Madelvic Motor Carriage Company

Last updated

Madelvic Motor Carriage Company
Madelvic Motor Carriage Company
General information
Address37 Granton Park Avenue, Granton
Town or city Edinburgh
CountryScotland
Coordinates 55°58′50″N3°13′58″W / 55.980446°N 3.232809°W / 55.980446; -3.232809
Grid reference NT2317277071
Opened1899
Owner Scottish Government
Listed Building – Category B
Official name37 Granton Park Avenue, Former Madelvic Works, Office, Production Block, and Generating Block only
Designated16 September 1998
Reference no. LB45654

The Madelvic Motor Carriage Company of Granton, Scotland was an early car manufacturing company.

Contents

History

The company was founded by William Peck, Edinburgh's City Astronomer, to develop the emerging technology of electricity. Madelvic produced an 'electric brougham' at their factory in Granton, north Edinburgh, between 1898 and 1900. The vehicle was driven by a three-wheeled front axle unit, comprising motor, batteries and a small central wheel, set behind the axle, which propelled the car. This unit was mounted to the front of a chassis, creating a five-wheeled vehicle, but could also be attached to a horse-drawn carriage. Peck offered public transport using the car, between Granton and Leith as publicity. A more conventional front wheel drive electric vehicle was also briefly produced. However, electric cars were not to be the future, and Madelvic went bankrupt, being taken over by the Kingsburgh Motor Company in 1900.

The original factory building still stands in Granton, and is currently being renovated for residential and office use. It is the oldest surviving car factory in Britain. After Madelvic ceased production, cars were built here by Kingsburgh, and then by the Stirlings Motor Carriages Ltd, who also built buses on the site, exporting some to Australia. In 1925 the buildings were bought by United Wire, and used by them until 2001.

In 2001, the buildings were purchased by the development company Waterfront Edinburgh Limited, a joint venture between City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise. Buredi, a joint venture between The Burrell Company and the City of Edinburgh Council, had hoped to redevelop the factory to create a range of residential apartments, townhouses and commercial office space. The renovation was designed by Malcolm Fraser Architects. The building is on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. [1] In July 2024, the Lar Housing Trust submitted plans for the conversion of the production block into 28 townhouses. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AC Cars</span> British specialist automobile manufacturer

AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. As a result of bad financial conditions over the years, the company was renamed or liquidated many times until its latest form. In 2022, the new corporate structure began the production of new AC Cobra models, with a slightly modified structure to adapt it to modern safety and technology requirements and obtain the European road homologation certificate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four-wheel drive</span> Type of drivetrain with four driven wheels

A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case providing an additional output drive shaft and, in many instances, additional gear ranges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrol-Johnston</span>

Arrol-Johnston was an early Scottish manufacturer of automobiles, which operated from 1895 to 1931 and produced the first automobile manufactured in Britain. The company also developed the world's first "off-road" vehicle for the Egyptian government, and another designed to travel on ice and snow for Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole.

Brush Traction was a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England whose operations have now been merged into the Wabtec company's Doncaster UK operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Dion-Bouton</span> French automobile company

De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer, which operated from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Bouton's brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux.

The Wayne Corporation was an American manufacturer of buses and other vehicles under the "Wayne" marque. The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, Indiana, in Wayne County, Indiana. During the middle 20th century, Wayne served as a leading producer of school buses in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citicar</span> 1974 electric car

The CitiCar is a car produced from 1974 to 1977 by Sebring, Florida–based Sebring-Vanguard, Inc. After being bought out by Commuter Vehicles, Inc, Sebring-Vanguard produced the similar Comuta-Car and Comuta-Van from 1979 to 1982. Similarities to its exterior design can be spotted in the Danish Kewet and the later Norwegian Buddy electric car. Accounting for all CitiCar variants, a total of 4,444 units were produced up to 1979, the most since 1945 for an electric car assembled in North America until surpassed in 2011 by the Nissan Leaf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thornycroft</span> English vehicle manufacturer

Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albion Motors</span> Former Scottish vehicle manufacturer

Albion Motors was a Scottish automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer.

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

Guy Motors was a Wolverhampton-based vehicle manufacturer that produced cars, lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company was founded by Sydney S. Guy (1885–1971) who was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham. Guy Motors operated out of its Fallings Park factory from 1914 to 1982, playing an important role in the development of the British motor industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granton, Edinburgh</span> Edinburgh suburb

Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme.

Pilton is a residential area of northern Edinburgh, Scotland. It is to the north of Ferry Road, immediately east of Muirhouse, and to the west and south of Granton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maudslay Motor Company</span> British automobile manufacturer

The Maudslay Motor Company was a British vehicle maker based in Coventry. It was founded in 1901 and continued until 1948 when it was taken over by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and along with Crossley Motors the new group was renamed Associated Commercial Vehicles (ACV) Ltd.

Headland Archaeology Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the RSK Group. Headland provides archaeological services and heritage advice to the construction industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durant-Dort Carriage Company</span> Manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles

Durant-Dort Carriage Company was a manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in Flint, Michigan. Founded in 1886, by 1900 it was the largest carriage manufacturer in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clément-Panhard</span> Motor vehicle

Clément-Panhard is an automobile designed in 1898 by Arthur Constantin Krebs, manager of Panhard & Levassor co, from his 1896 patent of a car fitted with an electromagnetic gearbox, whose licence was acquired by Émile Levassor.

Events from the year 1898 in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tver Carriage Works</span> Rail vehicle manufacturer in Tver, Russia

Tver Carriage Works is a rolling stock manufacturer located in Tver, Russia. The company is part of Transmashholding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbeam Commercial Vehicles</span>

Sunbeam Commercial Vehicles was a commercial vehicle manufacturing offshoot of the Wolverhampton based Sunbeam Motor Car Company when it was a subsidiary of S T D Motors Limited. Sunbeam had always made ambulances on modified Sunbeam car chassis. S T D Motors chose to enter the large commercial vehicle market in the late 1920s, and once established they made petrol and diesel buses and electrically powered trolleybuses and milk floats. Commercial Vehicles became a separate department of Sunbeam in 1931.

References

  1. "Madelvic Car Factory (Former)". Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland . Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  2. Gourlay, Kris (23 July 2024). "Plans for abandoned Edinburgh car factory to be turned into dozens of townhouses". Edinburgh Live . Retrieved 23 July 2024.