BSA Three-Wheeler History

BSA returned to car manufacturing in 1929 with a genuinely innovative front-wheel-drive three-wheeler, built initially at the Sparkbrook works in Birmingham and then, from 1931, at the Lanchester factory in Coventry after BSA absorbed Lanchester. Unlike the cyclecar three-wheelers of the day — which typically used chain drive — the BSA dispensed with chains entirely, driving the single front wheel with a short, stiff propeller shaft to a worm-and-spur differential, and adding a reverse gear and electric starter as standard. The layout gave the car a low centre of gravity and claimed exceptional stability in corners.

The original engine was a Hotchkiss-designed 1,021 cc air-cooled V-twin; in 1932 a 1,075 cc side-valve water-cooled four-cylinder was added, and buyers could specify either unit. A light-van derivative, the TW-5, appeared in 1931. Approximately 6,650 three-wheelers were built before the line was discontinued in 1936, by which time BSA had launched the four-wheeled Scout on the same front-drive mechanical package.