Car : A.C. 10 HP
Year : 1913
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke :59?100 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1094 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power : 10
Maximum speed : 45 mph
Wheelbase : 8 ft 5? ins (2.57 m)
Suspension : front: transverse leaf- springs; back: elliptic leaf- springs
The 10 HP model of 1913 used a French engine, the Fivet, which had a very food weight/power ratio. After the war this was discarded in favor of the English Anzani engine, and the price of the car rose to ?560. The first models incorporated a cone clutch, which proved very unsuitable for such a light vehicle. This problem was solved, however, when Weller became one of the first men, if not the first , to use a disc clutch in a motor car, although it should be noted that the A.C. Company never claimed that it was the first to do this. The speed of the 10 HP model was about 45 mph.

The 6-cylinder model made its debut at the London Salon of 1919. The overhead valves, remained in production until 1963, a unique case in the history of the automobile. Its main advantage was its relative quietness. From its original 40 bhp the power of the engine was gradually increased to 85 bhp. A.C. changed its name four times during its history, though always keeping those initials, which stood for Auto Carrier at the time of the company’s creation. In 1904 it became Autocars and Accessories, changing in 1911 to Autocarriers Ltd, and in 1922 to A.C. Ltd.

Albion A6
Car : Albion A6
Year : 1906
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke :108?114 mm
Cylinder capacity : 4180 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 24
Maximum speed : 40 mph
Wheelbase : 10 ft 2 ins (3.09 m)
Suspension : front: semi- elliptic leaf- springs; back: elliptic leaf- springs

The A6 was a very solid de luxe car in keeping with the style of this Glasgow firm run by Blackwood Murray and Norman Fulton. As its name indicates, it was the sixth production model, and was technically very conventional. This betrays the firm’s desire to sell abroad, with a model that would give as little trouble as possible. The A1 and A2 had twin-cylinder centrally positioned engines with low-tension magneto ignition and bodywork clearly derived from coaches. The A3 differed from the previous models in having the engine in the back. The A6 had chain transmission and low-tension magneto ignition. The engine could turn at a maximum of 1,200 revs. With the A3 and the A6 Albion and struck success. In 1906, the year the A6 came out, the company (with almost 300 employees) produced over 200 chassis. In 1911 came the A14, with shaft transmission. Albion continued car production until 1914, when it turned exclusively to trucks. It made these up to 1972, as part of the British Leyland group. In some ways it it comparable to the Italian company O.M. , which went from cars to trucks, continuing making these today as part of the great Fiat empire.

Alvis 12/50 S
Car : Alvis 12/50 S
Year : 1923
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke :68?103 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1496 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 50
Maximum speed : 67 mph
Wheelbase : 9 ft ? ins (2.75 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi- elliptic leaf- springs
In the history of any car company there is always one model that stands out from the others and is remembered–for Alvis this model was the 12/50, which went into production in 1923 and continued to be produced until 1932. Alvis was founded in 1920, when Thomas George John took over Holley Brothers Company Ltd, and started making motorcycles and cars. In 1921 it took the name Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd. As the result of financial difficulties in 1922, the company worked at assembling twin-cylinder V, air-cooled Buckingham engines, but in 1936 the company became simply Alvis Ltd.

Today, the 12/50 is one of the cars most highly prized and jealously guarded by collectors of vintage cars. It had a successful racing career, both with professional and amateur drivers, and was the winner of the 1923 Brooklands 200 Mile Race. The 12/50 was nicknamed the ‘duck’s back’, because of its odd shape at the back. This version, with a maximum speed of about 80 mph, was very popular in racing circles at the time. The sports version, distinguished by the letter S (the T was for Touring, and F for front-wheel drive, which was tried in 1925 and incorporated on a production model after 1928), and almost the same engine as the touring (1645 cc) but with smaller capacity.

Argyll 15-30 HP
Car : Argyll 15-30 HP
Year : 1913
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke :80?130 mm
Cylinder capacity : 2614 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 32
Maximum speed : 45 mph
Wheelbase : 9 ft 8 ins (2.94 m)
Suspension : front: semi- elliptic leaf- springs; back: ?elliptic leaf- springs
Like so many car factories operating at the start of the century, Argyll had a difficult time, due to mistaken commercial tactics and a lengthy law case with the American company Knight over the rights on the so-called single-sleeve-valve engine. An engine of this kind had been invented by Peter Burt at Argyll, and Argyll had patented it under the name Burt McCollum. Argyll won the case, but at such cost that in 1914 it had to sell out.
Founded by Alex Govan in 1899, it was known at first as Hoziers Engineering Company, and only became Argyll Motors Ltd and 1905. The success of the company let to its transferring its premises from Glasgow to Alexandria, Strathclyde.

The 15-30 had brakes on all four wheels (one year after the Isotta-Fraschini, therefore). Front brakes first appeared on the 1911 12 HP, then as standard on the 15-30 HP cost ?495. Argyll offered more than ten models at once, and this turned out to be a serious commercial miscalculation. The 15-30 had limited success on the racing circuits: one car ran for 14 hours at Brooklands at an average of around 80 mph. The engine power had been considerably increased, and with it also the engine speed (2800 revs).

Arrol-Johnston 15.9 HP
Car : Arrol-Johnston 15.9 HP
Year : 1911
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke :80?120 mm
Cylinder capacity : 2411 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 34
Maximum speed : 45 mph
Wheelbase : 9 ft 6 ins (2.89 m)
Suspension : front: semi- elliptic leaf- springs; back: elliptic leaf- springs
This was the prestige car of this Scottish firm founded in 1897 by William Arrol and George Johnston. At first called Mo-Car Syndicate Ltd, from 1905 it changed its name to New Arrol-Johnston Car Company Ltd. Its early cars had much in common with coaches, but gradually the became more modern, acquiring a certain name for themselves through race results.

In a twin-cylinder model J. S. Napier won the first Tourist Trophy (1905) with and average speed of over 30 mph. The 15-9 HP was the brainchild of T. C. Pullinger, director of Arrol in 1909. The engine had side valves, with L-head and shaft transmission. Detachable wheels and dashboard radiator made it an original car. The front brakes were standard, but were abandoned due to malfunctioning. In 1927 it merged with the Aster Engineering Company Ltd and for four years cars were made under the name Arrol-Aster. The decision to reduce production , in 1929, did not have the results that had been hoped for and the company closed down in 1930.

Aston-Martin
Car : Aston-Martin
Year : 1922
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke :65?112 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1486 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 50
Maximum speed : 100 mph
Wheelbase : 8 ft 2 ins (2.48 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi- elliptic leaf- springs
Throughout its history Aston-Martin has had six changes of ownership, and has passed through periods of relative good fortune and (more commonly) periods of crisis. The main reason for this fitful progress has been the desire on the part of all its various owners to produce beautiful cars, even at the risk if reduced profits. The company has never compromised quality for lucre.

The company started, almost accidentally, in the 1920s under Lionel Martin and Richard Bamford, London agent for Singer. It was named Aston Martin after a hill-climb at Aston Clinton, which Martin had won in 1913. The idea of building cars themselves came to Martin and Bamford when why were adapting the Singer Ten for racing (calling it the B.M.). The vehicle in which Martin won the Aston Clinton was made up from a Coventry-Simplex engine (about 1500 cc) and an Isotta-Fraschini chassis. In its early manufacturing days Aston-Martin invariably used this same engine, but between 1921 and 1925 only 69 cars were built. The Coventry-Simplex had a fixed head on an alloy single block, similar in design to Bugattis of the same period. In 1920 Richard Bamford left the firm, and was replaced by Count Louis Zborowski, a gifted young man of Polish-American descent, who had made racing his life. Famous for the numerous ‘specials’ he had made, Zborowski was persuaded to finance the creation of an Aston-Martin car dear to Lionel Martin’s heart–sparkling as a Bugatti and dignified as a Rolls-Royce. From 1921 to 1925 Martin continued to use the Coventry-Simplex engine with side valves, which had as important record to its credit–that set by Kensington Moir at Brooklands in 1921 for the 1500 category.

During the 1920s, British car manufacturers began to reorganize their production methods, with the intention of building light, standardized cars in large quantities. The first make of car to complete directly with Ford in this area of the market was Morris, followed almost immediately by Austin. In spite of the appearance of new makes, the number of motor cars competitive in a commercial sense rapidly grew smaller; by 1929, Morris, Austin and Singer produced seventy-five percent of all the cars built in Great Britain. Morris and Ford were also the major manufacturers of commercial vehicles. The British car industry, as a whole, was able to produce 239,000 vehicles in 1929;but in the United States figures reached 5,380,000.
By 1931 there were only 31 makes on the British market, as opposed to 88 in 1922. The 1929 general depression in world trade hit the British car industry much less hard than it did that of other countries. In 1933 the joint production of motor cars and commercial vehicles had reached 286,000 units. Increases in production continued throughout the 1930s and by 1937 the industry was producing 379,000 motor cars and 114,000 commercial vehicles a year, making it the second largest in the world after the United States.
The progress of the British motor car industry during those years has been attributed to various factors: production levels had previously been relatively low; there had been considerable increases in per capita income; motor taxation and the price of fuel were low; and the British industry had always concentrated on engines with a high number of revs but a low fuel consumption.
There was also a relatively large increase in the number of medium-priced, medium-engined cars. In 1938 there were 20 independent manufacturers in the country, six of which accounted for ninety percent of the production. In order of importance, these were: Morris, Austin, Ford, Vauxhall, Rootes and Standard. Vauxhall, bought by General Motors in 1928, had also become the chief manufacturer of light commercial vehicles, followed by the Rootes Group.
A considerable proportion of the production was exported : 3,800 cars were exported in 1923; 25,000 in 1929; 43,000 in 1934 and 68,000 in 1938. The British motor industry thus strengthened its manufacturing base at home and enjoyed increasing success in many important markets overseas.

At the beginning of this century, however, the British authorities still tended to treat the motor car as an intrusive and hostile element in the transport world and the passing of various laws still limited its freedom of use. Severe penalties were imposed for driving without proper care and attention, or at a ‘dangerous’ speed. The official speed limit was 20 mph, or 10 mph where the local authorities considered it necessary. Hyde Park was forbidden to motor vehicles from 4 am to 7 pm (a restriction which remained in force until 1910). In July 1905 alone, 903 motorists were fined for exceeding the 20 mph speed limit, while another 250 were penalized for driving in the Royal Parks at over 10 mph. The fine for such offences was normally over ?3 and could rise to a maximum of ?10, or even ?20 in the case of further offences. The great number of accidents led to the formation of an association for the protection of the highways (Highway Protection League), its promoters claiming that the league was not so much directed against the motor car as against reckless drivers. In 1905 a child was knocked down and killed by a motor car, and this terrible scandal was featured by the whole of the British national press.
However, though impeded in various ways, the advance o the motor car could not be stopped. The 1913 Motor Show was attended by 156,000 people, while 227,000 visited that held in 1919. Membership of the Automobile Association, which was 100,000 in 1914, had more than doubled by 1924. In 1918 the price of a brand-new American car costing ?250 rose to ?500 within a few months. The average price for a small car was ?185-195 in 1914, but by 1918 the same used car could cost ?300-400.
The American-style production methods introduced by William Morris (later Lord Nuffield) did much to stabilize price. A Morris Cowley 2-seater, which had cost a little over ?165 in 1915, cost just over ?142 in 1928. The 4-seater Cowley went from ?465 in 1920 to ?225 in 1922. A Morris Minor sold for ?125 in 1929, but by 1931 in had been reduced to ?100.

It is worth noting that the first true mass-produced motor car was the Ford Model T. Ford had opened a plant at Old Trafford, near Manchester, as early as 1911, and assembly of the Model T began there three years after its appearance on the American market. Mass-production, in the modern sense of the term, only really began, however, just before the outbreak of the First World War. The total of 19,000 vehicles, including motor cars and commercial vehicles, produced in 1911, rapidly became 34,000 in 1913, thanks chiefly to the output of the Ford plants. In1920 there were some 187,000 motor cars on the road in Britain; 18 months later there were 242,500.