Many vehicles produced by Victor Electrics were classified by their payload, which was measured in hundredweights, and this usage has been retained in the article. A hundredweight is one twentieth of a long ton or 51kg, and is abbreviated to "cwt".
Victor Electrics Ltd was a British manufacturer of milk floats and other battery electric road vehicles. The company was formed in 1923 by Outram's Bakery in Southport, Merseyside, to make bread vans for their own use, but they soon diversified into other markets, including the Dairy industry. Their first vehicles had bonnets, like conventional vans, which stored the batteries, but by 1935 all of their vehicles were forward control models, with the cab at the front. They were acquired by Brook Motors in 1967, and became part of the Hawker Siddeley group in 1970. They made a small number of railway locomotives during this latter period.
History
Outram's was a large bakery based in Southport, Merseyside, England. In the early 1920s they ran a fleet of steam lorries, petrol vans and horses and carts, which were used to deliver bakery products both nationwide and locally. They wanted to buy some electric vehicles to replace some of the horses, but found that both home-produced and imported vehicles were considerably more expensive than they were prepared to pay. They were looking for something that was comparable in price to their Ford vans, and so formed Victor Electrics Ltd., appointing one of their directors, H N Outram, as its joint managing director. Their first electric van was finished in 1923, and they built several more. They proved to be successful, and in 1927, they investigated the possibility of allowing another company, already involved in the manufacture of electric road vehicles, to take over the enterprise. Victor Electrics was initially located on Lord Street, Southport.[1]
The vehicles sold for £150, which included the battery, and were slightly larger than the Ford 1-ton vans which the bakery also ran. They could carry 800 tin loaves. The vehicles looked like a conventional van, with the batteries placed under a bonnet at the front. The chassis was constructed of wood, strengthened with some steel channel, and Ford components were used for the steering gear and rear axle, although the final gearing was modified to give a lower ratio. The motor was mounted in the centre of the vehicle, and drove the rear axle through a propellor shaft and overhead worm drive. Power at 48 volts was provided by a 24-cell battery supplied by D P Kathanode, rated at 143 Amp-hours. Control was through a 4-stage series-parallel controller with starting resistances, and some electric braking was provided by using the resistances. The weight of the vehicle was around 17 cwt, with the battery weighing an additional 5 to 6 cwt.[1]
By 1929, Victor were making three models of bonnetted van, all with similar basic dimensions, but differing in the length of the rear storage area. They were 5feet 4inches (1.63m) wide, with a wheelbase of 10 feet (3.0m). The Model A was designed for a 20 cwt payload, and formed the basis for a number of vans supplied to the General Post Office in 1929. It came with a 3hp (2.2kW) motor running at 48 volts. The Model B had a larger 4.75hp (3.54kW) motor running at 40 volts, and was supplied with a 192 Amp-hour battery as standard, but extra batteries could be fitted at the rear of the vehicle, which carried 23 cwt. The Model C was the largest, with a 6hp (4.5kW) motor running at 80 volts. The batteries under the bonnet were supplemented by others which were either mounted under the driver's seat, or at the rear. The payload was 30 cwt.[2]
In 1931 they introduced a 27 cwt vehicle designed for the Dairy industry, with forward control and a walk-through cab having no doors. The 40-cell, 168 Ahr battery, manufactured by D P Kathanode, was located over the front axle, and supplied current to a Metro-Vick motor. The vehicle was designed to be driven while standing up, with the controls only enabled when the driver was standing on a spring-loaded floor button. The controls were also interlocked with the hand brake.[3]
Victor switched to forward control models, rather than bonneted models in 1935, with the introduction of the B10, available for 15 cwt, 10 cwt or 6 cwt payloads, the B20, for 25 cwt, 20 cwt or 15 cwt payloads, and the B30, for 40 cwt, 30 cwt or 20 cwt payloads. In each range, the lower payloads gave a corresponding increase in the top speed and range. By this time, the company had moved to Burscough Bridge, Ormskirk.[4]
Victor extended their range of a 25 cwt and a 2-ton vehicle by the addition of a 12 cwt model in 1936. All of their vehicles were designed to have a top speed of 20mph. The electric motor was mounted just behind the front wheels, and drove the rear wheels through a propellor shaft and bevel rear axle. The front wheels were fitted with independent suspension, to reduce pitching, and the buyer could specify whether they wanted steering to be by a tiller or a wheel.[5]
In 1945 Victor announced that it had developed a battery-electric vehicle which did not need a separate charger, but could be plugged into any standard heater plug. This principle had been tried to good effect in Europe. Other innovations included the concept of a standard battery, which could be fitted to eight different vehicles with payloads ranging from 10 cwt to 80 cwt. A single battery would be fitted to the smallest vehicle, and four to the largest. They also announced a scheme by which batteries could be hired, rather than bought outright.[6]
Acquisition
The only extant Victor milk float is awaiting restoration at the Wythall Transport Museum
Victor Electrics set up a company called Ross Auto Engineering in 1949, who were also based in Southport,[7] and who produced battery electric road vehicles in their own right. However, Victor carried on producing their own models as well.
In 1967, the company was acquired by Brook Motors, who had been manufacturing electric motors since 1904. The joint enterprise was known as Brook Victor Electric Vehicles. It had a full order book in 1968 and won the Queen's Award to Industry on the strength of its export performance. Brook Victor was itself acquired by Hawker Siddeley in 1970, and in 1973 it became Brook Crompton Parkinson Motors.[8]
There is only one Victor milk float known to still exist. It is a B20 model dating from around 1955, and was originally supplied to the Lavender Farm Daily in Hordle, Hampshire. It was rescued from a scrapyard by an enthusiast in Blandford, Dorset, and when he sold his collection, it moved to The Transport Museum, Wythall, to the south of Birmingham, where it is currently awaiting restoration.[12]
A Brook Victor platform truck is known to exist in a private site in Derbyshire. It originally worked at Terry's chocolate factory in York. It is believed to be a rebuild of an earlier truck, possibly dating from the 1940s.[citation needed]
Bibliography
Ward, Rod (2008). Electric Vehicles. Auto Review. Zeteo Publishing. ISBN978-1-900482-41-7.
Related Research Articles
A milk float is a vehicle specifically designed for the delivery of fresh milk. Today, milk floats are usually battery electric vehicles (BEV), but they were formerly horse-drawn floats. They were once common in many European countries, particularly the United Kingdom, and were operated by local dairies. However, in recent years, as the number of supermarkets, small independent grocers and petrol stations, and convenience stores stocking fresh milk has increased, many people have switched from regular home delivery to obtaining fresh milk from these other sources.
Burscough is a town and civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately 13.5 miles (21.7 km) north-northeast of Liverpool and 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Preston. Its northern part is called Burscough Bridge, and was originally a separate settlement.
Tilling-Stevens was a British manufacturer of buses and other commercial vehicles, based in Maidstone, Kent. Originally established in 1897, it became a specialist in petrol-electric vehicles. It continued as an independent manufacturer until 1950, when it was acquired by the Rootes Group.
The Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle (CUCV) is a vehicle program instituted to provide the United States military with light utility vehicles based on civilian trucks.
The Ford Thames 400E is a commercial vehicle that was made by Ford UK and introduced in 1957. Production of the range continued until September 1965, by which time a total of 187,000 had been built. Publicity for the model included hiring the Cy Laurie band to make the promotional film short 'Band Wagon', in 1958, preserved in the 'Ford Film and Video Collection' at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu
The Bedford CA was a distinctive pug-nosed light commercial vehicle produced between 1952 and 1969 by Bedford in Luton, England.
Wales & Edwards was a British manufacturer of milk floats based in Harlescott, Shrewsbury. They were particularly well known for their three wheelers. It was one of the oldest milk float manufacturers lasting from the early 1940s to the early 1990s. In 1989, the company was acquired by Smith Electric Vehicles. Major customers included United Dairies and in the early years, Express Dairies. The basic design evolved throughout W&E's existence before finally ending its days as the Rangemaster.
The Bedford CF is a range of full-size panel vans produced by Bedford. The van was introduced in 1969 to replace the CA model, and was sized to compete directly with the Ford Transit, which had entered production four years earlier. Its design was similar to its American counterpart, the Chevrolet Van (1971–1995).
Morrison-Electricar was a British manufacturer of milk floats and other battery electric road vehicles (BERV). Their first vehicle was built for a bakery in 1933, and the company ceased to exist when it was finally sold to M & M Electric Vehicles in 1983.
Harbilt Electrics Trucks was a British manufacturer of milk floats, other battery electric road vehicles and a variety of battery electric vehicles designed for industrial use rather than on the public roads. The company was formed in 1935 in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, and diversified into electric vehicles after the end of the Second World War. They had a good record at exporting their products, with notable successes in Switzerland and California. There were several changes of ownership during the 1970s and 1980s, and the company ceased to exist in 1989.
Graiseley Electric Vehicles were produced by the British company Diamond Motors Ltd of Wolverhampton. They had previously made motor cycles, but began producing battery-electric road vehicles (BERV) in the mid 1930s. They were best known for their three-wheeled pedestrian controlled vehicles, although they also produced conventional four-wheeled milk floats, and later manufactured industrial trucks. The company went into liquidation in the early 1960s, although the marque was used by two other companies until at least 1972.
Manulectric was a British marque of milk floats and other battery electric road vehicles. The vehicles were made by Sidney Holes Electric Vehicles, of Brighton, Sussex. They were designed out of Holes' experience of doorstep milk delivery, through Holes and Davigdor Dairies. Both pedestrian controlled vehicles (PCVs) and ride-on models were produced, and entered the market around 1947. The company was bought by Stanley Engineering in the 1960s, and sold to Crompton Electricars in 1972. Some Manulectric models were subsequently manufactured by Harbilt Electric Trucks. At least four Manulectric vehicles have survived, and are privately preserved.
Lewis Electruk was a British marque of milk floats, produced by T H Lewis Ltd, a company which had close ties with Express Dairies, the London-based retail milk company. They made pedestrian controlled vehicles (PCVs) and ride-on vehicles between 1934 and 1961. The manufacturing of battery electric road vehicles was then sold on to Morrison-Electricar who continued to build two Electruk models for the dairy industry. Major purchasers of their products included Express Dairies and the London Co-operative Society.
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.
Midland Electric Vehicles was a British manufacturer of milk floats and other battery electric road vehicles between 1936 and 1958. They were based in Leamington Spa, and one of their major customers was Midland Counties Dairies, to whom they supplied just the chassis, with bodywork being built by the customer. At least two of their vehicles survive in museums.
Helecs was a marque of British battery-electric road vehicles, produced initially by the electrical engineers Hindle Smart Co Ltd of Ardwick, Manchester from 1948 onwards. One of their first vehicles was a collaboration with Jensen Motors for a tractor unit, used primarily for railway deliveries, and they then produced a number of vehicles which were aimed at the dairy industry and bodied as milk floats for retail milk delivery. They had some success with exports to Canada, and two independent companies bearing the Helecs Vehicles name were set up, in 1952 and 1955. All of the companies became insolvent in 1956. One of the vehicles for which they built the chassis is on public display at The Transport Museum, Wythall.
Partridge Wilson Engineering was a company established in Leicester, England in 1926. It initially made radios, and then battery chargers. In 1934 it began to build battery electric road vehicles, producing both cars and milk floats, which were marketed under the Wilson Electric marque. Vehicle production ceased in 1954, but it continued to make chargers and rectifiers. In 1974, it became part of Westinghouse Davenset Rectifiers Ltd, owned by Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company and in 1986 the Leicester site was closed, with manufacturing transferring to Chippenham. At least two of the commercial vehicles and three of the cars have been preserved.
Tomlinson Electric Vehicles was a British manufacturer of milk floats and other battery electric road vehicles, which also supplied vehicles to the Benelux countries. The company was formed in the mid-1930s. In 1949 they were taken over by King's Motors of Oxford, but the Tomlinson name was retained. They made a battery-electric railway locomotive in 1958, and hoped to diversify into this market, but were the subject of a hostile takeover by an asset stripping company in 1961, after which vehicle production ceased.
Ross Auto Engineering was a British manufacturer of milk floats and other battery electric road vehicles. The company was formed in 1949 by Victor Electrics, another manufacturer of milk floats. In 1955 they took over the production of Helecs battery electric road vehicles, and also introduced their own models. With the rapid demise of home milk deliveries, production of vehicles ceased in the 1980s, by which time the company had diversified into mobility services, and began trading as Ross Care.
MetroVick electric vehicles were a range of battery electric road vehicles produced by the heavy engineering company Metropolitan-Vickers between 1934 and 1944. The company was renamed Metropolitan-Vickers in 1919, and entered the electric vehicle market in 1934, when they bought up the General Vehicle Company of Birmingham. They inherited the designs for the Gordon range of models, and continued to service and supply parts for the G.V. Electric vehicles. Their main sales seem to have been of light vans and dairy vehicles, in three sizes, which they promoted through a series of exhibitions. During the Second World War, they experienced difficulties in obtaining raw materials, and the number of vehicles that could be built was severely restricted by quotas. Production of the range ceased entirely in 1944, and when hostilities ceased, they sold the electric vehicle business to Brush in 1945.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
