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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The History of the Mini
An engineer with the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in the 1950s had a dream that a small car would be put outside the house of every working person. The car that Alec Issigonis designed eventually stood outside everything from a palace to a hovel. With a limited budget, he often sketched engineering plans on the back of envelopes, Issigonis and his team worked against the clock to get the car into production. Sir Alec died in 1988, but his car lives on.
The Mini was attractive to both tuners and racers. Leading this group was John Cooper. In 1959 and 1960 he was the World Champion Formula One racing car constructor and had had personal success in his 500cc special. Cooper felt strongly enough to go to the chairman of BMC, to ask if he could build a run of four seater GTs, after a brief meeting the chairman said ‘yes, go away and do it’.
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The History of Vincent HRD
Phillip Vincent was a determined man with firm ideas on how a motorcycle should perform, and more importantly, how a motorcycle should be built.
He had studied mechanical science at Cambridge University and had a poor opinion of many features of the contemporary machines.
In the 1920s, he built his first motorcycle. Like all others, it had rear suspension with a triangulated pivoted fork and the springs were mounted beneath the saddle to work against the upper frame. It had a Swiss Mag engine, a Moss gearbox, Webb forks and Enfield hubs.
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The History of Moto Guzzi
Moto-Guzzi is an Italian manufacturer that has endured from the industry’s infancy to its place today as the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production. It is now one of seven brands owned by Piaggio.
The company was conceived by two aircraft pilots and their mechanic serving in the Corpo Aeronautico Militare during World War 1. The trio, Carlo Guzzi, Giovanni Ravelli and Giorgi Parodi envisioned creating a motorcycle company after the war. Guzzi and Parodi formed Moto Guzzi in 1921, Ravelli unfortunately died just days after the war had ended in an aircraft crash and is commemorated by the eagle’s wings that form the Moto Guzzi logo.
In the 50s, the company along with other Italian factories led the world of Grand Prix Motorcycle racing. With durable and lightweight 250cc and 350cc bikes, the firm dominated the middleweight classes. The factory won five consecutive 350cc championships between 1953 and 1957.
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History of Norton Motorcycles
1935 Norton TT Team
James Lansdowne Norton, was a remarkable man. He was born in Birmingham in 1869 and raised in a strictly religious middle class family. He was apprenticed to a toolmaker when he left school and was soon involved in making bicycle chains. Work was interrupted when he suffered a severe bout of rheumatic fever when he was 19. The attack was so bad that the doctor advised that a sea trip would be the best form of convalescence, and in 1888, he went to New York and back on one of the new Trans Atlantic liners.
The trip helped but he suffered ill health all his life which prematurely aged him and led him to be nicknamed “Pa” whilst still a TT competitor. His next milestone came in 1898, when he set up the Norton Manufacturing Company in Bromsgrove Street, Birmingham.
One of his friends was Charles Riley Garrard, a wealthy entrepreneur, who decided that the new craze was a potential money-spinner. At that time, the French were pioneers, and in 1902, Garrard concluded a deal to import Clement engines which he would build into bicycles and market as the Clement-Garrard.
Norton was soon building frames for Garrard and in November 1902 advertised the first Norton, called the Energette. It was claimed to be the “ideal doctors bike” and suitable for business, touring and racing.
In addition to building frames for Garrard, and his own Energette, Norton had been expanding the components side of the business. It was obvious that Norton had decided to diversify. The name Energette was dropped in November 1903 and this was the first hint that a larger machine was on its way.
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The History of Aston Martin
The Aston Martin is the English alternative to the Bugati and Ferrari. The company was founded in 1913 by mechanical engineer Robert Bamford and wealthy Lionel Martin. The two had met in 1905 as members of a cycling club and progressed during the Edwardian era to classic trials and hill climbs using the Singer sports car. Bamford thought he could improve the car, and soon began to build cars which took the Aston Martin name (from Martin’s exploits at the Aston Clinton hill climb in Buckinghamshire).
However, the partnership was not to last and Martin bought out Bamford in 1922. Soon the company being asked for replicas, but being English, they didn’t like to make a profit from their friends and the firm nearly went bust in 1925. It was saved by Lord Charnwood and Hon. John Benson, who appointed Italian born Augustus Cesari Bertelli as Managing Director.
The company built the Ulster between 1934 and 1935 which had an in line 4 cylinder 1495cc, single overhead camshaft which featured an advanced dry sump engine. It produced 80bhp at 5250rpm, had a top speed of 100mph, and named after the Ulster TT road race. The Ulster was the best performing of the pre war Astons.
Following the war, many manufacturers were suffering financial difficulties. David Brown (famous for tractors) acquired Aston Martin in 1947 for £20,500, and in 1948, purchased Lagonda for £52,000.
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History of Indian Motorcycles
Indian Motorcycle
The Indian Motorcycle company is America’s oldest brand and was once the largest manufacturer in the world.
The company was founded by George Hendee and Carl Hedstrom, who produced a single cyclinder bike which proved highly successful.
The Scout and Chief V twins were introduced in the early 20s, and became the firm’s most successful models. Designed by Charles Franklin, the Scout and larger chief shared a 42° V twin engine layout. Both models gained a reputation for strength and reliability, which led to the saying “you can’t wear out an Indian Scout, or its brother the Indian Chief. They are built like rocks to take hard knocks’ it’s the Harleys that cause grief”.
Between 1962 and 1967, Burt Munro used a modified 1920s Scout to set a number of land speed records, as dramatised in the 2005 film The Worlds Fastest Indian.
The company is still producing motorcycles to this day.
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The History of Jaguar Cars
Jaguar began in 1922; originally as Swallow and Blackpool, Lancashire seemed an unpromising launch platform for a car that became as inspirational as it did.
In the years that followed the end of World War 1, Sir William Lyons, then known as Bill, appeared to be a young motorcycle sidecar manufacturer with delusions of grandeur. He was ambitious to move up to cars, and in 1927, he used his Swallow Sidecar workers coach building skills to make bodies for Austin Sevens, giving them a status, they scarcely deserved.
Nevertheless, to the posh Brooklands crowd, even after the factory moved to Coventry, the Swallows and their successors the SS1 and SS2 were a bit indifferent. They were derided for having a long bonnet and feeble engine, and enthusiasts who may not have known any better, refused to be taken in by cosmetic tricks such as two-tone paint and a low roofline.
They believed it was impossible to build a good car cheaply, and unaware that Lyons achieved it by keeping a tight control on unnecessary expenditure rather than skimping on production or materials. As well as having a gift for how a car should look, Lyons drove a hard bargain with suppliers and costs were kept ruthlessly low.
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The History of Ariel Motorcycles
The name Ariel was first used on a bicycle. James Starley teamed up with William Hillman in the early 1870s and among their first innovations was the wire spoked wheel and an all-metal lightweight frame. The company was based in Bournbrook, Birmingham.
By 1872, the pair went their separate ways. James continued with his cycles, winning races and setting speed records and eventually set up a business with his sons. Eventually in the late 1880s, Ariel Cycles became part of the Rudge-Whitworth concern, which was itself an amalgamation of a number of small cycle manufacturers, most notably the Rudge Cycle Co and the Whitworth Cycle Co.
A company known as Cycle Components Manufacturing acquired Ariel in 1897, and moved it into the Dale Road works, along with its core manufacturing business.
It was from here that the first motorised Ariel (a tricycle) was launched in 1898 and later, in 1901, the first Ariel motorcycle fitted with a Minerva 211cc engine was launched.
From here, Ariel progressed to large and medium single cylinders and on occasions V-twins, using mostly bought in engines, or engines manufactured under licence. These included MAG, JAP and AKD. The singles from 1910 were based on the 482cc White and Poppe SV. This engine was originally bought in, but was then made under licence up to 1926.
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The History of Thornycroft Trucks
The era started in 1862, when John I Thornycroft designed a steam car. Two years later, he formed the Steam Carriage and Wagon Company, with works at Chiswick, London. However, the project ceased due to over-zealous legislation for road vehicles, and Thornycroft took up shipbuilding, also at Chiswick.
Thornycroft took up road vehicle work again in 1895, whilst continuing with his shipbuilding and marine engineering business, and built his first steam vehicle at the Chiswick works. The Thornycroft Steam Wagon Company of Chiswick put steam lorries and vans into production, and a new factory was set up at Basingstoke, Hampshire in 1898, to meet demand. The following year, Thornycroft steam wagons were supplied to the Army for the first time and London’s first powered bus was a Thornycroft steam double decker.
In 1901, 3 ton steam lorries were ordered by the Government and handed over to the Army. Attracted by the possibility of orders and a £500 prize for the winning vehicle, several firms, including Thornycroft, entered a War Office competition held at Aldershot for the best type of powered vehicle for military use. The winner was Thornycroft’s steam lorry Manufacturer’s No 99 which was followed in second place by a Foden lorry – also steam driven
The first Thornycroft motor vehicle was introduced in 1902, a commercial vehicle with a 4 ton load capacity.
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