VETERAN CAR GUIDE
Sunbeam John Marston founded his bicycle business in Wolverhampton , in 1887 , and like many others he was interested in the new idea of motorcars . After some unique designs such as the De Dion Bouton-powered Sunbeam-Maberley , which had four wheels in a diamond pattern with three seats facing sideways and outwards in the manner of a Victorian sofa , he built a twin-cylinder front-engined car for the 1901 Crystal Palace Show , which was possibly a one-off . Thomas Pullinger was recruited to develop a range of vehicles and it was his suggestion to base the development on the French Berliet . Chassis were imported until Sunbeam began building their own and imported the engines and gearboxes . The engine was a 10 / 12hp 2412cc four-cylinder unit , and it became the mainstay of production until the end of 1905 .
Thomas Erwin Ross Thomas spent his early working life in the railway business before manufacturing Cleveland cycles and motorcycles . By 1902 he had established the E . R . Thomas Motor Company and launched the single cylinder Thomas 16 with a single cylinder 8hp engine under the front seat . The following year , a three-cylinder 24hp car , known as the Flyer , emerged . In three years , the Thomas had progressed from a typical small-engined motor car , little different from many other American makes , to one of the highest quality motoring products available that was regularly compared with the acknowledged quality makes such as Locomobile and the Pierce-Arrow .
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 twin cylinder and a 20hp four-cylinder , both with automatic inlet valves , gilled tube radiators and shaft drive .
Tony Huber Tony Huber was an engineer who built engines under his own name . In 1902 , he registered Automobiles Tony Huber , Billancourt , Seine , France and launched a range of cars with both two ( 8hp and 11hp ) and four-cylinders ( 14hp , 16 / 18hp , and 20 / 25hp ). In 1905 , he formed a company with Armand Peugeot to make engines , motorboats and electrical equipment .
Vallée Henri Vallée initially worked with the Bollée family before setting up a company to make bicycles in
1903 Sunbeam .
1890 . In 1895 he built a tubular chassis motor car with chain final drive and coil ignition , powered by a twin cylinder horizontal engine of his own design that was exhibited at the Paris Salon that year . The following year he launched two new vehicles : a four-seater vis à vis and a four-seat Victoria . In 1897 he was manufacturing vehicles with an assortment of 4hp , 5hp , and 7hp engines , which continued until 1902 , when he began to produce motorcycles . In 1899 he built an extraordinary racing car which was nicknamed ‘ La Pantoufle ’ ( the Slipper ). It had a 7598cc horizontal four-cylinder engine developing 16hp , and gears were considered unnecessary .
Vauxhall The London-based company made marine engines from 1857 and began to experiment with petrol engines for river launches in 1897 . It was this design that ultimately led to the creation of a front-mounted 978cc horizontal single cylinder unit that was fitted to the company ’ s first motor car in 1903 . There was coil ignition , a two-speed epicyclic gearbox ( without reverse ), and single chain drive . The armoured wood frame was suspended on coil springs at each corner , and steering was by tiller . About 70 of these were sold , and an improved version with wheel steering , reverse gear , and a 6hp engine was available in 1904 . Some 105 of these were made , and they were not available after 1904 . In 1905 , the company moved to Luton .
Waverley / Pope-Waverley The Pope Manufacturing Company was founded by Albert Augustus Pope and around 1876 . In 1878 they began making bicycles in Hartford , Connecticut and introduced motorcycles to their range in 1902 . In 1898 Pope Manufacturing began producing electric cars , and had made more than 500 by 1899 , when the automobile division was bought by the Electric Vehicle Company . Pope went on to buy several small manufacturers , including the International Motor Car Company , which it acquired in 1904 . This became
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