Dewcar

Last updated

Dewcar
Overview
ManufacturerD.E.W. Engineering Co Ltd
Production1913-1914
Body and chassis
Class cyclecar
Powertrain
Engine Precision single- or twin-cylinder
Transmission two- or three-speed
Chronology
SuccessorVictor

The Dewcar was a British four-wheeled cyclecar made from 1913 to 1914 by D.E.W. Engineering Co Ltd of Eynsford, Kent. The car was designed by Harold E. Dew and was developed through a series of one-offs starting in 1910.

Contents

The first production models were made in 1913 with single-seat bodies and used a single-cylinder Precision engine with a tax horsepower of 4.5. A two-seater was added shortly afterwards with a larger twin-cylinder engine with either air- or water-cooling. The single seater cost £75 and the two-seater £95 or £115 with the water-cooled option. [1]

D'Ultra cycle car (also D-Ultra and D.Ultra)

DUltraCycleCar.jpg

Harold Dew left the company in February 1914 and set up a new concern at Charlotte Place, Clapham, London registered as D.U. Manufacturing Co making a car called the D'Ultra. This was available as either a two-seat car or delivery van and used a water-cooled Chater-Lea 8 hp 50-degree V-twin engine with 4-speed friction transmission. This transmission involved a prop-shaft to which was attached a friction disc driving a countershaft and thence by a single roller chain to the cantilever sprung rear axle, which was not fitted with a differential. The front suspension was by a transverse semi-elliptic leaf spring, and the steering was of the rack and pinion type. As was common with cycle cars the braking was only on the rear wheels, and while this was initially described as being both by internal expanding and contracting types operating on two drums the reality was rather different (see below). The ladder frame is described as being 'made of re-inforced ash, and is of quite simple design with only three cross-members'. [2] Price was £115 complete with head lamps, hood, and wind screen.

A four-seat model was added for 1915. Production seems to have stopped in 1916, [1] though the 1913-1917 Red Book [3] suggests it was available in 1917 at £150.

Detailed plans for the two-seater car were published in two parts in the Model Engineer magazine commencing 1 May 1919. [4] There is no 'by-line' but the article appears to have been written by the car's designer. An example is the description of the brakes as follows :

...I had in mind to have both an internal and an external brake on both wheels - hence the sixth hole just above the cam bolt hole. After giving the external brakes a good trial, I found the internal ones did all the work I required them to do; so I just cut out the external ones altogether, and connected the foot brake pedal to one side and the side brake lever to the other side, which means you only brake on one wheel. But this does not matter at all as owing to the axle being solid and both wheels and brake drums being keyed solid to it you get no skidding effect whatever.

In addition to drawings, the Model Engineer article includes photographs of the car both complete and as a bare chassis.

While 1914 reviews use the name D'Ultra, and the 1913-1917 Red Book [3] used D. Ultra, the Model Engineer article in 1919 used D-Ultra.

Victor car

After Harold Dew left D.E.W. Engineering production of the original car was taken up by Victor Motors, still in Eynsford and possibly the same company re-registered under a new name. A 965 cc Precision V-twin engine was used. In 1915 manufacture moved to Tyler Apparatus of Ealing, London with a larger 1100 cc 4-cylinder engine. The last ones were made in 1920 [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

Coventry Victor was a British motorcycle and car manufacturer. Originally Morton & Weaver, a proprietary engine manufacturer in Hillfields, Coventry, founded in 1904, the company changed its name to Coventry Victor Motors in 1911. The company closed in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ateliers de Construction Mecanique l'Aster</span>

L'Aster, Aster, Ateliers de Construction Mecanique l'Aster, was a French manufacturer of automobiles and the leading supplier of engines to other manufacturers from the late 1890s until circa 1910/12. Although primarily known as an engine mass manufacturer the company also produced chassis for coach-works and a complete range of components.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiny (car)</span>

Tiny was a British cyclecar manufactured by Nanson, Barker & Co at Esholt, Yorkshire between 1912 and 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singer Motors</span> British motor vehicle manufacturer

Singer Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturing business, originally a bicycle manufacturer founded as Singer & Co by George Singer, in 1874 in Coventry, England. Singer & Co's bicycle manufacture continued. From 1901 George Singer's Singer Motor Co made cars and commercial vehicles.

The Lanchester Motor Company Limited was a car manufacturer located until early 1931 at Armourer Mills, Montgomery Street, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, and afterwards at Sandy Lane, Coventry England. The marque has been unused since the last Lanchester was produced in 1955. The Lanchester Motor Company Limited is still registered as an active company and accounts are filed each year, although as of 2014 it is marked as "non-trading".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albion Motors</span>

Albion Motors was a Scottish automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swift Motor Company</span>

The Swift Motor Company made Swift Cars in Coventry, England from 1900 until 1931. It grew progressively from James Starley's Coventry Sewing Machine Company, via bicycle and motorised cycle manufacture. The cars ranged from a single-cylinder car in 1900 using an MMC engine, through a Swift-engined twin-cylinder 7-horsepower light car in 1904, and a 3-litre model in 1913. After the First World War a successful range was sold during the 1920s, but the Cadet of 1930 was its last vehicle as it could not compete economically with volume manufacturers such as Ford and Morris Motors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairthorpe Cars</span>

Fairthorpe cars were made in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, England between 1954 and 1961, from 1961 to 1973 in Denham, Buckinghamshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coventry Premier</span>

Coventry Premier Limited owned a British car and cyclecar manufacturing business based in Coventry from 1912 to 1923. It changed its name from Premier Cycles to Coventry Premier Ltd in November 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas (motorcycles)</span> British motorcycle manufacturer

Douglas was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1907–1957 based in Kingswood, Bristol, owned by the Douglas family, and especially known for its horizontally opposed twin cylinder engined bikes and as manufacturers of speedway machines. The company also built a range of cars between 1913 and 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ER9 electric trainset</span>

For servicing suburban commuter lines, electrified on 25 kV, AC, the Railcar Manufacturing Plant of Riga produced ER9, then ER9P and other modifications of electric trainsets in the 1962-2002 period. The mass production of these trains had begun in 1964.

The Perry was a British car made by the Perry Motor Company based in Tyseley, Birmingham who made cars between 1913 and 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABC motorcycles</span> British motorcycle manufacturer

ABC motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer established in 1914 by Ronald Charteris in London. Several British motorcycle firms started up with the name "ABC", including Sopwith. The All British Engine Company Ltd. of London was founded in 1912 and later changed to ABC Motors Ltd. With chief engineer Granville Bradshaw, Charteris built a range of engines throughout the First World War. From 1913 ABC produced motorcycle engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin 40 hp</span>

The Austin 40 hp is a 4-cylinder motor car launched at the Olympia Motor Show in November 1907. Manufactured by Austin at Longbridge, Northfield, Birmingham, it was the first variant from Austin's initial plans for a two model range of a 15 hp —which they had dropped—and a 25 hp car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SIMA-Violet</span>

Sima Violet was a French manufacturer of cyclecars between 1924 and 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Wenkel</span> German automobile pioneer (1864–1944)

Max Wenkel was a German automobile pioneer and inventor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Oxford bullnose</span> Motor vehicle

The "bullnose" Morris Oxford is a series of motor car models produced by Morris of the United Kingdom, from 1913 to 1926. It was named by W R Morris after the city in which he grew up and which his cars were to industrialise.

F. E. Baker Ltd was a British motorcycle engine and cyclecar engine manufacturer based in the Precision Works, Moorsom Street, Birmingham, England. Founded in 1906 by Frank Edward Baker, the company produced motorcycle engines under the Precision trademark until 1919. Precision engines were used by a wide range of motorcycle manufacturers in the United Kingdom and in other parts of the Commonwealth and were also used in cyclecars. Many manufacturers used the 'Precision' trademark as part of their model names, and in 1912 there was a 'Precision' motorcycle sold in Australia, but it is unclear if this was manufactured by F.E. Baker or just permitted use of the trademark by a motorcycle manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur William Wall</span> British engineer (1874 - unknown)

Arthur William Wall was an engineer in the field of motorised transport and inventor of the self-powered wheel in England in the early 20th century. He is best known for his creation of the self-powered wheel, the Wall Autowheel, which could be used to power a bicycle, but he was also the man behind Roc motorcycles and a tricar and four-wheel cyclecar. His main company was A.W. Wall Ltd, but he created several other companies to compartmentalise his different activities, such as the Roc Gear Co, who supplied epicyclic gears to a significant number of manufacturers before WW1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oldsmobile Series 40</span> Car model

The Series 40 Defender was a four-seat passenger car produced by General Motors for its Oldsmobile division in 1912 and 1913, and was manufactured at Lansing Car Assembly in Lansing, Michigan. It continued to be the entry-level model for Oldsmobile, while Oakland Motor Car Company remained GM's entry level brand as Chevrolet didn't join GM until 1917. The Series 40 was the base model of three platforms sharing a platform with the Buick Model 10, with the mid-range Series 28 Autocrat, and the top level Series 23 Limited.

References

  1. 1 2 Georgano, N. (2000). Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. London: HMSO. ISBN   1-57958-293-1.
  2. The D'Ultra Cycle Car, The Motor Cycle, 17th Sept, 1914, p347
  3. 1 2 Grace's Guide. 1913-1917 Motor, Marine and Aircraft Red Book: Cars. Facsimile of original page 48, Berkeley.
  4. "The building of a cycle car", The Model Engineer, Vol XL, No 939 pp317-324, and No 940 pp342-347
  5. Baldwin, N. (1994). A-Z of Cars of the 1920s. Devon, UK: Bay View Books. ISBN   1-870979-53-2.