BSA cars were manufactured between 1907 and 1912 in Birmingham then until 1939 in Coventry as well as Birmingham, England. BSA had established a motor-car department in an unsuccessful effort to make use of the Sparkbrook Birmingham factory. An independent part of the same site was occupied by The Lanchester Motor Company Limited. Sales were handled by BSA Cycles Limited. After 1912, manufacture was carried out by group subsidiary Daimler in Coventry or BSA Cycles in Birmingham.
The first prototype car was produced in 1907. The following year, marketed under BSA Cycles Ltd, the company sold 150 automobiles and again began producing complete bicycles on its own account. By 1909, it was clear that the new motorcar department was unsuccessful, an investigation committee reporting to the BSA Board on the many failures of its management and their poor organization of production.
Dudley Docker had joined the board in 1906 and was appointed deputy chairman of BSA in 1909. He had made a spectacular financial success of a merger of five large rolling-stock companies in 1902 and become the leader of the period's merger movement. Believing he could buy the missing management skills that could not be found within BSA, he started merger talks with The Daimler Company Limited of Coventry. Daimler and Rover were then the largest British car producers. Daimler was immensely profitable. After its capital reconstruction in 1904, Daimler's profits were 57% and 150% returns on invested capital in 1905 and 1906. The attraction for Daimler shareholders, was the apparent stability of BSA. So, in 1910, BSA purchased Daimler with BSA shares, but Docker, who negotiated the arrangements, either ignored or failed in his assessment of their consequences for the new combine. The combine was never adequately balanced or co-ordinated. [1]
Docker retired as a BSA director in 1912 and installed Lincoln Chandler on the BSA board as his replacement. Docker liked to draw a comparison between the BSA~Daimler merger he engineered and that of his 1902 merger of Metropolitan Carriage Wagon & Finance Company and Patent Shaft. However, there was not the integration of facilities in the BSA~Daimler case, nor was there a reorganisation of either BSA or Daimler. In view of the earlier criticism contained in the 1909 report of the investigation committee, BSA continued to produce cars of their own, using Daimler engines. In 1913, Daimler employed 5,000 workers to manufacture 1,000 vehicles, an indication that things were not well. [2]
As well as the Daimler car range, BSA Cycles Ltd re-entered the car market under the BSA name in 1921, with a V-twin engined ten h.p. light car, followed by four-cylinder eleven h.p. and fourteen h.p. and six-cylinder twelve h.p. and sixteen h.p. models up to 1926, when the name was temporarily dropped. In 1929, a new range of 3- and 4-wheel cars appeared and production of these continued until 1936.
By 1930, the BSA Group's primary activities were BSA motorcycles and Daimler vehicles. [3]
Car production under the BSA name ceased in 1940, with the advent of the war.
BSA brand ownership was disputed after Tata Motors purchased Jaguar Cars and Daimler Company. A legal challenge halted the creation of a Chinese BSA-badged car[ citation needed ] but the case only applied to cars, not other products, such as bikes.[ citation needed ]The brand for motorbikes was eventually bought by Mahindra. [4] However the car brand remained with the Rover group, with the Lanchester company which was purchased by the BSA Group at the end of 1930. BSA, Daimler and Lanchester became part of Jaguar Cars in 1960.
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(please note some detail may not be reliable)
| Model | Manf'd | Cyls | Capacity | Wheels | Driven | Wheelbase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14/18 hp | 1907–1910 | 4-cyl | 2596 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (8'6") 102.0 in (2,591 mm) |
| 18/23 hp | 1908–1910 | 4-cyl | 3622 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (9'6") 114 in (2,896 mm) |
| 25/33 hp | 1908–1911 | 4-cyl | 5401 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (10'4") 124 in (3,150 mm) |
| 15/20 hp | 1910–1911 | 4-cyl | 3053 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (8'9") 105.0 in (2,667 mm) |
| 20/25 hp | 1910–1911 | 4-cyl | 4156 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (9'6") 114.0 in (2,896 mm) |
| 13.9 hp | 1912–1915 | 4-cyl | 2015 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (9'0½") 108.5 in (2,756 mm) or (9'4") 112.0 in (2,845 mm) |
| – | ||||||
| 10 hp | 1921–1924 | V-twin | 1080 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (8'0") 96 in (2,438 mm) |
| 11 hp | 1923 | 4-cyl | 1468 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (8'10") 106.0 in (2,692 mm) |
| 12 hp | 1923 | 4-cyl | 1028 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (9'3") 111.0 in (2,819 mm) |
| 14 hp | 1924 | 4-cyl | 1765 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (8'0") 96 in (2,438 mm) or (8'10") 106.0 in (2,692 mm) |
| 16 hp | 1924–1926 | 6-cyl | 1872 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (9'9") 117.0 in (2,972 mm) |
| – | ||||||
| 2-str 9 hp | 1929–1932 | V-twin | 1021 cm3 | 3 | Front | (7'6½") 90.5 in (2,299 mm) |
| 2-str 9 hp | 1932–1935 | 4-cyl | 1075 cm3 | 3 | Front | (7'6½") 90.5 in (2,299 mm) |
| 4-str 9 hp | 1932–1936 | 4-cyl | 1075 cm3 | 4 | Front | (8'1½") 97.5 in (2,476 mm) |
| Ten saloon | 1932–1936 | 4-cyl | 1185 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (8'1½") 97.5 in (2,476 mm) |
| Light 6 saloon | 1934–1936 | 6-cyl | 1378 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (8'3") 99 in (2,515 mm) |
| Scout 9 hp | 1935–1936 | 4-cyl | 1075 cm3 | 4 | Front | (7'6") 90.0 in (2,286 mm) or (7'9") 93 in (2,362 mm) |
| Ten saloon | 1936 | 4-cyl | 1330 cm3 | 4 | Rear | (8'3") 99 in (2,515 mm) |
| Scout 10 hp | 1937–1939 | 4-cyl | 1203 cm3 | 4 | Front | (7'6") 90 in (2,286 mm) or 7'11½" 95.5 in (2,426 mm) |
The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process.
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Frederick William Lanchester LLD, Hon FRAeS, FRS, was an English polymath and engineer who made important contributions to automotive engineering and to aerodynamics, and co-invented the topic of operations research.
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BSA motorcycles were made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA), which was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process.
