The war of 1914-18 was indirectly responsible for the development of the small, economical car. Although progress was retarded during the war period, the motor industry made rapid strides in the immediate post-war years. Several makes of car famous to-day were introduced during that period
ROLLS-ROYCE “SILVER GHOST”, the 40-50 horse-power car which preceded the famous “Phantom” series. From this illustration, which shows a 1920 touring model in Australia, it will be seen that the general appearance of the car was surprisingly similar to that of many cars of much later date. This model, however, had cantilever rear springs and no front-wheel brakes.
THE steady development of the motor oar, which had been proceeding so rapidly between the years 1910 and 1913, was arrested by the outbreak of war in 1914. During most of the war of 1914-18 a state of stagnation existed, and European cars of that period were made to the same designs as had been in force immediately before the war.
Most of the great motor car factories were speedily converted for the manufacture of war materials; many private cars were converted for use as ambulances; thousands of lorry chassis were turned over to the War Office; and petrol became dear and subject to strict control. Imports of foreign cars, with the exception of certain American makes, were stopped completely.
The important position assumed by the motor industry is well shown by the activities of the Austin works at Longbridge, Birmingham, during the period 1914-18. These works produced 480 armoured cars, 2,000 lorries, 148 ambulances, 2,000 aeroplanes and more than eight million shells. Several other great organizations, with their potentialities for production on a vast scale, were turned over entirely to the supplying of munitions and aircraft. As the war went on, the demand for private cars ceased almost completely for two reasons — the absence of drivers and the scarcity of petrol. Thus the car of to-day owes little to the activities of any of the great British motor manufacturers during the war period.
In 1914, however, a new Napier car was announced, the design of which had doubtless been worked out before the declaration of war. It had a four-cylinder engine of 16-22 horsepower and several features which placed it well ahead of contemporary cars. Among these features were force-feed lubrication, a three-bearing crankshaft, a really rugged chassis strengthened by tubular cross-members, and fully compensated braking.
About the same time a minor development of outstanding interest occurred. An electrical engine starter was patented and put on the market. This starter contained, in a somewhat primitive form, most of the features of the self-starter of to-day. A pinion was made to run along a shaft and to engage with teeth on the flywheel, automatic disengagement being arranged for by springs. Some time before a spring starter had been patented, and this was to come into extensive use before the universal adoption of the electric starter, which was probably viewed — as were most startling innovations — with a certain amount of mistrust.
Another interesting point of design was the production, in 1914, of a car with detachable mudguards. Later tendencies of design, however, prevented the use of this scheme, as the mudguards gradually came to be regarded as part of the bodywork rather than as excrescences added as an afterthought.
Early in 1915 a special 40-50 horsepower Colonial model Rolls-Royce was announced. This was an amazing car for the time, and one which would not look much out of place on the roads of to-day. Its lines were elegant; wheel disks were provided; there was a special ignition switch lock, the key of which could be removed as a safeguard against theft; and electric lighting was used. This car was used by the War Office, probably for Staff transport.
In 1916 an interesting Sheffield-Simplex armoured car was produced. It weighed 5 tons and was more heavily armoured than any car previously designed. A “test report” of this car appeared in one of the motoring journals of the time, and the writer described the awe which the appearance of this car inspired on the roads. Several Model “T” Fords appear to have been wrecked by the efforts of their drivers to get off the road to make room for the Sheffield-Simplex — rather to the disappointment of the driver of the armoured vehicle, who felt, for the first time in his experience, completely safe from the effects of a collision.
During this period American designers were producing “lightweight” cars and aiming at that improvement of the power-weight ratio which has been the constant aim of the designer during the last decade. A Marmon car was produced in the U.S.A., with aluminium cylinders and with the main body members mounted directly on the chassis frame, thus strengthening it and forming the “roots” of the wings. This unconventional form of construction, at the same time, lightened the complete car considerably.
Two Sunbeam racing cars were built in 1916, and were to be sent to America for racing purposes. They had six-cylinder engines of 4,915 c.c. capacity, and had overhead valves operated by twin overhead camshafts — an unconventional design at the time.
About this time racing cars in the United States were being steadily improved, and in 1918 the twenty-four hours record was broken by a Hudson car at Sheepshead Bay, N.Y., at an average speed of 75.8 miles an hour. American technique was seen also in France, where an assembly depot for Ford light lorries demonstrated mass production in a way that was, at that time, quite new to Europe. French women assembled these lorries, the parts of which were fed to the appropriate points on what must have been one of the earliest assembly lines ever used. The speed at which the lorries were put together was extraordinary, and any British motor car manufacturers who witnessed this demonstration must have been impressed.
Mechanical Starter
Two British makes were extensively used by the army, at home and overseas — the 20-25 Vauxhall and the 16-20 Sunbeam, which was made by the Rover Company. Daimlers and Crossleys also were used by the British forces overseas.
On the streets of London, during the war, “gas-bag” cars and light vans became a common sight. Ford vans, with their roofs specially extended to accommodate enormous billowing gas-bags, were the first vehicles to be seen, but the scheme was extended to private cars.
A Fiat touring car of the period was equipped with a gas-bag which occupied the whole of the rear seat and most of the front, but the 100 cubic feet of gas which it held were equivalent only to about half a gallon of petrol. Coal gas was used as the fuel for these converted vehicles, none of which was more curious in appearance than a Lagonda tourer, which was produced with a gasbag “on stilts”, almost dwarfing the car. The capacity of this tremendous balloon, however, was equivalent only to about one gallon of petrol.
Late in 1918 another mechanical starter was introduced. This was of rather more complex design than the simple spring starter previously described, and it was said to have been invented because of the “frailty of electric starters”.
“GAS-BAG” CAR of a type frequently seen in Great Britain during the war of 1914-18. The model illustrated is a 6-cylinder Buick adapted by Osborne and Co., Ltd. A gas capacity of 100 cubic feet was equivalent to only half a gallon of petrol; coal gas was the fuel used.
As soon as the Armistice had been signed in 1918, development began again. There was an immediate rush to produce new models, and it is significant that the first firms to exhibit new cars were those which had the greatest experience of producing special motors for war work. Crossley, for example, announced a 25-30 horsepower car of advanced design. It had an engine of 4,531 c.c. which used aluminium pistons. The car had a four- speed gearbox, an underslung chassis, roller bearings for all wheels, electric lighting and starting, and a dynamo for charging the batteries.
A 20 horse-power Austin was announced soon afterwards, and this car — naturally in greatly modified form — was still in production in 1938. It had a six-cylinder engine of 3,601 c.c., and in many points of design was the forerunner of many famous Austin models of smaller size.
The age of 70 and 80 horse-power cars was over, and one of the largest cars to be announced within a year of the signing of the Armistice was the 35-45 horse-power six-cylinder Fiat, which was a big car in comparison with most of those in general production at the time.
Such was the demand for cars in 1919 and 1920 that large premiums were often demanded for good positions on the “waiting lists” of reputable firms. Sums as high as £500 or more were willingly paid by eager motorists.
The sports car suddenly came into its own in 1919, the accepted idea of a sports car at that time being a car in which comfort and luxury of appointment were sacrificed to speed and efficiency. Many “sports” cars of to-day are merely standard chassis fitted with specially-designed bodies; those of 1919 were expressly designed for speed purposes.
A car which was destined to become one of the most famous of all was the Bentley, which was first announced in 1919. The first model was the 3-litre sports tourer, with an engine rated at 15-9 horse-power but giving an output of 65 horse-power at 2,500 revolutions a minute. The designer, Walter O. Bentley, had sought to produce a touring car which would give its owner that feeling of absolute controllability at high speeds which had previously been confined to the racing car. Its engine had a five-bearing crankshaft — a rarity at the time — and aluminium pistons. Every 3-litre Bentley sold was guaranteed to be capable of lapping Brooklands track at 75 miles an hour.
Between 1919 and 1927 the 3-litre Bentley changed little in appearance and in specification. The first model may look somewhat crude and inelegant to the critical eyes of present-day motorists, but it was, in all essentials, the famous 3-litre short-chassis Bentley which, even to-day, is one of the most popular of all the old sports cars. The 3-litre Bentley of 1925 still commands a reasonable price in the second-hand car market.
Other sports cars produced in 1919 were the 15 horse-power Crossley, the 35 horse-power Lancia, and a Sunbeam super-sports car equipped with a 100 horse-power six-cylinder aero engine. The famous 30-98 Vauxhall was increasing in popularity and making a name for itself in many track events, and such cars as the Napier and Talbot were well to the fore in Continental racing.
Quantity Production
The year 1919, however, saw the beginnings of a movement which proved to be one of the most important of all — the development of the light car. The light cars of 1914 were cyclecars of unbelievably flimsy construction — curious contrivances which were regarded with scorn by the owners of larger cars. During the post-war years, however, there was a movement for the rationalization of the design of the smaller car, and the real merit of a light car was discovered for the first time. Petrol was still strictly controlled and was expensive. The fact that a 10 horse-power car would carry its owner twice as far for his ration of petrol as would a 20 horse-power car meant a great deal, and cars of about 10 horse-power became popular. Motorists who owned larger cars would sell them and buy a second-hand 10 horse-power car for a figure far in excess of its original price, and designers, seeing this trend, concentrated on the production of small cars of more refinement than those generally available at the time.
B.S.A. LANDAULET adapted for coal gas propulsion by the Evesham Motor Engineering Co. Gas-bags were chiefly used for large cars and light vans, but in spite of the grotesque appearance of these containers many smaller cars were fitted with them.
The 10 horse-power cars of 1914 were “crossed” with the larger cars, and the light car of 1919 was evolved. This, in many instances, turned out to be an excellent vehicle in every way. Accommodation was not cramped, and workmanship was not sacrificed to price. Because of their experience of mass production during the war, several of the great manufacturing concerns found themselves well equipped for quantity production. Experienced designers were put on the work. Four and a quarter years of aero-engine experience had inspired much progress; four and a quarter years’ manufacture of munitions had cheapened shop processes; and there was an unlimited supply of labour — skilled labour at that. The stage was set for the production of the inexpensive light car.
Other interesting developments at the same period included the production of a Rover with a detachable cylinder head — an innovation — and the building of a 16-20 horse-power Cubitt which represented a real attempt to rival, in Great Britain, the low-priced American cars. The Cubitt had a standardized, quantity-produced body with steel panels, and was priced at £298 — a remarkably low figure compared with the prices demanded for other cars of similar horse-power.
A large six-cylinder Buick was introduced into Great Britain about this time. This had a chassis in which ingenious use was made of all kinds of steel pressings, a new technique which attracted much attention from designers at that time. It was lighter and cheaper than most of the British cars of similar performance and became popular on the roads of Great Britain.
In motoring journals of 1919 there are frequent references to the poor state of the roads. It was apparently impossible to travel for more than a hundred miles without referring to one of the official notices on the condition of the roads, and such entries as “road badly damaged by timber-hauling”, “road very rough owing to motor-bus traffic” and “road broken up by steam lorries” are often found.
The Cyclecar Revived
Late in 1919 the Morris programme was announced. The original Morris car, modified and brought up to date, was to be continued as the Morris-Cowley. It was to sell at £310, and it was proposed to turn out 5,000 of these cars in a year. A new model, to be known as the Morris-Oxford, incorporated such refinements as electric lighting and starting, and sold at a higher figure. Both these cars used engines manufactured in the Hotchkiss factory at Coventry. These “bullnosed” Morris cars were destined to become famous, and they were produced in ever-increasing numbers until the radiator design was changed in 1928.
Yet another famous car in its time was the Rover Eight, one of the pioneer light cars. It had a two-cylinder air-cooled engine and sold in two-seater or four-seater form at £230. This price made it one of the cheapest cars on the market, although such a car could probably be sold to-day [in 1938] for less than £100.
At this time there was still an import duty of 33⅓ per cent on foreign cars, and its effect seems to have been to restrict the entry of the cheaper foreign cars into Great Britain. Among the more important Continental cars of 1920 were the Delahaye, Itala, Hispano-Suiza, Talbot-Darracq and Delaunay-Belleville — all famous names, but all expensive cars.
THE FOUR-CYLINDER AUSTIN SEVEN, introduced in 1922. This open touring car weighed no more than 6½ cwt. unladen. A petrol consumption of 78 miles to the gallon was claimed for it. Four-wheel brakes were fitted.
The 1920 motor show saw the arrival of the G.N., a much improved form of cyclecar, and one which was much sought after by those who preferred sports cars. The G.N. had an air-cooled engine of 10 horse-power, a somewhat sketchy body mounted on a light chassis, and chain drive. In standard form it sold for less than £200, but a speed model, costing rather more, was marketed also. Its sponsors were Henry Godfrey and Archibald Frazer-Nash. Frazer-Nash, later, became a name in the sports car world, and the “G” of the G.N. was still kept on the market in 1937 by the H.R.G., an advanced design of sports car of high quality. The cyclecar proper was still in existence in 1920; one of the most startling examples was the Grahame-White “buckboard”, which was little more than a solid chassis, with one or two seats, propelled by a single-cylinder air-cooled engine mounted at the rear and started by a kick-starter. The buckboard sold at 95 guineas and enjoyed a certain measure of popularity among motorists who did not place luxury first. The G.W.K., a 10 horsepower car with epicyclic gear and friction drive, was also popular at the time, and created a name for itself.
At the other end of the price scale was the Napier 40-50 horse-power model, which was exhibited at the motor show in 1919 as a “1920 model”. The chassis price was £2,185, and the six-cylinder engine was of monobloc aluminium construction with steel liners for the cylinders and steel valve seats. Spring gaiters were an interesting feature of this car, which was provided with electric lighting and starting and with almost every conceivable refinement.
The 40-50 horse-power Rolls-Royce of the same year sold in chassis form for £1,575, and incorporated an electric starter which operated by a chain drive on the layshaft of the gearbox. The chassis price was later increased. Front-wheel brakes were slowly coming into favour, but they were still the exception rather than the rule. Several of the more advanced racing cars were so equipped, but the front-wheel brakes of the ordinary car were somewhat unreliable and difficult to adjust properly. The light car movement received a further impetus in 1920 with the introduction of the Alvis. This newcomer was rated at 10-40 horsepower, and was of a distinctly sporting type. It was sponsored by Thomas G. John, who had been with the Siddeley-Deasy Company as designer. Every attempt was made to minimize unsprung weight in the Alvis, which made a name as an unusually stable and controllable car as well as one in which the power-weight ratio was high. From the early Alvis was developed a long series of cars which built up a wonderful reputation for their performance and general reliability.
First British Straight-Eight
A somewhat startling newcomer in the same year was a Leyland, the engine of which had eight cylinders in line. This was the first British straight-eight. The Leyland had three tanks in its scuttle — one for petrol, one for feeding oil to the gearbox and one for feeding lubricant to all points on the chassis which needed lubrication. It also had pneumatic brakes, an arrangement that caused a sensation but did not become general.
The year 1921 saw a fall in the popularity of cyclecars. They were gradually turning into light cars of conventional design, but in 1921 the Carden, G.N., Grahame-White and Bleriot Whippet were still on the market. The Rover Eight was classed as a cyclecar, but was really a light car 1419 of unconventional design. In the world of racing, speeds had been steadily mounting, and 1921 saw the establishment of several new records. The Le Mans, France, race of that year was won by a Duesenberg straight-eight at 78.1 miles an hour. Two Talbots were in the race, although they were not placed in the first three at the finish. They were driven by Kenelm Lee Guinness, a famous sportsman, and by Major H. O. D. Segrave, who became one of the greatest of all racing drivers and who was, later, destined to be the first man to exceed 200 miles an hour on land.
Later in the year “K.L.G.”, driving his big Sunbeam at Brooklands, attained a speed of 135 miles an hour on the railway straight. This was an extraordinary performance at that time, and it was the subject of many comments and congratulations. One big race was won at 98 miles an hour by a Vauxhall driven by Humphrey Cook, subsequently famous as the designer of the E.R.A. cars, which have won so many racing honours for Great Britain in recent years. Another famous name appeared in the same Brooklands programme: Captain Malcolm Campbell drove his Talbot, Blue Bird, to victory in one race at 83 miles an hour.
In 1921 a two-litre six-cylinder A.C., designed by Selwyn F. Edge (of Napier fame), attacked the twenty-four hours record at Brooklands. Unfortunately a connecting rod broke during the nineteenth hour, but the car had covered 73.94 miles in one hour and had averaged 62.55 miles an hour at the end of eighteen hours, collecting many records in the process.
The 1922 cars, announced at the 1921 motor show, demonstrated the ever-increasing popularity of the light car movement, but showed no startling developments in design. Their chief characteristic was good workmanship. Their chassis and bodywork gave evidence of scrupulous care and neatness, and the light car, instead of existing as a cross between a crude cyclecar and a larger car of conventional design, established itself firmly as an excellent little vehicle in a class of its own.
One of the newcomers at the 1921 show was the Austin Twelve, a smaller edition of the famous Twenty. It had a four-cylinder engine of unusually robust construction, and the whole car was sturdily built and obviously meant for hard wear. Its price was £550. The car would scarcely compare favourably with the Austin Twelve of 1937, which sells for little more than £200. In spite of this, however, it attracted many buyers and became one of the most popular medium-sized cars on the market. Adjustable headlights were one of its special features, and it is believed to have been the first car to incorporate this refinement.
The year 1922 saw the arrival of the Trojan, one of the greatest departures from conventional practice that had appeared on the market for many years. Its engine, which was mounted underneath the seats, was a two-cylinder two-stroke rated at 10 horse-power, and it was specially designed to give a flat “power/speed” curve. It developed 10 horse-power at 400 and 1,200 revolutions a minute, and 11 horse-power at 900. This flexibility made possible the use of a gearbox with only two forward speeds; an epicyclic gear was used, and final drive was by double chain. The rear axle was solid, and solid tyres were fitted to the standard model, which had a hand-starter in the form of a lever working on a ratchet. The price of the Trojan was £230, and its special point was ease of maintenance. It represented motoring reduced to its simplest terms, and despite its unconventionality it became popular among those who were not interested in luxury vehicles, but put utility and hardiness before everything else.
140·51 Miles an Hour
At this time nearly all the small cars on the road were open tourers or two-seaters with dickeys. It was exceptional to find a closed body of any kind on small or cheap cars, and for this reason the open car began to develop into something a little more comfortable and more weatherproof than it had previously been. Really good hoods and side screens were produced and various ingenious, if somewhat clumsy, schemes were evolved for protecting dickey-seat passengers from the weather. Screens across the rear seats of open four-seaters were also introduced.
In the world of racing, speeds were still mounting. Kaye Don, at the wheel of an A.C., established several new records at Brooklands, covering 300 miles at an average speed of 75.72 miles an hour and raising the two-hours record to the figure of 76.59. Later in the year, however, a specially tuned Wolseley 10 created a minor sensation by averaging 61.06 miles an hour for twenty-four hours — a great achievement at that time for a small car.
Kenelm Lee Guinness, at the wheel of a gigantic twelve-cylinder Sunbeam, raised the Brooklands lap record to 123.39 miles an hour and covered the flying half-mile at 140.51 miles an hour. The light car, however, not content with its successes on the market as a pleasure vehicle, began to establish its supremacy in the world of speed. The eighteen-hours and twelve-hours records were annexed by an Aston Martin, driven by Herbert Kensington-Moir at the average speeds of 70.85 and 75.84 miles an hour.
The 1922 Tourist Trophy race was also significant. The “unlimited” class was won by a Sunbeam at 55.78 miles an hour, but the race for cars of less than 1,500 c.c. capacity was won by Algernon Lee Guinness, driving a Talbot-Darracq, at 53.3 miles an hour, a similar car being placed second at a speed only slightly lower.
From 1922 onwards the story of the development of the car has been largely the story of the extraordinary rise of the light car selling at a moderate price. In racing, in details of design and in general value for money, the small car improved at a remarkable pace, until to-day it is treated by hundreds of thousands of motorists as the only type of vehicle which they can hope to buy. Its sterling qualities of reliability, economy and speed have so revolutionized motoring that it is now considered no disadvantage to own a light car instead of a larger vehicle.
A FAMOUS LIGHT CAR, the Alvis, the first examples of which appeared in 1920. The first model was rated at 10-40 horse-power. It acquired a wonderful reputation for performance. The illustration shows a 12-50 four-seater sports Alvis, developed from the earlier model.
