VETERAN CAR GUIDE
Star The Star Motor Company started in Wolverhampton , Staffordshire , England in 1898 as part of the Lisle family enterprises . It had made bicycles since 1883 , but its cars were home-built using a Benz design from 1899 to 1902 . By then , other designs were also available influenced by De Dion and Panhard . By 1904 , its cars were Mercedes-based .
Stephens R Stephens built bicycles at Clevedon , near Bristol , England . He made a few vehicles over the 1898 to 1900 period with drive by belts to a countershaft and chains to the rear wheels .
Sunbeam John Marston founded his bicycle business in Wolverhampton , Staffordshire , England in 1887 . Like so many others he was interested in the new idea of motorcars . After some unique designs such as the Sunbeam-Maberley , he also built a twin-cylinder frontengined car for the 1901 Crystal Palace Show . This was possibly a one-off , and Thomas Pullin was instrumental in the next Sunbeams being built along Berliet lines .
Talbot The Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot was a director and leading shareholder in Clément Talbot Ltd , North Kensington , London , England , which had been importing Clément cars since 1900 . By late 1904 , its factory was assembling cars from French components , and the Clément part of the name was dropped .
Thornycroft John I . Thornycroft & Co . started life as shipbuilders on the Thames at Chiswick . In 1896 , it made its first commercial steam vehicle . In 1898 , it moved vehicle production to Basingstoke , Hampshire , adding high quality petrol-driven passenger cars from 1903 . Two models were made , a 10hp twincylinder and a 20hp four-cylinder , but the company ceased car production in 1913 to concentrate on commercial vehicles .
Vauxhall The parent company made marine engines in London and dated back to 1857 . It began to experiment with petrol engines in the late 1890s , developing a singlecylinder unit that was fitted into the first car in 1903 . About 70 of these were sold , and an improved version with wheel steering , reverse gear , and a 6hp engine was available in 1904 . About 105 of these were made , and they were not available after 1904 . In 1905 , the company moved to Luton .
1903 White steam car .
Warwick The Warwick Cycle and Automobile Company of Springfield , Massachusetts , USA , started to make bicycles before moving to a vehicle resembling a traditional light steam runabout that was actually powered by a De Dion petrol engine , vertically mounted , of either 3.5 or 6hp plus two-speed transmission , tubular frame and tiller steering . In 1903 , Warwick made its own engine ; two and three-cylinder models were introduced in 1904 .
White ( steam ) Rollin White of Cleveland , USA , started steam-car production in 1900 . His prototype , powered by a flash boiler , was around in 1899 . It was a light twoseater with horizontal engine under the floor , and 18 were sold in 1900 . By 1904 , the first White with a compound engine appeared , in which the steam is condensed and reused in a low-pressure cylinder .
Winton Alexander Winton from Scotland emigrated to America , experimenting with cars in 1896 . The Winton Motor Carriage Company of Cleveland , Ohio , USA was formed in 1897 . His four production cars that year had two-seater bodies , horizontal singlecylinder engines and two-speed gearboxes . In 1898 , 22 of these machines were sold , as well as eight petrol-driven delivery vehicles . In 1899 , more than 100 vehicles were made , making him the largest producer of petrolengined vehicles in the USA .
Wolseley Frederick York Wolseley employed Herbert Austin , who experimented with three-wheelers , and the first Wolseley four-wheeler appeared in 1899 . This car was very successful in the Thousand Miles Trial of 1900 , driven by Herbert Austin . In 1901 , it was acquired by Vickers , the armaments firm , moved to a new factory in Birmingham , England and produced single-cylinder 5hp and twin-cylinder 10hp versions – still with the distinctive wraparound tubular radiators . From 1904 , a 6hp single-cylinder car with a sloping radiator was made at another Vickers factory in Crayford , Kent . -
34 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run