Heart of England Classic Transport Club
On Sunday 25th July, I went to Bulkington WMC to visit the Heart of England Classic Transport Club. It was absolutely brilliant to see so many classics and so many characters who are passionate about their cars. There was a variety of motors and it was good to see so many people popping by to see the cars and discuss the history of the motors.
The club meet on a regular basis at the Griffin Inn on Coventry Road in Bedworth and everybody is welcome.
The dates of the upcoming meets are as follows
1900 – 2230 on the following Tuesdays 27th July, 10th August & 24th August 2010.
1130 – 1500 on the following Sundays 12th September, 10th October, 14th November & 12th December 2010.
If you’re in the area or you’re looking for an interesting trip out, pop in to the above meets, you’ll be made welcome and you’ll meet some real characters.
Pictures to be uploaded shortly.
Dawn
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 BSA Motorcycles
BSA was founded in 1861, originally in the gun trade. They produced their first motorcycle in 1903 and their first motor car in 1907. They purchased Daimler in 1910.
World War 1 saw the company return to manufacturing arms and it greatly expanded its operations. They produced rifles, guns, shells, motorcycles and other vehicles for the war effort. After the war, BSA bought assets in Airco, however, they did not go into aviation.
By World War II, BSA had 67 factories. BSA operations were also dispersed to other companies under licence. During the war it produced over a million Lee-Enfield rifles, Sten sub machine guns and half a million Browning machine guns. Wartime demands included motorcycle production. 126,000 BSA M20 motorcycles were supplied to the armed forces.
BSA continued to expand the range of metal goods it produced. The BSA Group bought Triumph Motorcycles in 1951, making them the largest producer of motorcycles in the world. The cycle and motor cycle interests of Ariel, Sunbeam and New Hudson were also acquired.
The Group continued to expand throughout the 1950s but by 1965 competition from Japan and Europe was eroding BSA’s market share.
Reorganisation in 1971 concentrated motorcycle production at Meriden, with production of components and engines at BSA’s Small Heath. At the same time there were redundancies and the selling of assets and Barclays Bank arranged financial backing to the tune of 10 million.
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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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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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The History of Matchless Motorcycles
For a while, Matchless were the largest motorcycle maker and from the turn of the century, the Collier Brothers were involved in powered two wheelers. Both Harry and Charlie Collier believed in competition, and before World War 1, the marque was well established. The company’s premises were in Plumstead, South East London, and were well removed from the Midlands centre of the industry, but this seemed to have little effect on their prosperity.
At the start of the 1930s, the company had a range of singles much as any other manufacturer, plus a big V-twin for sidecar work. They also had the new Silver Arrow, which was kept under wraps until the last minute. The problem was that enthusiasts would clamour for advanced developments and sophistication but would never purchase it. Fortunately, Matchless continued with their line of straight forward machines which sold well and kept them solvent.
The Silver Arrow had been a focus of interest when it was first shown, and within 12 months, the company unveiled a machine with a four cylinder overhead camshaft engine at Olympia. It was called the Silver Hawk.
The 1934 range was slimmed down a little, and among the casualties was the Silver Arrow, D, D/5, D/6, D6 and D7. The mudguard beading was changed to a gold line in 1935 and a change to chrome plated wheel rims reflected the move away from the economies of the depression years. In April 1935, an important new model was announced which was to set the style and format for the range from then on. The new G3 was known as the Clubman. It had a vertical cylinder and used the trusted 69 x 93 mm dimensions to obtain 348cc. It had an OHV, a magneto tucked behind the engine and a dynamo beneath that, where it was chain driven from the crankshaft.
During the 1930s, Matchless supplied engines to Brough Superior, Calthorpe, Coventry Eagle, OEC and OK Supreme.
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The History of Singer Cars
The company was established by George Singer in Coventry to make bicycles in 1875.
Singer made their first four wheel car in 1905. It was made under licence from Lea-Francis and had a 3 cylinder 1400 cc engine.
In 1911 the first big seller appeared with the 1100cc ‘Ten’ with Singer’s own engine. The use of their own power plants spread through the range until by the outbreak of the World War I all models except the low-volume 3.3 litre 20hp were so equipped.
Singer stopped building motorcycles at the outbreak of the First World War. As with most companies, the factory was devoted to producing war materials, and profits soared and for the first time since introducing cars to the range, the company were in a healthy financial state.
The range continued in a complex manner using developments of the OHC ‘Junior’ engine first with the ‘Nine’, the 14/6 and the sporty 1.5 litre known as the ‘Le Mans’ in 1933.
Singer plants again produced a wide variety of arms and aero equipment during World War 2, but financially the company was not in good shape at the end of the war, and maintained a limited product line.
In 1948 the all new ‘SM1500’ with independent front suspension and a separate chassis was announced, which was based on American styling.
Despite the Hunter’s success, Singer never recovered from the events of the 1930s, and in 1955 was in danger of closing its doors as banks refused to lend more money. Ignoring the fate of others who had done the same, the Singer brand was absorbed into the Rootes Group whose brands largely sold badge engineered versions of each other’s cars.
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