chair!
Dick Cartwright, owner of Fartown business DC Motorcycles, is used to handling machines with a bit more va-va-voom.
He has bikes from the likes of manufacturing giants Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda on his books.
But when he was offered an antique motorised invalid carriage in part-exchange for a BMW bike curiosity got the better of him.
Mr Cartwright, who also owns a range of classic cars for his hire business Cartwright’s Courtesy Cars, said the customer had had it in the back of his garage for years.
He said: “I’d never seen anything like it.
“You can imagine the scene; driving down the road when one of these comes round the corner. You’d get quite a shock.
“For novelty value it’s something pretty special.
“I think we’ll probably end up taking it to classic car rallies.”
Bath chairs were invented by James Heath of Bath.
They were designed for use by women and the infirm and became popular in the spa resorts of England.
Many early models were horse-drawn and later versions were pushed by an attendant.
Mr Cartwright’s petrol-powered model has a series of levers to control it and is powered by a vintage Villiers engine.
It has a candle light on the back.
Mr Cartwright said: “Once you get it going it’s quite difficult to control.
“We don’t really have a clue what half of the levers do.
“It’s quite nippy though.
“We’ve been riding it round the car park and it gets up to about 25mph.”
