Coventry's Motorcar Heritage E-Book

Damien Kimberley

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 342

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Coventry, home of the cycle industry, was also to become the birthplace of the motor industry when the Daimler Company became the first in Britain to mass produce cars in the late 1890s. Spearheaded by H.J. Lawson, Coventry soon became a hub of motoring activity, and by the early 1900s was teaming with small and large companies, testing cars, motor-bicycles and tricycles around the local streets and surrounding country lanes. Many of these companies had previously been established as cycle manufacturers, yet introduced engines to their cycle frames in various forms, as well as producing safer three- and four-wheeled experimental machines. Other companies were established solely as motor manufacturers, many were short-lived, but others would survive and prosper. This new-found industry soon attracted a new type of worker to Coventry, specialised in mechanical engineering. These men and their families came from all parts of the UK and beyond, and made new lives for themselves in the city. Coventry has been home to well in excess of 100 independent motor manufacturers, but in recent years the city has suffered greatly with the loss of huge companied like Jaguar and Peugeot. The legacy of many of these historic cars can, however, still be enjoyed through museums and private collections. This outstanding volume is illustrated with 200 archive photographs and ephemera from the collection held at Coventry Transport Museum, and is a valuable record of the motor companies and their machines, as well as the individuals who both founded and worked for these manufacturers.

Leseprobe

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In compiling this publication, I would like to thank the following organisations for their help and support: Coventry Transport Museum (Lizzie Hazlehurst-Pearson and Chris van Schaardenberg), The History Centre, Coventry (The Herbert – Andrew Mealey), Lincolnshire Archives (Claire Weatherall), The National Motor Museum (Patrick Collins and Jon Day), Christchurch City Libraries (Allison Page), Auckland City Libraries (Marie Hickie), Kelly College (Claire Harding), Warwick County Record Office (Pauline Archer), North Yorkshire County Record Office (Tom Richardson), Musée International d’horlogerie (Karla Vanraepenbusch), and the Calgary Diocèse (Bernice Pilling).

In obtaining further information and photographs, I would also like to extend my gratitude to Paul Newsome, Dave Butler, Lee Hitchin, Brian Long, John Spicer, John Maguire, Mike Maguire, Sarah J. Robinson, Pat Davis, Brian Healey, Tom Smith, Mike Jacques, Margaret Hartley, Mick Sanders, David Nalson and Katy Rayner.

A Humber ‘Motor Sociable’ taken from Humber & Company’s 1899 sales brochure entitled Humber Motors.

CONTENTS

Title

Acknowledgements

Introduction

A–Z of Coventry Motorcar Manufacturers & Marques

Appendix 1: Motorcar Manufacturers with Close Links to Coventry

Appendix 2: Coventry Motorcar Manufacturers Quick List

Copyright

INTRODUCTION

Despite the variety and importance of its many products, if you were to ask anywhere in the world, ‘What does Coventry produce?’ invariably the answer would be – motorcars. This is not without reason, for Coventry was the birthplace and today is the centre of the British Motor Industry.

So said a 1951 publication entitled Coventry Produces, at a time when the city really was at its height in terms of the volumes of cars being turned out of its factories and the thousands of workers employed there.

However, the motor industry had begun in Coventry some fifty-five years earlier, when the notorious engineer and company promoter Harry Lawson established a motor manufacturing works in the city – a factory he was to call the ‘Motor Mills’.

At that time, Coventry was regarded as the chief bicycle manufacturing centre of the world, having commenced the production of velocipedes from late 1868. From the early 1870s, factory after factory began to spring up for the purposes of making bicycles and tricycles until the industry’s peak in the 1890s. It would soon be the production of motorised transport that would steadily displace the bicycle over time, so the fact that Coventry would be its principal centre was a stroke of good fortune for the thousands already employed in the city.

This new industry, though, progressed not without difficulty as few in Britain held the engineering capabilities that had existed in European countries like Belgium, France and Germany. A publication of 1918 entitled Coventry and its Industries summed these difficulties up superbly:

There were many reasons why the motor trade did not flourish at the outset, none of which had anything to do with the city in which the vehicles were built. For the most part the early failures were because few manufacturers had definite knowledge to work upon, and inventors, possessed of no engineering knowledge or experience, nor even powers of organization, were allowed to squander huge sums of money provided by a dazzled public, on their hair-brained ideas. Again, many patents were held by continental inventors, and big royalties had to be paid before manufacture could be taken in England. Further, more suitable machinery for the economical and efficient manufacture of motorcars was not in existence. As the industry developed, all this was changed; rule-of-thumb workshop methods gave place to the cold accuracy of the technical draughtsman and the mathematician. The old-fashioned calliper was displaced by the micrometer, the 12-inch straight edge by the Vernier gauge. Questions involving standardisation and interchangeability of parts and quantity production received consideration until, in a few years; the manufacture of motor vehicles was put on a scientific footing.

From that point onwards, skilled mechanical engineers, draughtsmen, coach builders, and countless related others flocked to the city from all over the country, and in some cases much further afield. Many of the city’s well-established cycle manufacturers began to experiment in motor production including Bayliss-Thomas, Humber, Riley, and Swift. New companies also began to be formed purely for the purpose of making motorised vehicles, including Beeston, Carlton, Endurance, and Standard. Countless engineers, who cut their teeth at either Daimler or the Great Horseless Carriage Company soon after started up their own motor companies. Many of these pioneering concerns lasted only a year or two, whereas others went on to become great names in motor manufacture.

The Coventry Machinists Company made their first velocipedes from late 1868.

The Coventry Cotton Spinning & Weaving Company factory became the ‘Motor Mills’ in 1896. Much of this historically significant site was destroyed during the Second World War, although the Daimler offices and the old engine house remain.

In 1901, the population of Coventry was just under 70,000, yet by 1911 this had risen to 106,000, an increase of some 50 per cent. The growing motor industry was the prime catalyst for such an increase, with larger companies including the likes of Daimler, Humber, Hillman and Standard employing thousands of skilled staff between them. An influx of such magnitude forced great expansion throughout the city, as new land was purchased to build adequate housing and factories, whilst helping to alleviate the congestion of much of the city’s central areas. Thus, the motor trade began to change the old city of Coventry, and would continue to do so throughout the remainder of the twentieth century.

By 1913, such was Coventry’s industrial and social growth that the city boasted no less than twenty-five separate car-making companies, and was responsible for nearly a third of all car output in Great Britain. During the First World War, many of the city’s automotive factories were turned over to that of wartime production, and, on conclusion, many more firms came into being for the purposes of making motors. Once again, however, many of these new businesses were short-lived as the Depression kicked in, yet many of the larger, well-established motor-manufacturing concerns survived and later flourished.

A rare interior view of the Motor Mills. Several Lawson-linked companies occupied floor-space during the early years.

Harry Lawson, one of the leading founder figures of the British motor industry.

In 1928, the well-known companies of Hillman and Humber combined forces and within a few years both were owned by the Rootes Brothers, who were steadily building up their motor manufacturing empire. In many ways, amalgamations such as this signalled the end of many independent motor firms, as throughout the country, company after company either closed or were progressively swallowed up over the decades to eventually become global giants like the British Motor Corporation or British Leyland.

By 1950, only twelve main motorcar manufacturers remained in Coventry, although thousands were employed in their factories: Alvis, Armstrong-Siddeley, Daimler, Hillman, Humber, Jaguar, Lanchester, Lea-Francis, Singer, Standard, Sunbeam-Talbot, and Triumph. Of these, Lanchester and Sunbeam were to last only a further six years, while the Daimler marque was adopted by Jaguar in 1960. Lea-Francis and Standard were next to fall in 1961 and 1963 respectively, and by 1964, the Rootes Group-owned Hillman and Humber names had been absorbed by the Chrysler Corporation. Armstrong-Siddeley ceased the manufacture of cars in 1966, and Alvis followed suit a year later. Chrysler-owned Singer made their last car in 1970, and Triumph, who made their first cars in 1923, were taken on by Standard in 1945 – yet outlived their parent company in Coventry by some seventeen years, the last Triumph car being made at Canley in 1980. Jaguar themselves had come under the control of British Leyland in 1968, and by the mid-1980s, the only car assembly plants surviving in the city were Browns Lane and Ryton, producing Jaguar, Daimler and Peugeot models. Under Ford ownership, Jaguar made their last Daimler models at Browns Lane in 2002 and their final Jaguar models in 2005. Peugeot closed their Ryton plant just two years later; bringing an end to mass car manufacture in Coventry after the first Daimler models had appeared from the Motor Mills some 110 years earlier.

A group of Daimler/MMC workers assemble for a photograph in the grounds of the Motor Mills. Note the railway line – an old siding from the Coventry to Nuneaton route.

Standard Flying Eight assembly at the Canley works in 1938. The factory was first developed during the First World War.

As a city, Coventry has not been adverse to change throughout its long history. The long established weaving and watch trades both had their peaks and troughs, eventually making way for the sewing machine and cycle industries. The motor industry then began a new chapter regarding the city’s industrial, social and economic fortunes, yet technology would inevitably progress and political climates would change, and, as history has taught us, no industry is guaranteed a lifetime of security.

Although Coventry is no longer looked upon as the motor manufacturing giant it once was, in terms of its involvement, there are some hopeful signs on the horizon. The London Taxi Company, established as Carbodies in 1919, continues to produce the famous black cab, whilst Jaguar Land Rover have confirmed their Whitley site as their global headquarters. Coventry Prototype Panels (CPP) have put forward proposals to manufacture the supercars of Spyker, Jenson, and Bowler at Jaguars spiritual home, Browns Lane, whilst Tata Motors have chosen the University of Warwick as their base to develop their ‘Vista’ electric cars.

Humber Hawk Series I assembly at Ryton in 1957. The Ryton site was one of several Government-initiated ‘Shadow Factories’ created in readiness for the Second World War.

The days of Coventry’s heavy involvement as a principal centre of motor manufacture have clearly long gone, yet for those looking to explore such an eventful past, Coventry Transport Museum offers a wonderful insight into the many companies, factories and people who worked in them, as well as the many vehicles they produced.

A–Z OF COVENTRY MOTORCAR MANUFACTURERS & MARQUES

The following is an alphabetical list of all known Coventry motorcar manufacturers and marques dating from the beginnings of the British motor industry, along with other companies whose production details are less clear. It is partly based on a list of car manufacturers originally compiled by the Museum of British Road Transport (now Coventry Transport Museum) in a 1996 publication entitled A Brief Guide to the Motor Manufacturers of Coventry.

Many of the larger companies and their products have been well documented over the years. Others, however, have been more recently discovered through more thorough research, where in many cases the individuals behind the origins of the businesses had been forgotten. This list therefore hopes to provide, where possible, information surrounding the people who founded or worked for the companies. It also hopes to either prove or disprove whether some of the businesses or individuals included made complete cars. This list does not aim to cover complete company histories, or technical details of all products, yet instead aims to concentrate on the formations of the companies. The list does not include Coventry motor firms of more recent years but instead focuses on the origins and peak of the industry in the city.

The dates supplied are those in which the individual companies are thought to have produced motorcars based on research compiled to date. The dates shown in brackets indicate the probable lifespan of the company whilst in Coventry working in other areas outside car production. This list also includes manufacturers who produced forecars, cyclecars, and other near related vehicles.

If you have any new information, or photographs relevant to any of the following companies and individuals, then Coventry Transport Museum would be very interested to acquire such information and supporting evidence in order to update their records.

The Academy car at Matlock Road, Coventry, in 1906. The driver is Turberville Smith.

ACADEMY, 1905–1908

E.J. West & Co., Canal Bridge Motor Works, Foleshill Road

Enoch J. West had been developing cars under the ‘Progress’ name from 1897 at Foleshill, but by 1905 he also won a contract to build complete chassis for a London-based motoring school. Powered by Coventry-built 14/20hp White & Poppe motors, the ‘Academy’ car was also fitted with dual clutch and brake controls for tuition purposes. These cars were specifically manufactured for the National Motor Academy located at Boundary Road in Notting Hill, London, and managed by Mr Turberville Smith (b. 1861) who offered twelve lessons for £33s. In 1906, a special Academy TT car was prepared and driven by Smith himself, although he reportedly ran out of fuel in the fourth round. West was thought to have supplied such vehicles until 1908, when he concentrated more heavily on the production of his own West-Aster range. His association with Smith, however, would continue for many more years.

(See also Progress, Ranger, and West.)

ACME / COVENTRY ACME, 1919 (1902–1933)

Acme Motor Co. Ltd, & Coventry Acme Motor Co. Ltd, Earlsdon Works, Osborne Road, & 6 Lincoln Street

The Acme Motor Company began life at works in Osborne Road, Earlsdon in 1902 with a working capital of 1,000 in £1 shares, not far from rivals the Rex Motor Manufacturing Company. Exactly who the men were behind the initial formation is not fully known, yet Frederick Allard of the Earlsdon cycle firm Allard & Company may have played a part. Acme began by making motor-bicycles powered by 2hp Minerva engines before later gaining enough knowledge and experience to build and manufacture engines of their own. It was indeed the production of motorcycles that became the bread and butter of the business, yet they later began to diversify by making sidecars by 1911. During the First World War they adapted production to that of assisting in the war effort, making parts for motorbuses and lorries including brake cams and blocks, gudgeon pins, and shell noses for the French government. Shortly after the conclusion of war in 1919, Acme were thought to have commenced the manufacture of motor bodies but were also listed in that year’s Spennell’s Coventry Business Directory under ‘motorcar manufacturers’, but, as yet, no evidence has been found to support this. Some senior employees known to have worked for the firm at this time included George Henry Hemingway (b. 1884) as Managing Director, Charles Albert Franklin (b. 1893), William Ellis (b. 1891), and William John Robb (b. 1860). It is believed that during wartime, Acme also began using the trade name ‘Coventry Acme’ and continued business, although not without difficulty, until 1922. At this point they merged with neighbours Rex to become the Rex-Acme Motor Company, specialising in motorcycle manufacture until 1933.

(See also Allard and Rex.)

AERO & MARINE, 1910–1927

Aero & Marine Engine Co., 61a Stoney Stanton Road

The Aero & Marine Engine Company was established sometime prior to 1910 through a partnership existing between four engineers – George Johnson, Daniel Hurley, James Martin and Albert Smith. Suitable premises were secured at Stoney Stanton Road next door to the Temperance Billiard Hall, where the partnership commenced business as ‘motor and marine engine makers’ and ‘aeroplane fitters’. Whether any of these activities extended to that of complete car production, however, is unlikely. Birmingham-born Smith, and Johnson, who hailed from Crewe, left in late 1911. The company, renamed ‘Coventry Aero & Marine’, was then continued by Hurley and Martin, who by 1915 became engaged on government contracts making ‘seaplane and chassis parts’ to help in the war effort. Johnson, Hurley and Martin also independently set up at the Alpha Motor Works in 1904, whilst the Coventry Aero & Marine Engine Company appears to have dissolved around 1927, when all resources were consolidated to form the Alpha Engineering Company.

(See also Alpha and Forman.)

AIRCRAFT, 1919–1927

Aircraft Motor & Engineering Co., Motor & Engineering Works, Shakleton Road, Spon End

To date, the founders of the Aircraft Motor & Engineering Company, thought to have begun at Spon End after the First World War, remain a mystery. What is certain is that they were first seen listed in the 1919/20 Spennell’s Coventry Business Directory, hidden away at their Shakleton Road Works as ‘motorcar manufacturers’, and continued to be listed as such until 1927, yet actual details of any engines, bodies or vehicles built are not fully known. These premises were later thought to have been taken over by Alfred Grindlay’s firm, Grindlay (Coventry) Ltd, makers of quality sidecars and high-powered ‘Grindlay-Peerless’ motorcycles, which ran until 1939. Later occupants included William H. Lenton’s Ritz Engineering Company, formed in 1941.

(See also C.M.S.)

ALBATROS, 1923–1924

Albatros Motors Ltd, Albatros Works, Croft Road

Albatros Motors began at Croft Road in the early 1920s making two light models powered by four-cylinder Coventry-Climax engines. An 8hp version could be purchased for £160, whereas the 10hp would cost between £210 and £260. Uncertainty surrounds the precise details regarding the individuals who founded the business, with two key names being noted by numerous sources. One possibility is Albert Ross, who cleverly manipulated his name to that of his business title, and the census reports of the time do indeed disclose a man of the same name who may fit the bill. It reveals an Albert Ernest Ross, born in Coventry in 1892 and the son of a Birmingham cycle filer. By the time Coventry’s main industry had swung from cycles to motors during the early stages of the twentieth century, Albert, along with his father William and older brother John, were all working in the motor trade – Albert and his brother as ‘motor turners’ and William as a ‘motor fitter’, all residing at Berry Street. Albert was known to have married an Edith Beasley in 1922 and lived at Kensington Road by 1924, showing a rise in status. The second individual to be linked to the business is Herbert Thomas Wickham Manwaring, born at Tunbridge Wells in 1897. The son of a farmer and landowner, after attending the Royal Naval College as a Naval Cadet, he reportedly ran a motor garage in Kent whilst was also known to have mixed in aviation circles during the First World War. In September 1921, he applied for a patent (180,263) concerning ‘improvements in wheels for tractors’ whilst living at Horsmorden in Kent. It has been suggested that he began Albatros Motors in Coventry in 1923, choosing the name after Albert Ross, who had once been his manager and mentor at an unknown motor company. Regardless of the speculation, Albatros hit difficulties in 1924 and were soon wound up, only a handful of cars ever making full production.

ALLARD, 1898–1902 (1889–1902)

Allard & Co. Ltd, Earlsdon Cycle Works, 38 Moor Street, Earlsdon

Allard & Company were first set up as cycle manufacturers in 1889 at Moor Street through a partnership established between Frederick Allard, Benjamin Done and George Pilkington. They began through marketing their ‘Royal Allard’ safety bicycles until 1898, when they also began experimenting with motors. These initial models consisted of a De Dion type tricycle as well as a variation of the Benz car known as the ‘Express’, both being exhibited at Crystal Palace. Following this came belt-driven 2.5-3hp voiturettes, powered by engines based on the De Dion units, constructed using tubular frames and sourced by Pilkington’s extended family business, the Birmingham Motor Manufacturing Supply Company. Such was the demand for these that Allard were not able to take their booked stand at the Royal Agricultural Hall due to all resources needed in Coventry. Some unfortunate circumstances surrounded the business in July 1900, when the Autocar reported the fatality of a driver of an Allard motor. It was described as a four-wheeled vehicle of light construction, with two seats facing each other, being one of the firm’s standard types known as the ‘Rapid’. The article went on to say that one of Allard’s works managers, Mr Montgomery (James), had the unfortunate duty of ‘escorting the deceased out of Coventry on an Allard tricycle’. In 1901 they built their first motorcycle and Fred Allard himself was known to have raced a modified version of this in competitions. In 1902, they exhibited an Allard 9hp light car at the 8th Annual Motorcar Exhibition at the Agricultural Hall, London. Later that year business associates, the Birmingham Motor Manufacturing Supply Company, took over Allard, creating a new enterprise called the Rex Motor Manufacturing Company at larger works on Osborne Road, involving the Pilkington and Williamson brothers. Concerning the actual founders of Allard, however, Benjamin Done (b. 1853) of Kings Norton had left by the early 1890s, well before any motors were developed, joining forces with George Shuttleworth at Days Lane as ‘manufacturers of cycle parts’. George Pilkington (b. 1861) of Birmingham had first met Allard at the Coventry Machinists before forming a partnership in 1889, and remained at the firm all the way through to the BMMSC takeover. He was then known to have held a senior position at Rex for much of its existence in Coventry. Frederick William Allard himself was born in Northampton in 1867 and arrived in Coventry some twenty years later. A keen cycle racer, a series of amateur victories saw him turn professional by the early 1890s, reaching the heights of ‘Safety Champion of the World’. He appears to have severed his ties in the motor trade by the time of the Rex foundation, but was known to have represented the Rex Company on the national racing circuit for the next few seasons, and also owned a number of pubs in Coventry until his death in 1922. Also in 1922, the Coventry Acme Motor Company were seen to have been marketing ‘Allard’ cycles, yet whether Fred Allard was actually involved in the creation of this firm, which began in 1902, is not clear.

(See also Acme and Rex.)

ALLIANCE, 1898

The Alliance Cycle Co., 16 Grosvenor Road

This company was listed in the Applications for Registration of Trade Marks in August 1898 at Grosvenor Road. The man behind the firm was given as George Williamson, a former employee of the Coventry Machinists Company, who registered the ‘Domino, Nomad and Incog’ trademarks under his Alliance cycle firm. His business activities were stated as being ‘bicycle, tricycle, other velocipede, and motorcarriage manufacturer’, yet whether he actually realised all of these intentions will probably never be fully known. Number 16 Grosvenor Road was soon after occupied by Fred Kerby (b. 1866), owner of the Roulette Cycle Company.

ALPHA, 1904-1927 (1901-1987)

Johnson, Hurley & Martin Ltd, Alpha Motor Works, 55 Gosford Street

George Johnson, Daniel Hurley and James Martin had, like so many others to go it alone, previously worked for the Daimler Company before forming a partnership with Edwin Forman in 1901, making engines from their own designs at Days Lane. In late 1903, Johnson, Hurley and Martin decided to leave, and instead established a new company, tucked away in premises at Court 21, 55 Gosford Street, next to the Scott Tyre Works. First appearing in the 1904 Coventry Trade Directory under ‘motor manufacturers’, the three engineers devised their ‘Alpha’ engine, which was also believed by some to have been fitted to a car of the same name early on, but full details are scarce. Again like many, all hailed from outside Coventry. George Johnson (b. 1875) came from Crewe, Daniel Henry Hurley (b. 1868) from Hackney in London, and James Richard Martin (b. 1876) from Inkford Brook in Warwickshire. It would appear that it was with the manufacture of engines that the company really concentrated their efforts, later joined by Harry Cantrill (b. 1891) by around 1910. The same year they also began the Aero & Marine Company, and a year later applied for a patent (15,298) concerning ‘improvements in valveless two-stroke internal combustion engines’. By this time, the main partners and their growing families were all well established in Coventry, the census reports revealing that Johnson (motorcar engineer) was living at Clara Street, Hurley (petrol engine manufacturer) at King Richard Street, and Martin (motorcar engineer) residing at Walsgrave Road. During the First World War they were contracted to make ‘chassis and other seaplane parts’ for their supporting part. From 1919 they were seen regularly under ‘motorcar manufacturers’ in the local trade directories, but in 1927 reformed as the Alpha Engineering Company, and a move to Stoney Stanton Road followed soon after. By the mid-1930s they were described as ‘makers of Petrol Engines for industrial purposes’, and after the Second World War steadily became more mechanical and general engineers. One final move came about in the 1950s, to Osborne Road, Earlsdon, and Alpha continued in engineering right up to 1987, with Daniel Hurley’s son, Edward George Hurley (b. 1902), being listed as Chairman.

(See also Aero & Marine, and Forman.)

An advert of Johnson, Hurley & Smith showcasing their ‘Alpha’ engines.

An advert showing the 10/30 Alvis model. The car was developed under T.G. John Ltd, prior to becoming the Alvis Car & Engineering Company.

Alvis ‘Silver Eagle’ cars at the repair shop on Holyhead Road.

A view of the Alvis works during the 1930s. This factory was all but destroyed during the Second World War and a new plant erected on land on the other side of the bridge.

ALVIS, 1922–1967 (1919–1967)

T.G. John Ltd, Alvis Car & Engineering Co. Ltd, Holyhead Road

A once very famous name in British motoring, the origins of the Alvis Company was established shortly after the Great War in Coventry. Beginning as T.G. John Ltd at Holyhead Road and Lincoln Street in 1919, the company initially offered ‘Electra’ internal combustion engines for use, ranging from aeroplanes to cars and motorcycles. The company was founded by Thomas George John, who was born in 1880 at Pembroke Dock, South Wales. John followed his father into employment at the HM Dockyard, and was qualified as a naval architect by 1904, winning two scholarships with the Royal College of Science. He then went on to work at Vickers Limited in 1907, before joining Siddeley-Deasy in 1915 as works manager and chief engineer. After purchasing the American engineering firm of Holley Bros in Coventry following the war, John, with vital support from Geoffrey P.H. De Freville, set about creating a car that would unsettle the current light car market in Britain. Although not particularly competitive at prices from £750, the end result, in March 1920, was good looking and well engineered, its four-cylinder 1460cc engine being able to reach an impressive 60mph – in some cases a good 20mph more than its Coventry competitors. Much of the design and name of this first ‘Alvis’ 10/30 model is credited to De Freville himself, yet he did not remain with the company for long. Born at Chatham in Kent in 1883, in 1902 he found work at the Long Acre Motorcar Company at London, then agents for Wolseley motors and promoters of the ‘Olol’ registered lubricant. In 1914, at Wandsworth, he founded the company of Aluminium Alloy Pistons Limited, makers of castings and pistons for aero and tank engines. As Siddeley-Deasy became one of his first customers, so did his introduction to the works manager Thomas G. John, later making De Freville one of his founder employees at T.G. John Ltd. The workforce expanded rapidly to around 200, many of which had made the move from Wales, including George Edgar Morse (b. 1881) as foundry manager. In 1922, the company changed its name to that of the Alvis Car & Engineering Company, while at around the same time John secured the services of George Thomas Smith-Clarke (b. 1884), William Marshall Dunn (b. 1894), George Hope Tattersall (b. 1883), Charles Percy Joseland (b. 1899), and the young Arthur Francis Varney (b. 1907), among others. The company developed a solid reputation for their touring and sports models, notably the 12/50 Sports, the Silver Eagle, Crested Eagle, Firefly and ‘Speed’ series. During the Second World War, the company, by then known as Alvis Ltd, became involved in military vehicle projects, and from the late 1940s onwards this would become the staple concern of Alvis, going on to produce armoured cars and tanks including the ‘Stalwart’ and ‘Scorpion’ service models, amongst others. The factory was badly damaged during the Blitz, yet from 1946 onwards, with John J. Parkes (b. 1903) as Managing Director, the company produced a series of stylish TA, TB and TC models until eventually being acquired by the Rover Company in 1965. The final car to carry the famous Alvis name and built at Holyhead Road was the beautifully designed TF21 model with a top speed of 127mph. Alvis then concentrated on their military vehicle contracts on the site until closure in the early 1990s, the site has since been redeveloped as the Alvis Retail Park, the name itself being the only remnant of a motor manufacturing company once highly respected throughout the world.

(See also Buckingham and Marseal.)

ARIEL, 1907–1915 and 1922–1925 (1898–1965)

Ariel Works Ltd, Ordnance Works, Midland Road

The roots of the Ariel company name began in 1894 under the title of the Cycle Components Manufacturing Co. Ltd at Bournbrook in Birmingham. Becoming the Ariel Cycle Company in 1897, the business was managed by the Scot, Charles Sangster (b. 1873), who, after completing his apprenticeship at a London cycle manufacturers, arrived in Coventry in the early 1890s, gaining further experience in the trade. He joined Cycle Components in 1895 along with the Australian Selwyn Francis Edge (b. 1868), and both were prominent in convincing the owners, the Du Cros brothers, to develop motorized transport by 1898 – the first effort taking the form of a 1¾hp single-cylinder De Dion-powered tricycle. Their first car came about in 1901, being a 9-10hp tonneau-bodied model, fitted with many special features including a self-starting device and high-tension electrical ignition. In 1906, Ariel Motors Ltd sold off their Selly Oak Factory to the French car company Société Lorraine de Dietrich to raise some much-needed capital. Arrangements were then made by Sangster to have the ‘Ariel-Simplex’ motors made at the Coventry Ordnance factory, a branch of famous ship-builders Cammell Laird. Two models were entered in the 1907 TT with A.E. Harrison and Charles Sangster as drivers, both cars performing very well. Work ceased in 1915 and the Ordnance Works transferred production to assist the war effort, making massive naval guns amongst many other things. Car production resumed in 1922 with the Model 9 – a 998cc two-cylinder light car, followed by a 1097cc four-cylinder called the Model 10, lasting until 1925. The company’s Ariel motorcycles, however, excelled and continued to be made at Birmingham until 1965.

(See also British Motor Traction, and Swift.)

An Armstrong-Siddeley advertisement of 1919 promoting their six-cylinder model. Note the distinctive style of radiator and bonnet.

An old Siddeley autocar parks in front of an Armstrong-Siddeley model outside the Dun Cow Hotel at Dunchurch, Warwickshire in the mid-1920s.

An Armstrong-Siddeley model positioned outside Whitefriars Monastery, Coventry.

ARMSTRONG SIDDELEY, 1919–1966 (1902–1966)

Armstrong-Siddeley Motors Ltd, Parkside, Cheylesmore

In October 1919, the Siddeley-Deasy Motor Manufacturing Company became Armstrong-Siddeley Motors Limited in a merger with the Armstrong-Whitworth Company of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. By now, John Davenport Siddeley, who was 53 years old, had made a personal fortune and had increased profits during the Great War, seeing both his sons, Cyril and Ernest, return from the Front intact. One would think that at such an age Siddeley would have been making plans for retirement, but it was to be a further seventeen years before he was to finally step down. Although, following the war, Siddeley had branched out in other engineering areas, on the car front the first model to use the Armstrong-Siddeley name was the Model 30, a six-cylinder 4960cc all-weather tourer, which ran until 1932. Smaller 14hp and 18hp models followed in the early 1920s, and in 1928 the sliding-type gearbox was abandoned in favour of their new ‘self-changing’ gear. By 1930, four models were on offer ranging from 12hp to 30hp. Like so many other Coventry motor companies, the Second World War saw a transfer of production, in this case to mostly that of aero engines, frames and gearboxes, and, inevitably, the factory became a prime target of the German Luftwaffe. With such a heavy concentration of factories in close proximity in Coventry, very few buildings escaped total obliteration and Parkside was no exception and suffered immensely. Following the end of hostilities in 1945, Armstrong-Siddeley commenced car manufacture with the Hurricane model, followed into the 1950s with the Lancaster and Whitley saloons – all testament to their increasing involvement with the aero industry. Their most celebrated cars, however, were the Sapphire and Star Sapphire range, produced at the 25-acre Parkside site in great numbers from 1952 until the final ones built in 1966. Siddeley, a resident of Crackley Hall at Kenilworth for much of his life, was awarded a Knighthood (CBE) in 1932 for ‘public services in connection with mechanical development in the Defence Forces’. In July 1935, he took the Armstrong-Siddeley Board of Directors by surprise when he sold his interests in the company to form Hawker-Siddeley Aircraft, eventually resigning from Armstrong-Siddeley in September 1936. This marked a significant end to one of the country’s true motor pioneers, yet his name was still to remain with the company to its end in the mid-1960s. In the early years of Deasy and Siddeley-Deasy, when he had a relatively small workforce, John Siddeley reputedly took great pride in knowing each of his employees by name or, failing that, sight at least. But when he announced his retirement, one of his reasons for doing so was his admitted inability to no longer do this, but with a workforce of some 6,000 by this time, most would consider it forgivable. On the day he left, it was reported that there was little or no fuss; clearing his office, saying no farewells and quietly walking away. A deeply private and religious man, Sir John Davenport Siddeley became Lord Kenilworth in 1937 and soon after purchased Kenilworth Castle for the nation. He also gifted £100,000 each to Fairbridge Farm Schools and Coventry Cathedral. He died in Jersey in 1953 at the age of 87, just two weeks after the death of his wife of sixty years, Sara. Today, Parkside, once home to so many famous companies, incorporates no motor manufacturing facilities, yet has instead been developed by Coventry University as a Science & Technology Park.

(See also Deasy, Siddeley and Siddeley-Deasy.)

ARNO, 1908–1912 (1906–1915)

Arno Motor Co. Ltd, Arno Works, Dale Street, & Court 32, 85–86 Gosford Street

The Arno Motor Company began life at Dale Street to the rear of the Triumph Works in 1906, making TT and Touring motor-bicycles fitted with their own 3.5hp engines. Two years later they also began experimenting with the production of motorcars fitted with 20-25hp four-cylinder engines made by White & Poppe of Holbrooks, being displayed at the 1908 Stanley Show priced at £375, and lasting until around 1912. From this point onwards, Arno concentrated on motorcycles including a model called the ‘Red Arno’ in 1914 – 3.5 and 4.5hp racing machines that faired reasonably well at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy events. This proved a costly business, yet the company did gain a contract to supply ‘machinegun tripod feet, lashing hooks and other gun carriage parts’ during the initial stages of the First World War, but they appear to have ceased trading soon after. To date, nothing certain is known about the individuals behind the Arno name, but the business was known to have been situated at Gosford Street for the most part of its existence, next door to both the Titan Motor Wheel Company and the Regent Motor Sidecar Company. The factory itself belonged to Samuel Gorton (b. 1854) and was later leased to the motorcycle and sidecar manufacturer and motorcar dealer William Montgomery (b. 1871), which may be connected. Another speculative link could be that of German-born Arno Sthamer (1868-1938), who was seen working as a ‘cycle works clerk’ in Coventry around the turn of the century after his wholesale tobacco business had failed in Leicester. By 1911 Sthamer and his family were living at Little Heath, Foleshill, where he was working as a ‘commercial clerk in the cycle and motor trade’. After his first wife Louisa died in 1913, he married again at Kings Norton, Birmingham, which, interestingly, is where the Arno Motor Company name was wound up in 1915. In further support, in 1909 The Motor Radiator Company moved business from London into the Arno Motor Company’s Dale Street works. This company was part-owned by fellow German Hans Zimmerman, who may well have been an associate of Sthamer, and Siegfried Bettmann, whose Triumph factory was also situated off Dale Street.

(See also Motor Radiator and Triumph.)

AURORA, 1903 (1902–1905)

Aurora Motor Manufacturing Co., 12 Norfolk Street

Swiss-born Charles Bourquin (b. 1875) first arrived in Coventry during the 1890s and found work as a ‘watch maker’ on his own account at Norfolk Street, Spon End – at that time a predominately watch manufacturing area of the city. Bourquin must have had quite a diverse engineering background because by 1902, he also began marketing his ‘Aurora’ motor-bicycle under the trading name of the Aurora Motor Manufacturing Company – one appearing at the Royal Agricultural Hall. These took the form of an adapted bicycle frame powered by a 2.5hp vertical Coronet engine, yet had a tendency to ‘skid quite freely’ according to some sources. The following year he added the Aurora Tri-Motor to his limited output, a 3.5hp fore-car along similar lines to the motor-bicycle using Coventry-built MMC, Condor and Whitley motors. In September 1904, The Times reported a news story which no doubt heavily embarrassed Bourquin:

Charge of Thefts – The Magistrates at Coventry heard yesterday charges against Charles Bourquin, a local motor manufacturer, for stealing motorcycles and watches of the total value of £140. The watches were entrusted to the prisoner for repairs. He pawned two and the others were found on him in London. The cycles were alleged to be the property of local tradesmen. He afterwards sent them away, one being left at Euston Station. The prisoner was committed for trial at the quarter sessions on both charges.

Clearly not one of his proudest moments, it would seem that Bourquin had already decided to abandon Coventry and start afresh in London, and, by allegedly stealing the property of his customers, thought that the proceeds would no doubt help to line his pockets. Bourquin may have stayed in London or spent time abroad over the following years as no trace of him can be found yet in 1914 he married a Miss Martha Wieneke at Marylebone. He also appears to have shelved motor engineering and resorted back to his original trade, as by 1924 he was working as a ‘high-class watch maker’ at Holborn, and continued to do so right the way through to 1963, at the grand old age of 88.

An Aurora motor-bicycle of 1903. The company’s founder, Charles Bourquin, was not averse to controversy.

AUTOVIA, 1936–1938 (1890–1969)

Autovia Cars Ltd, Ordnance Works, Midland Road

The Riley Company made their first motorised vehicles in 1898, becoming a successful, reputable car manufacturer in their heyday. In the mid-1930s, the Riley board, spearheaded by Victor Riley (b. 1876), took the bold decision to create a car targeted at the luxury market, finding separate premises at Midland Road. The car was to be called the ‘Autovia’ with Gordon Marshall positioned as general manager and B.R. Hester-Baker as secretary. The key figure, however, was the former Daimler and Lea-Francis employee Charles Marie Van Eugen, who was given the position of chief designer under the new company title of Autovia Cars Ltd. Dutch-born Van Eugen first arrived in Coventry in 1913, and had gained plenty of experience before joining Lea-Francis ten years later, notably being responsible for the Lea-Francis ‘Hyper’ in which Kaye Don won the 1928 TT. In 1935 he and two other Lea-Francis draughtsmen were poached by Riley and given an office, where they set about making improvements to the existing Riley V8 engine. The concept was to create a stylish model to challenge the 25/30hp Rolls-Royce market and initially three prototype cars were built. These 2.8 litre cars were said to be capable of reaching speeds of up to 90mph and consisted of many notable features including a pre-selector gearbox. At Midland Road, some forty men were drafted in from Riley to begin full production, with the intention to make twenty cars per week. The finished results were stunning, and although the car took first prize in the £1,000 class at the 1936 Ramsgate Concours d’Elégance, the venture was doomed. In 1938, the Riley businesses collapsed and with the new Autovia models being priced from £975, there were only a few very cautious buyers of such a new brand. It is believed that only around fifty cars were ever built and the business was purchased by Jimmy James Ltd. Van Eugen, eager to face a new challenge, went on to work for the Wolseley Motor Company.

(See also Riley.)

AWSON, 1926–1932 (1919–1979)

Awson Motorcarriage Co. Ltd, 14 Awson Street

The origins of the Awson Motorcarriage Company began in 1919 when Oscar Grunau (b. 1891