48-444: Coventry Climax was a British manufacturer of forklift trucks , fire pumps, racing engines, and other speciality engines. The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer , but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry , and renamed as Coventry-Simplex by H. Pelham Lee , a former Daimler employee, who saw a need for competition in the nascent piston engine market. An early user
96-490: A Coventry Climax 10.8 hp 4-cylinder engine, the same horsepower rating as the 66 mm bore F type. The engines were available either separate or in unit construction with a three speed gearbox. Also displayed at the 1923 Olympia Motor Show was a 1,005 cc twin cylinder 2-stroke engine. The bore was 80 mm and the stroke 85 mm. The main engine of interest at the 1923 show was the new 6-cylinder 1,753 cc CX engine. This had 61 mm bore and 100 mm stroke, and
144-547: A bore of 2.85 inches and a stroke of 2.625 inches, it produced 71 hp (53 kW) and was first used at Le Mans in 1954 by Kieft Cars . After the FWA was introduced, the FW was renamed to FWP (Pump). The larger bore (3 inches) and longer stroke (3.15 inches) 1,460 cc FWB engine followed; it retained the FWA head but had a forged steel crank and produced a nominal 108 bhp (81 kW). The most significant of
192-596: A dry sump system. Carburetion was by two twin-choke Weber DCO side-draft carburettors. It started life as a 1,475 cc Formula Two engine by enlarging the 2.95 in bore of the FPE to 3.2 in with the slightly increased 2.8 in (71 mm) stroke, and was gradually enlarged for use in Formula One . A 1,964 cc (3.4" x 3.3") version took Stirling Moss and Maurice Trintignant to Cooper 's first two Grand Prix victories against 2.5 L opposition in 1958. After
240-494: A major shareholder of Lansing Bagnall at the time, formed the company, independent of his other interests for the purpose of acquiring Coventry Climax. In 1986 Coventry Climax went into receivership and was acquired by Cronin Tubular . In 1990, a further change of ownership came with the engine business being sold to Horstman Defence Systems of Bath, Somerset , thus breaking the link with Coventry. Kalmar Industries acquired
288-617: A new engine for the three-litre formula. The company was purchased by Jaguar Cars in 1963, which itself merged with the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1966 to form British Motor Holdings (BMH). In May 1964, the Royal Automobile Club presented the Dewar Trophy , which is given at the recommendation of RAC's Technical and Engineering Committee for the most outstanding British achievement in
336-784: A new group called BL Commercial Vehicles (BLCV) under managing director David Abell . In the early 1970s, the fire pump business was sold back into private ownership, and the Godiva Fire Pumps company was formed in Warwick . In 1977 Coventry Climax acquired the Warrington forklift truck business of Rubery Owen Conveyancer , renaming it Climax Conveyancer . In 1982 BL sold off the Coventry Climax forklift truck business back into private ownership to Coventry Climax Holdings Limited. Sir Emmanuel Kaye , also chairman and
384-502: A race-winning, works Maserati F1 engine he had on loan into Coventry Climax, where it produced 225 bhp running on the same dynamometer upon which the FPE had made 264 bhp after some development. Ultimately, development on the engine was abandoned in favour of focusing on the FPF engine, which was already proven competitive in 1.5L form with side-draft Weber carburetors in the F2 races, and
432-463: A separate division of the company for the fire pumps. While the motor car engine business suffered during the recession, the mobile fire pump division of Coventry Climax became a great success, particularly during the late 1930s and this continued during the war. Another diversification was into commercial vehicle engines. This started in 1929 with the launch of a large (5.8 litre) six-cylinder side-valve petrol engine intended for buses and trucks, and
480-470: A short-stroke (1.78 inches) steel crank version of the FWA named the 744 cc FWC, as used by Dan Gurney early in his career in US club racing. The objective of this engine was for Lotus to campaign for the 750 cc Le Mans Index of Performance prize in 1957, three engines were made for this purpose, and it won the prize in a Lotus Eleven driven by Cliff Allison and Keith Hall. Lotus also campaigned
528-415: A stock of engines that were converted to drive electric generators, a field in which they had experience from building WW1 searchlight generators. They also started to make engine driven pumps, and mounted on a trailer as a mobile fire fighting appliance this was to be a great success. The economic problems of the 1930s hit the business hard, and Leonard Pelham Lee , who had taken over from his father, created
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#1732779753753576-488: Is quoted as producing more than 300 bhp , and a corporate decision was made not to release FPE to Kieft in light of the lack of proper fuel injection, leaving the Kieft F1 project, as well as other prospective users, HWM and Connaught , high and dry. There were reports to the effect that the engine was not run because of fears about the rumoured power of other 2.5L GP engines, but shortly after, John Cooper brought
624-761: The Tasman Formula and the Australian National Formula , both of which had a maximum engine capacity of 2.5 litres. Notes: Forklift truck Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 215069521 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:42:33 GMT Godiva Fire Pumps Too Many Requests If you report this error to
672-715: The 1935 Gilford Motors CF176 coach. Going into the war, Coventry Climax used their marine diesel experience to further develop and build the Armstrong Whitworth supercharged H30 multifuel engine for military use. This has been fitted as an auxiliary engine in the British Chieftain and Challenger battle tanks and Rapier anti-aircraft missile systems. In the late 1940s, the company shifted away from automobile engines and into other markets, including marine diesels, and forklift trucks – plus continuing to make their very successful fire pumps . In 1946,
720-457: The ET199 forklift was announced, which the company claimed was the first British-produced forklift truck. The ET199 was designed to carry a 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) load with a 24-inch (610 mm) load centre, and with a 9 ft (2.7 m) lift height. In 1950, Harry Mundy joined Coventry Climax, and a new lightweight all-aluminium overhead camshaft engine was developed in response to
768-518: The FPE during the 10 years, and the car, one spare chassis, and the FPE parts were sold in a lot at Bonhams Chichester auction on 15 September 2012 for £185,000. The FPF was a double overhead cam all-aluminium four-cylinder that was essentially half of the above FPE V8 engine, which was designed as a pure racing engine from the outset. Designed in 1955 and becoming available in 1956, it had gear-driven camshafts, steel alloy cylinder sleeves, and individual oil scavenge as well as pressure feed pumps for
816-460: The FPF engine followed. Stirling Moss scored the company's first Formula One victory in Argentina in 1958, using a 2-litre version of the engine. In general terms, however, the engines were not powerful enough to compete with the 2.5-litre machinery, and it was not until the 2.5-litre version of the FPF arrived in 1959 that Jack Brabham was able to win the world championship in a Cooper-Climax. At
864-609: The FW together. The following design aspects are credited to these two people, except the last two items, in which Peter Windsor Smith played a considerable role in place of Mundy, who left the firm in 1955 and returned in 1963. At the Olympia Motor Show in 1923, Coventry Climax listed four F-type 4-cylinder water cooled engines. All had 100 mm stroke, and the bores were 59 (1,094 cc displacement), 63 (1,247 cc), 66 (1,368 cc) and 69 mm (1,496 cc). The GWK car had featured in Coventry Climax adverts from late 1920 with
912-647: The FWC at Le Mans in 1958. The FWE powered Lotus Elites won their class six times and the Index of Thermal Efficiency once during the 24 Hours of Le Mans . The FW series engines in modified forms also powered Lotus Eleven cars which took three class wins at Le Mans and one Index of Performance win. In 1966–67, Fisher-Pierce of America imported an 85 hp version of the FWB with twin-carburetors to be mounted vertically in their outboard marine unit. This boat engine came out to
960-720: The First World War to be used in generating sets for searchlights . In 1919, Pelham Lee acquired an existing company, Johnson & Smith Ltd, and changed its name to Coventry Climax Engines Ltd with premises at East Street, Coventry. [Board of Trade Certificate, Herbert Collection, Coventry] (Coventry Simplex continued under separate management). Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the company supplied engines to many companies manufacturing light cars such as Abbey , AJS , Albatross , Ashton-Evans , Bayliss-Thomas , Clyno , Crossley , Crouch , GWK , Marendaz , Morgan , Triumph , Swift , Standard , and Waverley Cars of London. In
1008-489: The automotive field, to Leonard Pelham Lee. The citation reads: "Awarded to Coventry Climax Engines Ltd. for the design, development, and production of engines which have brought British cars to the forefront in the field of Grand Prix racing." The history of this trophy dates back to 1906. The last time the Dewar Trophy was awarded before 1964, the recipient was Alec Issigonis for British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1959 on
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#17327797537531056-474: The bore to 63 mm and produced 48 bhp (36 kW). It was different from the 4 cylinder engine in that it had both a water pump and an oil filter, whereas the 4 cylinder engine relied on thermosyphon alone and no oil filter. The FW 38 hp 1,020 cc straight-four SOHC was designed by Hassan and Mundy as the motive unit for a portable service fire pump which was supplied to the government under three contracts totaling over 150,000 units. This engine
1104-890: The design and production of the ADO15 Mini . BMH merged with the Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968 to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation, which was then nationalised in 1975 as British Leyland (BL). Coventry Climax became part of the British Leyland Special Products Division, alongside Alvis , Aveling-Barford , and others. At the end of 1978, BL brought together Coventry Climax Limited, Leyland Vehicles Limited (trucks, buses, and tractors), Alvis Limited (military vehicles), and Self-Changing Gears Limited (heavy-duty transmissions) into
1152-543: The dynamometer at Chrysler 's Kew facility. Remnants of other FPE parts were much later found by the then-owner of 1954 Kieft F1 chassis, Gordon and Martyn Chapman, in an air-raid cellar in the abandoned building which used to belong to Bill Lacey (of Power Engines Ltd., a Coventry Climax specialist) near the main entrance of Silverstone Circuit , including 3 blocks, 2 cranks, 16 cylinder heads, 20-some cam covers (carriers?), two card boxes full of timing gears and camshafts, which all belonged to "Doc Murfield" who had purchased
1200-409: The early 1930s, the company also supplied engines for buses, and in 1935 supplied the 'L' engine to David Brown tractors for the 550 Model A, being a collaborative venture with Ferguson. In the 1920s, the company moved to Friars Road, Coventry, and in the late 1930s, they also acquired the former Riley premises on Widdrington Road, Coventry. With the closure of Swift in 1931, the company was left with
1248-608: The entire stock of parts was sold to Andrew Getley in the mid-1960s. When the Formula One regulation changed to 3 Litres for 1966, Mr. Getley permitted Paul Emery to rebuild one FPE to 3 Litre format and fit it into a one-off Shannon steel monocoque chassis to make the Shannon F1 car named SH1 driven by Trevor Taylor at 1966 British Grand Prix . Bored out to 3 Litres and Tecalemit Jackson fuel injection installed, this Emery-built FPE produced 312 bhp on
1296-523: The forklift truck interests of Coventry Climax in 1985. The company traded as "Kalmar Climax" for a few years but is now trading as Kalmar Industries Ltd. The 'Coventry Climax logo trademark is the property of Canadian Peter Schömer, based in Chichester . Within the complicated corporate lineage, the reputation of Coventry Climax as a top-rate engine designer-builder is largely credited to Walter Hassan and Harry Mundy , who designed and developed
1344-545: The government's ambitious requisition outline asking for a portable fire pump that was capable of pumping double the amount of water specified in the previous outline, with half the weight. This was designated the FW for "Feather Weight". The engine was displayed at the Motor Show in London and attracted attention from the motor racing fraternity for its very high " horsepower per pound of weight ". With strong persuasions at
1392-411: The intention to use the fuel injection system made by Skinners Union (SU). However, this fuel injection system, designed for aeroplane engines, was found not to have the means to enrich the mixture for acceleration, which is not suitable for automobile use. FPE initially showed 240 bhp using Weber carburettors, but the press at the time reported the rumoured fuel-injected Mercedes 2.5L GP engine
1440-621: The interim 2,207 cc (3.5" x 3.5") version, a larger block was cast to result in 2,467 cc (3.7" x 3.5") in 1958, and then to a full-sized 2,497 cc (3.7" x 90 mm) in 1960. Jack Brabham won the World Championship of Drivers in both 1959 and 1960 driving FPF powered Coopers. The FPF with a larger block (to accommodate larger bores) was then adapted to the new 1.5-litre Formula One of 1961 as 1,499.8 cc (82 mm x 71 mm) FPF Mk.II and won three World Championship Grand Prix races in that year. In addition, capacity
1488-458: The later type twin spark plug heads in the stock, was run in the original 1954 Kieft -Climax V8 Grand Prix chassis with downdraft Weber 40IDF carburetors when they were finally mated, and the construction finished on 21 September 2002 at VSCC Silverstone Meeting, and this car was campaigned in VSCC events for the next 10 years. Four sets of period-correct Weber 40DCNL carburetors were installed on
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1536-442: The market as Bearcat 85. Commission Sportive Internationale announced in 1952 that 2.5L naturally aspirated engines would be a part of Formula One regulation starting 1954. Walter Hassan and especially Harry Mundy having their roots deeply in the racing field, started discussions and preliminary designs of a 2.5L 8 Cylinder GP engine in 1952 without a formal directive from the father and son Pelham Lees . Because this project
1584-482: The most successful. There were a total of 22 Grand Prix victories before 1966 with crossplane , flat-plane , two- and four-valve versions of the FWMV. When the new, 3-litre, formula was introduced, Coventry Climax decided not to build engines for the new formula and withdrew from racing after the unsuccessful FWMW project, with the exception of the new 2-Litre version of the FWMV. Also, in the early 1960s, Coventry Climax
1632-528: The parts from Andrew Getley in 1968-69 and had entrusted them to Bill Lacey. These parts were assembled into two engines under the ownership of Gordon Chapman and then under Bill Morris, who bought the engine parts and the Kieft chassis after Gordon Chapman's death. One engine was sold by Chapman to the then-owner of Shannon SH1, and this FPE is said to be in Austria together with Shannon SH1. Another using two of
1680-494: The race due to problems unrelated to the engines. The FWA became popular in sportscar racing and was followed by the Mark II and then by the FWB, which had a capacity of nearly 1.5-litres. The new Formula Two regulations suited the 1.5-litre engine, and it quickly became the engine to have in F2 racing. By 1957, the first Climax engines began to appear in Formula One in the back of Cooper chassis. Initially, these were FWBs, but
1728-717: The same time, the company produced the FWE engine for the Lotus Elite , and this enjoyed considerable success in sports car racing , with a series of class wins at the Le Mans events in the early 1960s. In 1961, there was a new 1.5-litre formula, and the FPF engine was given a new lease on life, although the company began work on a V8 engine, designated the FWMV, and this became competitive in 1962 predominantly in Lotus, Cooper, Brabham, and Lola chassis, with Jim Clark's Lotus outstandingly
1776-403: The series was the FWE which used the FWB bore size and the FWA stroke for a displacement of 1,216 cc. In exchange for a 1,000 unit purchase agreement signed by Chapman , it was specifically designed with forged steel crank for the Lotus Elite but became a favourite with a number of sports car racing firms for its racing durability and high power-to-weight ratio. Other FW variants included
1824-534: The show, including those by Cyril Kieft (who had Stirling Moss as an F3 driver) and a young Colin Chapman , Lee concluded that success in competition could lead to more customers for the company, and so the team designed the FWA, a F eather W eight engine for A utomobiles. The first Coventry Climax racing engine appeared at the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans in the front of one of two Kieft 1100 sports racers, but both cars (one with an MG engine) failed to finish
1872-640: The underside as on the OC. Carburation varied, from the side draught Solex , the down draught SU , to the progressive choke down draught and then a larger side draught SU system on Triumph engines. The engine was water-cooled by thermosyphon with no water pump or fan. A six-cylinder version of the MC engine, the JM, was made with a capacity of 1,476 cc with a 59 mm bore, developing 42 bhp (31 kW). The JMC version had its capacity increased to 1,683 cc by increasing
1920-510: Was GWK , who produced over 1,000 light cars with Coventry-Simplex two-cylinder engines between 1911 and 1915. Just before the First World War , a Coventry-Simplex engine was used by Lionel Martin to power the first Aston Martin car. Ernest Shackleton selected Coventry-Simplex to power the tractors that were to be used in his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914. Hundreds of Coventry-Simplex engines were manufactured during
1968-418: Was a pure racing engine from the beginning, which was in stark contrast to the corporate product history up to FWA, the engine was named FPE for Fire Pump Engine (Eight according to another lore) by the playful minds of Hassan and Mundy. After the corporate blessing was given to the project with the name ' Godiva ', this DOHC, 90-degree, steel crossplane crank V8 engine was built in 1954 for an F1 Kieft with
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2016-424: Was approached by Rootes to mass-produce FWMAs for use in a compact family car project called Apex with an all-aluminium alloy overhead cam engine combined with a full- synchromesh aluminium transaxle . This combination was considered very radical at the time, especially the synchromesh on all forward gears, which had been declared 'impossible' by Alec Issigonis of BMC Mini fame. The adoption to mass-production
2064-419: Was followed in 1931 by a six-cylindered 6.8 litre petrol engine of inlet over exhaust ( IOE ) design, and a 4-cylinder engine in 1932. In 1934 Commercial Motor referred to the 'popular Coventry Climax engines' as the six-cylindered L6 and the four-cylindered B4 – the latter being of 'especially modern design with wet liners'. Examples of vehicles using the engines include the 1932 Karrier Bantam refuse truck, and
2112-535: Was increased to 2,751 cc (96 mm x 95 mm) for the Indianapolis 500 and this larger variant was also utilised for sports car racing, the Intercontinental Formula and Formula Libre racing. It also served as a stopgap in the new 3.0 L Formula One regulation, which went into effect in 1966. The old 2,497 cc FPF gained a new lease of life in 1964 with the introduction of
2160-412: Was introduced in the early 1930s and also built under licence by Triumph . The OC engine had morphed into the MC engine by 1933. It looked virtually identical, but there were internal differences. It was still 1,122 cc, I.O.E., and four cylinders inline, but the camshaft was different, as were the cam followers. The timing marks on the flywheel are now observed from the top of the engine rather than
2208-575: Was rated at 13.8 hp. The same six-cylinder engine appeared in the Waverley car at the 1925 Olympia motor show. The engine size had increased to 1,991 cc (65 mm bore, 16 hp rating), with overhead valves and Lanchester style vibration damper, it was coupled to a 4-speed Meadows gearbox. At first, the OC was made with a capacity of 1,122 cc as a straight-four using a bore of 63 mm and stroke of 90 mm with overhead inlet and side exhaust valves, producing 34 bhp (25 kW). It
2256-422: Was revolutionary in its lightness, with a bare weight of 180 pounds, combined with the maintenance-free valve adjustment using shims under an overhead camshaft. In 1953 it was adapted for automotive racing as the 1,098 cc FWA retaining the cast crank three main bearing construction of the FW but with a distributor ignition in place of a magneto, a different camshaft, and a higher, 9.8:1 compression ratio. With
2304-480: Was successful, and the project came out to the market as the 875cc Hillman Imp totaling over 400,000 units made by 1976, including the later 998cc version. At Earls Court in 1962, Coventry Climax chairman, Leonard Pelham Lee announced the withdrawal from building Formula 1 engines, stating that the company was losing money and not gaining enough publicity from their involvement. Nonetheless, Coventry Climax remained in Formula One until they were unable to come up with
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