The first Victa mower was built in 1952 by Mervyn Victor Richardson who wanted to help his son who had a lawn mowing business. It's now called the "Peach Tin Prototype" since he used an old peach can as a makeshift fuel tank. :laughing:
It was powered by a Villiers (a British small-engine manufacturer, founded in 1898) two-stroke engine that was probably intended for small motorbikes. I think it's 75cc -- but I'm not sure about that.
Here are some detail photos of the engine. If anybody can ID this engine, I'd appreciate it.
An interesting summary of the company's history can be found here.