Rollo (cyclecar)

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Rollo Sociable (1913) MHV Rollo 1913.jpg
Rollo Sociable (1913)

The Rollo Car Co. was an English maker of cyclecars [1] based in 140 Conybere Street, Birmingham and active between 1911 and 1913.

Cyclecar tiny car designs briefly popular in the 1910s–20s

A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car.

Birmingham City in the English Midlands, 2nd highest population of UK cities

Birmingham is the second-most populous city in the United Kingdom, after London, and the most populous city in the English Midlands. With an estimated population of 1,137,100 as of 2017, Birmingham is the cultural, social, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands. It is the main centre of the West Midlands conurbation, which is the third most populated urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population in 2011 of 2,440,986. The wider Birmingham metropolitan area is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a population of over 3.7 million. Birmingham is frequently referred to as the United Kingdom's "second city".

Contents

For 1913 three models were offered by the company. The 4 12 hp named the Pony had a single-cylinder 549 cc air-cooled engine made by Precision and had a single seat. The weight was 336 lb (152 kg), [1] and in 1913 it cost 70 guineas. There were two variations of the larger car with V twin 964 cc 8 hp JAP engine air-cooled engine. One was the Rollo Tandem, with fore-and-aft seating with the driver in the rear seat, priced at 95 and 100 guineas in 1913 according to options, and 'for those who prefer to sit side by side' there was the Rollo Sociable, priced in 1913 at 100 guineas. [2] All three cars had belt drive.

JA Prestwich Industries, was an English manufacturing company named after founder John Alfred Prestwich, which was formed in 1951 by the amalgamation of J.A.Prestwich and Company Limited and Pencils Ltd.

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The guinea was a coin of approximately one quarter ounce of gold that was minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, where much of the gold used to make the coins originated. It was the first English machine-struck gold coin, originally worth one pound sterling, equal to twenty shillings, but rises in the price of gold relative to silver caused the value of the guinea to increase, at times to as high as thirty shillings. From 1717 to 1816, its value was officially fixed at twenty-one shillings.

No cars were made after 1913 and the company was formally wound up in 1915.

Models

ModelDatescylindercapacity
4½ hp1911–19131549 cc
8 hp1911–19132 V964 cc

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Georgano, N. (2000). Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. London: HMSO. ISBN   1-57958-293-1.
  2. 1913 Advert for Rollo cars