RM Sotheby’s London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2024 | Page 44

VETERAN CAR GUIDE

CELEBRATING VETERAN VEHICLES

1904 Albion .
Every year , we welcome a vast selection of different marques to the Run . For 2024 , we have a gathering of vehicles whose origins span the globe .
Albion Two ex-employees of Arrol-Johnston , Norman Fulton and Thomas Murray , founded Albion in Glasgow , in 1899 . The first vehicle , a dogcart , appeared in 1900 , powered by a flat-twin 8hp engine , and equipped with a ‘ Patent Combination Clutch ’ gearbox . It had solid tyres , which continued to be a feature after many other manufacturers had abandoned the practice . The company produced twin cylinder vehicles of increasingly large capacity , and in 1903 , it launched a 3115cc , 16hp vertical twin-engine powered vehicle . Commercial vehicles became the mainstay after 1918 .
Alldays The company was formed in 1898 from two longestablished Birmingham engineering firms that dated back to 1720 and 1650 respectively . Success in the manufacture of good quality bicycles led to the limited production of a motorised quadricycle , almost certainly a re-badged version from a French supplier , and then the ‘ Traveller ’, a lightly built , De Dion Bouton-powered , unsprung , two-seater appeared . The first motor car , with a 7hp engine and shaft driven , available as a two or four-seater , was manufactured in 1903 and 1904 .
Argyll An Argyll-branded motor car , inspired by the early De Dion Bouton-engined Renault , was made in 1899 , a year before the Hozier Engineering Company was formed in Glasgow to make it . The 1901 Argyll used a 5hp MMC engine , and it had distinctive horizontal radiators linked by vertical tubes . For 1902 , engines by MMC or Simms were offered , and before the year was out , 10hp and 12hp twin-cylinder and 16hp four-cylinder engines were listed . In 1904 , a range of front-radiator , Aster-engined vehicles was introduced , including one of 4849cc capacity . The company was known for its magnificent factory and office accommodation that cost £ 220,000 to build in 1906 .
Arrol-Johnston George Johnston played a prominent role in the early days of motor vehicle development in Scotland and was building his own prototypes before the end of 1895 . Sir William Arrol provided the financial backing to launch a company whose first vehicle was a six-seater dogcart , powered by a 10hp , twin-cylinder opposedpiston engine , mounted beneath the floor . The chain drive , high-wheeled , solid tyre , horse carriage type of
44 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run