The History of Vauxhall Motors
Alexander Wilson founded the Vauxhall Iron Works, in what became the Vauxhall district of London in 1857. Probably not that he would have created one of the most successful European car and commercial vehicle manufacturers of the twentieth century and beyond.
The company was renamed the Vauxhall Ironworks Company Ltd in 1897, when a single cylinder 5hp petrol engine was developed to power a river launch called Jabberwock. Others had already attached such motors to vehicles and so Vauxhall joined in the experiment, producing their first car in 1903, powered by the same single cylinder 5hp engine. The first impressions were good and a sporty looking 6hp two seater followed in 1904.
A forward thinking Luton Council was encouraging new industry into their town and by 1905, London was already congested, so as Vauxhall were after more room, they moved to Luton and the company restructured as “The Vauxhall and West Hydraulic Company”, with the car making separated out as Vauxhall Motors Ltd.
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