VETERAN CAR GUIDE
A larger 20hp four-seater vehicle arrived in 1903, and was used, in two-seater format, to undertake an epic journey across America from San Francisco to New York in May-July 1903.
1904 Winton.
White Rollin White of Cleveland, USA, started steam-car production in 1900. His prototype, powered by a flash boiler or generator( White’ s preferred term for a boiler) was ready in 1899. It was a light two-seater with horizontal engine under the floor, and 18 were sold in 1900. White’ s steam cars had a reputation for being long-lived, and 387 had been manufactured by the end of 1901. From 1902, a large rectangular frontal condenser was in use. The Model C of 1903 had a front-mounted engine, a four-seater tonneau body, wheel steering and shaft drive. It was the first White steamer to have a compound engine, in which the steam is condensed and re-used in a low-pressure cylinder. By 1904, the Model D was available with an enclosed limousine body.
Winton Alexander Winton emigrated from Scotland to America, worked as a marine engineer and set up his own cycle manufacturing business in Cleveland, before experimenting with motor cars from 1896, when he created a single cylinder, dos-à-dos four-seater with tiller steering. His four production cars made in 1897 had two-seater bodies, horizontal single cylinder engines and two-speed gearboxes. In 1898, 22 of these were sold, as well as eight petrol-driven delivery vehicles. In 1899, more than 100 vehicles were made, making him the largest producer of petrol-engined vehicles in the USA. Winton used competitions to raise the profile of his vehicles, although his first attempt to compete against Fernand Charron’ s Panhard with a 3800cc single cylinder car in the 1900 Gordon Bennett event did not meet with success. A second attempt in the 1903 event, this time with two vehicles: an 8500cc four-cylinder horizontal in-line engine and a 17000cc eight-cylinder leviathan also failed when both retired early. Production cars, however, flourished, principally with two-seater vehicles in 1901 and 1902.
Wolseley Frederick Wolseley, who gave his name to one of the most important names in British motoring, played little part in its history. That accolade belongs to one of his employees, Lord Herbert Austin, who initially experimented with three-wheelers, and built the first Wolseley four-wheel motor car in 1899. It had a front-mounted horizontal single cylinder engine of 1302cc, developing 5hp, steering was by tiller, and it had chain final drive. This car was very successful in the 1,000 Mile Trial of 1900, driven by Austin. Car production did not begin in earnest until Vickers purchased the Wolseley motor department in 1901, and created facilities at Adderley Park, Birmingham. Here two motor cars were initially made: a single-cylinder 5hp and a twin-cylinder 10hp version. They had the same basic layout as the 1899 / 1900 vehicle with the distinctive wraparound tubular radiators although chain primary drive replaced the belts of the original four-wheeler. In 1902 a 20hp four-cylinder model was added, which was uprated to 24hp in 1904, but the smaller cars were more popular.
Yale This was the brand name of the Kirk Manufacturing Co. of Toledo, Ohio, which was originally a bicycle manufacturer. The first car that appeared in 1902 was a light 10hp twin-cylinder with epicyclic transmission and single chain drive, and with detachable tonneau body; it sold for $ 1500. The same vehicle was listed for 1903 and 1904, when the quoted power had risen to 16hp. It merged in 1903 with two other cycle manufacturers to form the Consolidated Manufacturing Co. and began to produce larger vehicles from 1905.-
1904 Wolseley.
62 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run