The Vintage Era 1919 to 1930 - Lightauto · Economy Cars of the Vintage Era The First World War had brought the British motor industry to a virtual standstill, as far as car production

Economy Cars of the Vintage Era

Part Two of the Story of the birth of the city car in Britain

Veteran, Edwardian, and Vintage Era are terms used as British classification for historic periods of car production.

The Vintage Era 1919 to 1930

Preface and Credit’s

In "Economy cars of the Edwardian Era", I had noted the limitations of the cycle car on the page “Cycle cars", and described how the true economy cars were derived from the full sized cars of the day on the page "Beginnings of the economy cars in the Edwardian Era". it was very much the same at the beginning of the Vintage Era, but the cycle cars soon faded away as the true economy cars matured into reliable, economic transport.

Acknowledgements

The Vintage Motor Car, by Cecil Clutton and John Stanford, provide some period descriptions and opinions.A-Z of Cars of the 1920s by Nick Baldwin, has been the source of most of the technical data.

Most of the graphics have come from http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Category:Cars. It is a unique source information, particularly the items copied from Lightcar and Cyclecar and other publications.

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The First World War had brought the British motor industry to a virtual standstill, as far as car production was concerned. It wasn’t until 1919 that production was resumed for some of the pre-war economy models, many not returning to the market at all, and some produced in a larger engine capacity form. Of the two cylinder economy cars on offer before the war, only the Jowett 8, was now available. The economy twin was not finished though, and new models began to replace those of 1914. First with a new twin was Rover with the Eight in 1919, Wolseley began production of the Stelitte Seven in 1920, with three more in 1921,The BSA Ten, the Stoneleigh, and the revised Jowett, the Seven. The last of the new twin’s, the Ariel Nine arrived in 1922.

Of the pre-war four cylinder cars, Lagonda with 11.1, Singer with the 10, Standard with the 9.5, and Wolseley with the Stelitte 10, resumed production in 1919, being joined by Deemster with their new Eight. It wasn’t until 1921 that the next models were introduced, they were the Rhode 9.5, and the short lived Bayliss Thomas 9/19. In 1923 Swift introduced the Ten.In the early 1920s four British companies introduced quality economy light cars onto the British market place. They were in 1922, Talbot and Gwynne Austin with the 7, and in 1923 Humber with the 8, and Humber with the 9 in 1925. They all had four cylinder, water cooled engines of quite high efficiency, the Talbot and the Gwynne with overhead valves and Humber with the inlet over exhaust and Austin with the side valve arrangement. The difference between the Austin and the other four cylinder economy cars, was the price. The Austin Seven was in the price bracket of the economy twins, not the other four cylinders cars that were roughly twice the price of the twins, with them being economic to run but expensive to purchase initially . It’s initial price was was even lower than some of the twin cylinder cars, and in future years would be lower, leading to an overall price reduction in the market. This would have a profound effect on the economy car market and the demise of the low volume producers. By 1923 both Lagonda and Demster had increased the engine capacity of their cars, taking them out of the economy bracket. By 1925 a long list of manufacturers had a left the market, Rhode ceased producing the 9.5, Singer with the Ten, Standard with the 9.5, both the Stelitte Seven and Ten, and the Stoneleigh. The Rover Eight and the Ariel Nine only lasted another year. The BSA Ten, the Talbot 8/18 and the Humber Eight were last produced in 1926. Surprisingly, the Gwynne Eight, though expensive at over a hundred pounds more than the Austin Seven, survived until 1928. Jowett had replaced the pre-war Eight in 1921 with the Seven, that had been superseded by the the 7/17 in 1926, and would remain in production until 1930. A Jowett twin would be available until 1952. Meanwhile the Austin Seven had been joined in the market in 1926 by the Riley Nine a quality economy car, and in 1927 by the Triumph Super Seven, the Clyno Nine, and the Singer Junior, and what would be its greatest rival in 1928, the Morris Minor. The last new economy car in the Vintage Era was the AJS Nine, and the Swift Cadet. These car produced in the later half of the 1920’s, along with the evolving Austin Seven didn’t reflect the style of the Vintage Era, which was for cars produced in low volume at a relatively high cost, and were the forerunners of the mass produced economy car.




Jowett 7 hp 1919 to 1926. 7/17 1926 to 1930.

When car production was resumed at the Jowett factory after the war, it was with the “8” with about one hundred and fifty examples produced before the company was reorganised as Jowett Cars Ltd, moving to Springfield Works, Bradford Road, Idle, Bradford in 1920. In 1921the 7 hp model fitted with a 907 cc version of the horizontally opposed twin cylinder engine was first produced. The chassis less body initially cost £180, but by 1925 when this model was replaced, after producing approximately six thousand of this model. The price of a complete two seat touring car was down to £125.The 7/17 model with the same engine with an output of 16.5 bhp was in production from 1926 to 1930. In 1930 the chassis price was down to £111, and a four seat saloon could be purchased for £158. About eleven thousand one hundred examples of the various 7/17 models were produced. Developed version’s of this engine were used by Jowett in many models until 1952.The following is a quote from "The Vintage Motor car", reflecting the snobbery in the Vintage movement in the 1950's. The basic Jowett design, which was to have such an unparalleled production run, was simple enough. The car was of unattractive appearance and slightly crude finish, but made up for this by the refinement of the well balanced engine, which was also a model of reliability. Indeed, it was claimed in 1926 that every Jowett made was still in service. As might have been expected from its somewhat provincial background, the steering and brakes were not of the best, and there is little to appeal to the connoisseur in these cars, which were, after all, of a strictly utilitarian nature.




Rover Eight 1919 to 1925

Rover used a former munitions factory at Tyseley, Birmingham, to produced a new ultra light car for the post war era the Eight. Jack Sangster had originally designed the car for his fathers company Ariel, but it was taken up by Rover, who reputedly spent £400,000 tooling up for its production, a considerable sum in 1919. A total of seventeen thousand seven hundred were produced between 1919 and 1925,. It had a 998 cc horizontally opposed, air cooled, side valve twin cylinder engined, later models having a 1135 cc engine, the engine output rising from 13 to 18 bhp. It had a simple channel-section chassis frame with leading quarter elliptic front springs, and cantilever quarter elliptic springs at the rear. The transmission consisted of a disc clutch, a three speed gearbox and a worm gear live rear axle. It had a cruising speed of 30 m.p.h. Priced at £230 in 1919, by 1925 the price was down to £139.The following is a quote from "The Vintage Motor car". The chassis was crude in the extreme, even for so cheap a car, and the standard disc-wheeled two-seat coachwork was distinctly un-beautiful. For all this the car was low in cost and capable as a rule of nearly 50 m.p.g. due to its light weight, and sold well in spite of a somewhat dubious name for reliability - the early examples being prone to cast away cylinder-heads at high r.p.m. The engine though noisy, was very well balanced and lively enough to give the little car respectable acceleration and hill-climbing powers, though its maximum was only about 45 m.p.h.




Wolseley Stellite 7 1922 to 1923

The Wolseley Stellite Seven was a refined car with a water cooled twin cylinder horizontally opposed engine of 984 cc. It was manufactured at the Stellite Works, Chester Road, Aston, Birmingham, by the Electric and Ordinance Accessories Co Ltd, a company owned by the Vickers conglomerate that had been passed to its Wolseley subsidiary in 1919. The Seven could cruise at 25 mph and average a fuel consumption of 45 mpg, it cost £255 in 1922.




BSA Ten 1921 to 1925The BSA Ten was produced by the BSA Cycles branch of the BSA/Daimler combine at its Small Heath, Birmingham factory, from 1921 to 1925, making a possible total of between four to five thousand. It had a 1018 c.c. air-cooled, overhead valve, Vee twin engine producing 18 b.h.p. The engine was manufactured for BSA by Hotchkiss of Coventry who was later purchased by Morris Motor, one of their other customers. A maximum of 52 m.p.h. combined with a fuel consumption of 38 m.p.g. came at a price of £230. Note the electric starter on a 1020s economy car.




Stoneleigh 9 hp 1921 to 1924

Stoneleigh Motors Ltd, of Parkside, Coventry, was a subsidiary of Armstong Siddeley. It was set up to produce an ultra light car to compete in the market against the Rover Eight and the 5 cv Citreon. It was classed at the time as a cyclecar, as it had a fan cooled V twin cylinder engine of 998 cc, with overhead valve gear. Apart from the unconventional seating arrangements with the driver seated in the centre and the two passenger seats behind, it was of conventional layout, although without a differential in the live back axle. It was produced in the hundred's between 1921 and 1924. Priced at £185 in 1923 it had fallen to £165 by 1924 when the seating had been changed to the usual two side by side arrangement.




Ariel Nine 1922 to 1925

Ariel were famous for their motorcycles, but they made a couple of less than successful attempt to market cars.The Ariel Nine of 1923 was produced By Ariel Works Limited, part of Components Limited , of Bournbrook, Birmingham. The owners son,Jack Sangster had designed the car after rejoining the company from Rover. He had previously designed a similar car for the company, but the design had been passed on to the Rover Company and was marketed as the Rover Eight. Sangster joining Rover to help produce it.The Ariel Nine was similar to the Rover in many respect, down to having a horizontally opposed twin cylinder engine. The Ariel engine which was manufactured for them by Harper Bean, differed from the Rover by being water cooled, the Rover being Air cooled. The car weighed eleven cwt, only about seven hundred were produced between 1923 and 1925.




Deemster 10 1914 to 1923

The Ogston Motor Company, Deemster Works, Victoria Road, Acton, London, produced the Deemster car from 1912 to 1924. The 1919 Ten had their own 1086 cc engine and was made until 1923. The Deemster cars had a sporting reputation but were only made in the hundreds.




Rhode 9.5 1921 to 1924

F. W. Mead and T. W. Deakin began producing their Rhode 9.5 car from their Tyseley, Birmingham work in 1921. It was named in honour of Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia. It was fitted with their own overhead camshaft engine, it being of the sporty type although in the economy bracket. The price in 1912 was £275, but was down to £189 by 1924. Between five and six hundred where produced annually. A top speed between 45 m.p.h and 50 m.p.h was possible with a fuel consumption of thirty five to forty five mile per gallon.




Baylis Thomas 9/19 1922 & 8.9. Junior 1923 to 1924

Baylis Thomas was a part of Excelsior Motor Company, they where taken over by R Walker and Sons in 1921, and production was moved to Kings Road, Tysely, Birmingham.In 1922 the company began producing cars using the Baylis Thomas name, while using the Excelsior name for motorcycles. Their first car was the 9/19, which had in house manufactured engine and gearbox. The company also produced various outer models, with larger capacity propriety engines. It had failed by 1929.




Swift Q Type Ten 1923 to 1926

In 1919 under the new name of Swift of Coventry Ltd, Swift produced a 1120 c.c. four, based on the pre-war cycle car. In 1923 they introduced the new Q Type Ten, with a 1097 c.c. engine. This was superseded by the 1190 c.c. P type in 1926. Production of the Ten may have been Four and a half thousand.

The following is a quote from "The Vintage Motor car". Swift of Coventry was a pioneer British make, and one of the oldest cycle-manufacturing firms in the country, who established fame in the light-car world very early on, with a de Dion-engined voiturette. Their small cars remained popular throughout the Edwardian period and were quite outstandingly successful in the numerous reliability trials with single and twin-cylinder cars; they even assayed racing and appeared in the 1905 Tourist Trophy race without ignominy. During the Vintage period their standard model was the Swift Ten, a small car which became exceedingly well liked and sold in large numbers, catering for the increasing middle-class market with great success.It was never a particularly cheap car, and the fittings and finish were generally of a quite high order. It was propelled by a very hard-wearing lightauto.com Page � of �12 28


Economy Cars of the Vintage Erabut feeble four-cylinder engine of 1100 c.c.; the mechanical parts were of alarming size and the car was throughout far too heavily made to give it a chance of any performance. It did have a certain solid appeal, however, and production ceased in 1931 only on account of internal difficulties in the factory and not through lack of demand.




Talbot 8/18 1922 to 1926

Clement Talbot of Barby Road, North Kensington, London, part of the Sunbeam, Talbot, Darracq group, produced a British version of the French1 litre Darracq in 1922. By the time production ceased in 1926, two thousand two hundred and 24 had been made.

The extracts on the car in the previously mentioned book, The Vintage Motor Car, gives a good in-site into its characteristics. The 8/18 Talbot, which appeared early in 1922, was designed by Louis Coatalen and proved, as might have been expected, to have been an exceptional performance for a light car at that time.It was also a distinct departure for the Clement Talbot factory,which had previously built only fast and rather heavy touring car. despite its somewhat high price, it had an instant appeal on account of its speed, efficiency, and elegant appearance; and was hailed in the contemporary press as a pioneer of a new sort of economical motoring. Nor was the engine rough in any way, but, like all Coatalen's productions, of extreme smoothness and flexibility. The finish throughout was excellent, and the coupe body light, comfortable, and of pleasing appearance.




Gwynne Eight and 8/24 1922 to 1928

Gwynnes Engineering Company of Hammersmith Iron Works, Church Wharf, Chiswick, was formed from Gwynnes Ltd of Hammersmith and Adam, Grimaldi and Co, of Albert Works, Albert Embankment, London, Makers of the Albert motor car, in 1920. They began the production of the Gwynne Eight in 1923. The company went into receivership in that year, but car production continued until 1928 with approximately 2250 examples of the Eight and the later 8/24 made.




The following is a quote from "The Vintage Motor car". Gwynne's Engineering Company of Chiswick, who are still well known as makers of marine pumps, succeeded in producing during the Vintage period a remarkable and charming little car known as the Gwynne Eight. This appeared in 1923 and had a robust 950 c,c, overhead-valve engine of quite unusual liveliness in a conventional chassis, giving the car acceleration and a maximum speed (nearly 60 m.p.h.) really exceptional for its class.Although by no means comely in appearance or even very well finished, the performance of the car gave it a considerable popularity and it was very good value for money at its low price of £200 or so.It had the probably unique distinction of having been designed in Spain; but it was certainly a thoroughly realistic approach to the problems of light car design.Perhaps fortunately, the Gwynne never grew up in the way of the contemporary small Humber’s, and when production ceased in 1928 it was outclassed by the development of competitors with better brakes and fuller equipment.




Humber Eight 1923 to 1924 8/18 1925 to 1926

By 1919 Humber of Humber Road, Coventry, Warwickshire, was an established makers of quality cars. Of conventional but advanced design, Between 1923 and 1926 the company produced two thousand four hundred of the Eight. The Eight had a 985 cc engine with inlet over exhaust valve gear. The following is a quote from "The Vintage Motor car". All Humber cars during the Vintage period were of the highest quality, and any light car bearing the name could be expected to be of the most extreme refinement; the little 8/18 model was an immediate success from its inception late in 1922. It had a coil-ignition engine of 985 c.c. which gave 20 b.h.p. at 3000 r.p.m. and was notable for its use of overhead inlet and side exhaust valves, an arrangement which was to be consistently used by Humber until about 1931.Although costly to produce it was certainly justified by the efficiency and smooth running of the engine.The little Humber weighed about 12 cwt, and the rather low gear ratios prevented a startling performance, while fuel consumption was about 35 m.p.g. On the other hand the sound detail work and careful construction rendered it an exceedingly quit and pleasing car to drive.




Humber 9/20 1925 to 1929 9/28 1928 t0 1930

Humber’s last light car was the Nine, an enlarged version of the 8, with a 1056 c.c. engine, the bore being increased to 58 m.m. the stroke being unchanged. The chassis had a longer wheelbase of 8 ft, 6 inches, the track was slightly wider and half elliptic springs replaced quarter elliptic at the front. Still with two wheel brakes until 1927. Producing 3450 9/20's and 1250 examples of the 9/28 models. After 1930 the company concentrated on it’s heavy car range.The following is a quote from "The Vintage Motor car". (The 9/20) was burdened with a full four-seater body of remarkable length and ungainly appearance; but it retained all the Humber quality and was capable of an unexpectedly lively performance. Front brakes were added in1927 and for a year or so the 9/20 was an unusually attractive economy car. But in 1929 saloon coachwork had become all the fashion and it grew further into the 9/28 a car which typifies the sad change which had come over light-car design by having the extremely low top-gear ratio of 5.5 to 1. Its performance is accordingly rather laboured, despite the greater power output of the engine. The excellent Humber light car of 1922 had in fact grown up into a very ordinary small saloon car with little but its quality to commend it, and production ceased in 1930.




Austin Seven 1922 Austin with the 7, to 1939

The story of the creation of the Austin Seven can be found in many books and the web, so I will not repeat it here. It was something completely new in Britain, Not just a light car, but a miniature of the cars of the day. The first Austin Seven, had a wheelbase of 6 ft, 3 inches, a track of 3 ft, 4 inches, and weighed 6.5 cwt, that was about half the weight of contemporary economy cars of all types, only matched by the cyclecars of the day. It was also ahead of its contemporaries in having four-wheel brakes, The front being applied by the hand lever and the rear by the usual foot pedal. Initially the engine capacity was only 696 c.c. but was soon increased to 747 c.c. The low price of £165 for a car with the specification of cars double the price, soon led to success, almost two thousand being produced in its first year. Production increased every year until 1935 to over twenty seven thousand, only falling off slightly in the next couple of years, then dropping off sharply in the last year of production, 1939. The Austin Seven was the first of the mass produced economy car in Britain, and those that followed were in the same mould. The days of the hand built economy car was near its end.




The following is a quote from "The Vintage Motor car". Unquestionably one of the immortal designs in motoring history is the Austin Seven, for upon its introduction in 1922 it rendered the cycle-car obsolete, set a high overall standard for the economy car, and made motoring possible for the first time to thousands of families. It is surely no exaggeration to say that it was as great an advance in its own sphere as were the 1901 Mercedes and the 1907 Rolls-Royce in theirs. For sixteen years in maintained an unassailable popularity, capturing the public imagination as few cars have done before or since, by a notable combination of durability and charm.The design was of classic simplicity, being essentially a scale-down and lightened large car. The side-valve two-bearing engine od 747 c.c. which produced 19.5 b.h.p. at 2500 r.p.m. was set in a light T-section frame which narrowed towards the front to carry the transverse suspension; rear suspension was by short but steeply cambered quarter-elliptics, and the suspension, more than any other part of the car, seems to owe something to the contemporary small Peugeot. Brakes were fitted to all four wheels, an altogether unprecedented move on so small a chassis. Although frail in appearance all parts were in fact immensely strong, being made of the best materials; this is well confirmed by the large number of Sevens of all ages which still give faithful service. The coachwork was standardised from the first on an aluminium "Chummy" four-seater which was to remain the basic Vintage design, though a most charmingly upright saloon was available from 1926. The cars fame was world-wide, and it was built under licence in Germany as the B.M.W., in France as the Rosengart, and in the U.S.A. as the “Bamtam".




Riley Nine 1926 to 1937

Riley (Coventry) Ltd, had been producing quality cars for almost thirty years when they introduced the Nine. The car was a great step forward in design, The engine was exceptional in having twin camshafts operating with short pushrods, overhead valves in a hemispherical shaped combustion chamber. An arrangement that proved so successful it was still used for the next thirty years. The 1087 c.c. water-cooled four-cylinder engine and the four speed integral gearbox was mounted in a long wheelbase chassis of 8 ft. 10.5 inches, using rubber bushes in compression. It had a good performance for an economy car of the time with a top speed of 60 m.p.h. and a fuel consumption figure of 40 m.p.g. It was quality car, reflected in the price of the fabric bodied Monaco saloon at £298, and the four seat tourer at £280 in 1928. Even so six thousand were produced by 1930.




Triumph Super Seven 1927 to 1932

The Triumph Motor Company of Priory Street, Coventry, produced its first car in 1923. The Super Seven, their third model, was designed by Arthur Sykes late of Lea Francis, and Stanley Edge who had assisted Herbert Austin in designing the Seven, and was targeted at the quality economy slot previously filled by Humber and Talbot. It had a 832 c.c. side-valve engine and the design though conventional for the period, reflected the latest trends, including hydraulic brakes on all four wheels. Four seat saloon bodies were by then the most popular. With a top speed of 53 m.p.h. it could cruise at 40 m.p.h. and return fuel consumption rates of 35 to 40 m.p.g. About ten and a half thousand were produced by 1930.




Clyno Nine 1927 to 1929

The following is a quote from "The Vintage Motor car".The Clyno Engineering Company of Wolverhampton started life in a modest way with the manufacture of motor-cycles and it was not until 1922 that they entered the light-car market with a very cheap 10.8-h.p. four-cylinder light car of slightly more than usual crudeness. Unlike many other optimistic constructors whose cars were produced in a spasmodic and haphazard manner, the Clyno Company sensibly laid down an efficient production line from the first. They were thus able to keep up with the enormous demand for their cars, which enjoyed a quite astonishing and well-merited popularity for a few years. They were certainly one of the commonest sights on the roads in their heyday. No Clyno was of much technical interest; all models had side-valve four-cylinder engines by Coventry-Simplex with three-speed gearboxes, and no attempt was made to give them any but the most ordinary behaviour and speed. No special versions appeared in competition, though they made the obligatory attempts at the light-car trials of their time.The Clyno was simply made, and quite pleasant to drive, for it had light steering and excellent brakes. But any in direct competition with the Morris " Cowley" had to maintain a high standard in more respects than these, and the car soon failed.Production ceased in 1929, but not before the firm had made a final attempt at a £100 car, a conception which had been worrying designers for some time ( and which was finally achieved by Morris Clyno 9in 1932); but the Clyno Nine was not sufficiently good, even at £112. 10s., to restore the marque to popularity.The Nine had a 951 c.c. side-valve engine, initially priced at £160 for a saloon and £145 for the four-seat tourer, finally dropping to £112 .Only about three hundred were produced before the company failed. Clyno had produced about forty thousand cars in seven years, but this was insufficient to survive in an increasingly competitive light car market.




Singer Junior 1927 to 1932

Singer Junior adSinger of Coventry had ceased production of the "10", economy car in 1924 by then a very dated design. The Junior its successor launched in September 1926 for the model year 1927, was by comparison an up to date design, with a 848 c.c. four-cylinder overhead camshaft engine. Although some aspects of its design like the cone clutch and only having two wheel brakes were old fashioned and not updated until 1928. The car was continually updated with modern features like hydraulic shock absorbers and Triplex glass. With a top speed of 56 m.p.h. and a fuel consumption of 42 m.p.g. and a price of £135 in 1930 it was a fine economy car, with approximately forty-thousand produced. Singer continued to fit overhead camshaft engines in its cars until the 1950s, when most others used side-valve designs.


Singer Junior 1927 to 1932



Morris Minor 1928 to 1932

In 1927 William Morris the owner of Morris Motors purchased the defunct Wolseley Motor Company, renaming it Wolseley Motors 1927 Ltd. Wolseley had been producing cars with overhead camshaft engines since the First World War, and Morris had Wolseley produce an engine for his new economy car at their Ward End, Birmingham, factory. It was a four-cylinder, water-cooled of 847 c.c. with an overhead camshaft using the armature of the Dynamo mounted vertically at the front of the engine as part of the drive. It had an out put of 20 b.h.p. The rest of the car was conventional with a three-speed gear-box, a spiral bevel live rear axle, cable operated four wheel brakes and semi-elliptic springs on both axles. The minor was aimed at the section of the market dominated by the Austin Seven, and was priced accordingly, with tourer at £125 and a fabric bodied saloon at £135. Over thirty-nine thousand were made in a four year period. The Minor and its O.H.C engine was to form the basis of the first MG Midget. The unusual camshaft drive was to lead to electrical problems, as the dynamo's position limited its size and oil leaks caused it to fail, problems that were not satisfactorily solved. In 1931 an alternative side-valve engined model was available and produced along side the original Minor.




AJS Nine 1929 to 1933

In 1929 A.J.Stevens & Co Ltd of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, known as AJS, were motorcycle manufacturers of some standing. They also had a body building branch that had been producing bodies for the Clyne Nine. With its demise and a turn down in motorcycle sales, the company had a lot of spare capacity. To fill that gap they turned to Arthur G. Booth the designer of the Clyno Nine to design a similar sized car for them to produce. The result was the AJS Nine. It had a 1018c.c. four cylinder side-valve engine supplied by Coventry Climax. The chassis was produced by John Thompson Motor Pressings of Bilston, Staffordshire, With a body produced by AJS. All was assembled at a AJS works in Wolverhampton. It was available with a fabric saloon body at £230, a coach built saloon body at £240 and a coach built two-seater with a dickey seat for £210. Apart from the fabric body which was by then losing favour, the specification was good which included a safety glass windscreen and vacuum powered windscreen wipers. About three thousand three hundred were produced before they became a casualty of the Economy car price war. Production was continued for a time by Willy-Overland-Crossley but only a few more were made.




Swift Cadet 1930 to 1931

Swift of Coventry, had a history of making economy cars, starting with the Swift Cycle car in 1913, then the Q type Ten from 1923 to 1926. In 1930 they introduced the 8 h.p.Cadet. Fitted with a 847 c.c. side-valve water-cooled four cylinder engine supplied by Coventry Climax. The rest of the specification reflected that of the economy cars of the time, with a three-speed and reverse gearbox, a spiral bevel live rear axle and mechanical operated four wheel brakes, semi-elliptic spring all round, on a channel section chassis frame. Unfortunately the tourer priced at £149 and the Fabric bodied saloon at £165 could not compete with the cheaper Austin and Morris cars, and only about two hundred and fifty were produced the company went into liquidation.




The End of the Vintage Period

By 1930 the British economy car had reached maturity, providing reliable, economic transport for an increasing number of motorist for business and pleasure. Despite an increasing economic depression, sales of economy cars continued to increase.The Austin Seven was in its seventh year of production, It accounted for over half of Austin's production in 1930. Production figures for that year reflected purchasers requirements, with saloon model sold outnumbering tourers by four to one, and a four seat saloon model was now available.Jowett, the only surviving producer of two cylinder engined cars, introduced their latest model the 7 h.p. in 1930, it remained in production until 1936.The Swift Cadet, the last of the Swift cars, only lasted until 1931, the Triumph Super Seven, AJS Nine and the Singer Junior until 1932, only Singer would continue to make economy cars.The original Morris Minor with the overhead camshaft engine was to remain in production until 1932. A revised side-valve engined model joined it in 1931, at first as the £100 Minor, a fabric bodied two seat tourer, but by 1933 the side-valve engine was fitted to all versions of the Minor, that lasted until1934. Tourers and fabric bodies were a feature of the Vintage era, the post Vintage motorist was looking for at least a coach built four seat saloons, and the £100 Minor was not a success. In 1932 the first of the all steel bodied saloon's would appear, the Ford Model Y, and that was the shape of the economy car for the next decade and the End of the Vintage Period.



Documents

The Vintage Era 1919 to 1930 - Lightauto · Economy Cars of the Vintage Era The First World War had brought the British motor industry to a virtual standstill, as far as car production