 Quadrant 1903 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motorcycle |
| Founded | 1901 |
| Founder | Walter and William Lloyd |
| Defunct | 1928 |
| Fate | Wound up |
| Headquarters | , England |
Key people | Walter and William Lloyd |
Quadrant was one of the earliest British motorcycle manufacturers, established in Birmingham in 1901. Famous for their big singles, Quadrant pioneered many innovations that proved important for motorcycle development but struggled after the First World War and the company was wound up in 1928. [1]
Founded by Walter and William Lloyd in 1883 as a company to make bicycles and tricycles, Quadrant developed some of the first motorcycles in 1901. [1] The first Quadrant motorcycle was fitted with the then very popular Minerva "clip-on" engine. They also made powered tricycles in 1902. Walter took out a patent in 1902 for an 'all-in-one' control lever to raise the exhaust valve, control the ignition switch and operate the throttle and the ignition advance.
By 1902 the Quadrant Cycle Co was making their own engines, their advert [2] claiming "The engine and carburettor throughout, as also the bicycle, are made in our own Works". These were ahead of their time as the engines were not just fixed on to a bicycle frame. Instead, the frame was purpose-built to properly hold the engine, and the Quadrant motorcycles also pioneered a suction inlet valve, hand oil pump and direct drive, contact breaker ignition replacing trembler ignition in 1902, as well as a spray carburetor in 1904 and magneto ignition in 1907. [1] A famous long-distance motorcycle rider called Tom Silver was contracted by the company and gained them a lot of publicity through his success on Quadrant motorcycles in long-distance events and in 1907 he became the managing director. The arrangement was not a success, however, and the company collapsed from internal disputes in 1907, with Silver leaving to form Silver Motors.
A new company, Quadrant Motor Co Ltd, was formed in 1907 after Walter Lloyd bought Quadrant. In September 1907 they announced their new Quadrant motorcycle with a 3.5 hp single-cylinder engine with automatic inlet valve. [3] The bore and stroke were 81mm by 88mm, the same as the 1906-1907 Quadrants, but with detailed changes. Tom Silver returned in 1909 but once again Silver was not able to get on with the new owner and left to build motorcycles under his own name. In 1911 Quadrant produced several models, including a 1129 cc V-twin and a 600 cc single.
Production was halted during the First World War as the factory switched to the manufacture of aeroplane engine parts. [4] In an article in 1916 they outlined that they planned for their post-war models to benefit from the aeroplane engine experience with lighter cylinders and alloy pistons. [4] Although engaged in war work they did some development on future models, and in 1916 showed a 3.5 hp "After the War" model (smaller than their normal machines with 85mm bore and 88mm stroke). [5] This was fitted with a patented paraffin vaporiser to allow it to run on paraffin after starting on petrol (petrol being in short supply).
After the war the 1916 small capacity model did not appear, but instead they produced a range of 654 cc and 780 cc single-cylinder motorcycles, for which they became well known. However at the Olympia Motor Cycle show of 1919 they showed a 292 cc two-stroke scooter with a step-through frame and the compact engine assembly sited under the seat. [6] This did not feature in subsequent adverts, so was presumably a prototype. In 1921 a 565cc model was available following the same general design as its predecessors. It had a three-speed Sturmey-Archer countershaft gearbox with kick-start, rear chain (as opposed to belt), Druid forks, and Amac or Senspray carburettor.
There were further company changes and by December 1921 adverts for the Quadrant motorcycle listed the company name as March, Newark and Co Ltd, Quadrant Works, Birmingham. [7] In 1922 Quadrant's London agent Clifford Wilson entered the International Six Days trial on his 654cc Quadrant, he got a gold medal, and best in class. [8] Introduced in 1922 was a side valve 490cc single (bore 70mm, stroke 100mm), earlier models having a side exhaust, and rear inlet valve. In 1924 two models were offered, the 490 cc side-valve and a hefty 624 cc side-valve with bore and stroke of 85x110. The Quadrant range included outdated side-valve motorcycles, updated in 1927 with the launch of a 490 cc overhead-valve model, but it did not sell well and the company was wound up in 1928. [1]
Velocette is a line of motorcycles made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling almost as many hand-built motorcycles during its lifetime, as the mass-produced machines of the giant BSA and Norton concerns. Renowned for the quality of its products, the company was "always in the picture" in international motorcycle racing from the mid-1920s until the 1950s, culminating in two World Championship titles and its legendary and still-unbeaten 24 hours at over 100 mph (161 km/h) record. Veloce, while small, was a great technical innovator and many of its patented designs are commonplace on motorcycles today, including the positive-stop foot shift and swinging arm rear suspension with hydraulic dampers. The business suffered a gradual commercial decline during the late 1960s, eventually closing in February 1971.
The Scott Motorcycle Company was owned by Scott Motors (Saltaire) Limited, Saltaire, West Yorkshire, England and was a well-known producer of motorcycles and light engines for industry. Founded by Alfred Angas Scott in 1908 as the Scott Engineering Company in Bradford, Yorkshire, Scott motorcycles were produced until 1978.
Initially started in a rented workshop, Alfred moved the business to Hirstwood Works, Hirstwood Road, Saltaire. This building is still standing and has industrial use.
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.
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins. Matchless had a long history of racing success; a Matchless ridden by Charlie Collier won the first single-cylinder race in the first Isle of Man TT in 1907.
The New Hudson Cycle Co. was originally started in 1890 by George Patterson, and manufactured 'safety' bicycles in Birmingham. In 1903 they produced their first motorcycle, but times became tough for Patterson after one of his sons died in WW1 and the other lost a leg. The family sold the factory to HJ Bructon after WW1, and in 1920 the company was reformed as New Hudson Ltd.
Villiers Engineering was a manufacturer of motorcycles and cycle parts, and an engineering company based in Villiers Street, Wolverhampton, England.
Ariel Motorcycles was a British maker of bicycles and then motorcycles in Bournbrook, Birmingham. It was an innovator in British motorcycling, part of the Ariel marque. The company was sold to BSA in 1951 but the brand survived until 1967. Influential Ariel designers included Val Page and Edward Turner. The last motorcycle-type vehicle to carry the Ariel name was a short-lived three-wheel tilting moped in 1970.
The Sheppee was an English steam automobile manufactured in York by the Sheppee Motor Company run by Colonel Francis Henry Sheppee, son of Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Faulkener Sheppee. After long service with the army in India, Colonel F.H. Sheppee created the Sheppee Motor Company in Thomas Street, York around 1902. The firm mainly made steam-driven commercial vehicles but in 1912 at least two passenger cars were made with 25 hp engines and flash boilers. In 1913, they announced they had got a site on the Birmingham Road near Worcester where they would build a new factory for production of their 3-ton steam wagons.
Douglas was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1907 to 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.
Rex, Rex Motorcycles, Rex-Acme, was a car and motorcycle company which began in Birmingham, England in 1900. Rex soon merged with a Coventry maker of bicycles and cars named Allard and then later in 1922 the company merged with Coventry's 'Acme' motorcycle company forming 'Rex Acme'. The company existed until 1933, and, in its heyday, was considered one of the greatest names in the British motorcycle industry.
Victoria was a bicycle manufacturer in Nürnberg, Germany that made motorcycles from about 1901 until 1966. It should not be confused with a lesser-known, unrelated Victoria Motorcycle Company in Glasgow, Scotland that made motorcycles between 1902 and 1928.
Humber Limited was a pioneering British motorcycle manufacturer. Humber produced the first practical motorcycle made in Britain by fitting one of their Humber bicycles with an E. J. Pennington two-horsepower motor in 1896.
Fafnir was a German engine and vehicle manufacturer based in Aachen (Prussia). They made a range of cars between 1908 and 1926.
The Advance Motor Manufacturing Company was a British motorcycle and engine manufacturer established in 1905. As well as supplying aircraft engines to the pioneering monoplane developers, Advance engines were also used by Captain Robert Scott to power Antarctic snow sleds. After the end of the Second World War the company was sold to Sheepbridge Engineering and became a motor supplies organisation.
Bradbury Motor Cycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer based in Oldham, England and established in 1902. Originally involved in the manufacture of machine tools, sewing machines and cycles, their first motorcycles were bicycles with clip-on Minerva engines. The Bradbury factory went on to develop and produce a range of single-cylinder motorcycle, V-twins and horizontally opposed twins. The 1912 Bradbury motorcycles were one of the earliest with variable gearing. Although the factory survived the First World War it closed in 1924.
The De Dion-Bouton tricycle was the most successful motor vehicle in Europe from 1897 until 1901. With about 15,000 copies sold, the de-Dion-Bouton motor tricycle scored the first breakthrough for the distribution of motor vehicles. In particular the fast-running de Dion-Bouton engine set new standards for vehicular motors, and is regarded as the precursor of all motorcycle engines.
Hazlewoods Limited of Coventry were manufacturers of bicycles from 1895, and motorcycles from 1911 until closure c. 1923. They were typical many British companies who proceeded from bicycle manufacture to motorised bicycles, a change made possible by engine and geared hub suppliers.
Stuart Turner Ltd is a British engineering company, based in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, founded by engineer Sidney Marmaduke Stuart Turner in 1906.
Bridgestone motorcycles were a division of the Bridgestone Tire Co. of Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Japan that produced mopeds and motorcycles from 1952 to 1970. Initially producing power assisted bicycles, the division moved on to producing mopeds and then motorcycles. The motorcycles were technologically advanced and powered by two-stroke engines. The high technical specification resulted in the machines being more expensive compared to other manufacturers models. Production was stopped in 1970 to protect the supply of tyres to other manufacturers.
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.
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