39-562: The Lanchester Motor Company Limited was a British car manufacturer in active trade between 1899 and 1955. Though the Lanchester Motor Company Limited is still registered as an active company and accounts are filed each year, the marque has been dormant since. As of 2014 it is marked as "non-trading". The Lanchester company was located until early 1931 at Armourer Mills, Montgomery Street, Sparkbrook , Birmingham , and afterwards at Sandy Lane, Coventry England. It
78-471: A 2470 cc, four-cylinder, water-cooled, overhead-valve engines featuring pressure lubrication, very unusual at the time, and were now mounted with the epicyclic gearbox between the front seats rather than centrally, resulting in a design with the driver sitting well forwards and without a bonnet. Six-cylinder models joined the line-up in 1906. The specification started to become more conventional with wheel steering as an option from 1908, becoming standard from
117-407: A body department was set up, until 1914 most cars had Lanchester built bodies. In 1904, despite a full order book, the business ran out of money and The Lanchester Engine Company Limited was put into voluntary liquidation. After a period of management by a receiver the business was re-organised re-capitalized and incorporated as The Lanchester Motor Company Limited later that year. The 1904 models had
156-498: A canal. Sparkbrook ward is represented by two Labour councillors on Birmingham City Council , Mohammed Azim and Shabrana Hussain. Its former independent councillor, Talib Hussain, was elected as a Liberal Democrat but resigned from the party after being sacked from the council's cabinet. Project Champion is a project to install a £3m network of 169 Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to monitor vehicles entering and leaving Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath . Its implementation
195-460: A car, not a horseless carriage , and it ran on the public roads in February or March 1896. It had a single-cylinder 1306 cc engine with the piston having two connecting rods to separate crankshafts and flywheels rotating in opposite directions giving very smooth running. A two-cylinder engine was fitted to the same chassis in 1897 and a second complete car was built alongside it. This led on to
234-571: A four-speed conventional gearbox and four-wheel brakes. It grew to the 3.3-litre Twenty Three in 1926. The Forty was finally replaced by the Thirty with straight-eight 4.4-litre engine in 1928. A further series of armoured cars was made in 1927, using a six-wheeled version of the Forty chassis. For 1928 there was George's last design, a 4446 cc straight-8; only 126 were made before the economic depression effectively killed demand. Twelve months after
273-586: A group called the Methodist New Connexion, opened a chapel in the area, their first for 11 years along with a similar chapel on Bridge Street in the city centre. Lloyd House is a Georgian building situated on Sampson Road. It was built between 1742 and 1752 by Sampson Lloyd , the founder of Lloyds Bank . The building is used as offices by the Bromford Corinthia Housing Association. In 1780, Sparkbrook
312-524: A negative impact on our communities." Many of the churches within Sparkbrook were constructed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. One of the most prominent churches in the area is St Agatha's Church on the Stratford Road, consecrated in 1901. It is a Grade I listed building . Christ Church , on the corner of Grantham Road and Dolobran Road, was one of the oldest churches in
351-495: A repeat customer during the 1920s and 1930s, preferred this less showy version of a Daimler car and took delivery of a pair of specially built Daimler straight-eight limousines with the Lanchester grille and badges. Post war, a ten-horsepower car was reintroduced with the 1287 cc LD10 which didn't have a Daimler equivalent and the four-cylinder 1950 Fourteen / Leda . The very last model, of which only prototypes were produced,
390-544: A sale to BSA made sense. Thomas Hamilton Barnsley (1867–1930), the principal shareholder, chairman and managing director negotiated a sale of all share capital to BSA group shortly before his death on Christmas Day 1930. BSA's purchase of all of the shares was completed in January 1931 for £26,000, a fraction of the value of the assets. Car production was transferred to Lanchester's new sister subsidiary, Daimler , at Motor Mills, Sandy Lane, Radford, Coventry . George Lanchester
429-463: A single model policy and the Forty was re-introduced with a 6.2-litre overhead-cam engine in unit with a 3-speed gearbox still using epicyclic gears and a worm drive rear axle. It was very expensive, dearer than a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost and to maintain production a smaller car, the Twenty One joined the range in 1924. This had a 3.1-litre, six-cylinder engine, with removable cylinder head, mated to
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#1732771979931468-585: A subsidiary holding company for them. In 2013, Jaguar Cars was merged with Land Rover to form Jaguar Land Rover Limited, and the rights to the Lanchester car brand were transferred to the newly formed British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover . This business was begun by the three Lanchester brothers, Frederick , one of the most influential automobile engineers of the 19th and 20th centuries, George and Frank who together incorporated The Lanchester Engine Company Limited in December 1899 retaining
507-740: The British Army , the latter decided to standardise on the Rolls-Royce to reduce the logistical demands of operating various types of vehicles, and the Lanchesters were withdrawn to Britain whilst some were also sold to Belgium and Imperial Russia . Around 36 Lanchesters formed the nucleus of a large force under Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson that was sent to Russia to assist the Imperial Russian government. The force departed Britain in late 1915, bound for Archangel , but
546-584: The First World War . The Lanchester was the second most numerous World War I armoured car in British service after the Rolls-Royce armoured car . The Lanchester was a turreted armoured car, built on the chassis of a Lanchester Sporting Forty luxury tourer . The layout of the Lanchester was similar to the Rolls-Royce, with a front mounted engine, crew compartment in the middle and rear cargo deck;
585-671: The Russian Revolution had overthrown the Imperial government, putting an end to the force's operations, so in January 1918 the entire unit was evacuated out of Archangel back to England. By the time they returned to Britain in 1918, the Lanchesters of Locker-Lampson's No 1 Squadron had driven over 53,000 miles (85,000 km), much further than any other vehicles of World War I, and in such varied terrain as mountains, desert and near arctic conditions, in service they proved to be reliable and fast. The Lanchesters were operated in
624-612: The Wall Street Crash these were the cars shown by Lanchester on their stand at the Olympia Motor Show in October 1930: The engines were 3,330 and 4,440 cc respectively, with a wheelbase and track of: Within weeks, their bank called in the company's overdraft of £38,000 forcing immediate liquidation of the company's assets. Because their current premises were next door to BSA 's Armourer Mills at Sparkbrook
663-536: The addition of Rudge-Whitworth spoked wheels with quick-release knock-on hubs, double wheels were used on the rear to improve handling. The Lanchester monobloc six-cylinder engine was retained from the Sporting Forty, it delivered a very useful 60 hp (45 kW) and had many advanced features for the era, including dual ignition and full pressure lubrication. The transmission was via a very advanced pre-selective epicyclic gearbox . The Lanchester's turret
702-627: The area, being consecrated in 1867. The spire belonging to the tower was removed in 1918, and following a bomb blast in World War II , the tower was demolished. In 1927, The Diocesan Home for Girls received a licence permitting public worship within the building. Following damage caused by the Birmingham Tornado 28 July 2005 the church was demolished. However the Christ Church has been rebuilt in 2013 after being destroyed by
741-592: The eighth highest level of unemployment in Britain in 2009, with 12.9% (more than one in eight) of its residents being registered unemployed. Only Ladywood had a higher rate of unemployment in the West Midlands . The 2001 Census recorded that 31,485 people were living in the ward. Sparkbrook has the second highest non-white population in Birmingham, with a total of 78% minority ethnic residents living in
780-410: The end of 1911, pedals and a gear lever replaced the original two-lever system of gear changing. George Lanchester was now in charge, Frederick having resigned in 1913. The engine was moved further forward to a conventional position in the sporting Forty, with a side-valve, 5.5-litre six-cylinder engine, but very few were made before the outbreak of World War I. A distinctive feature of the engine's valves
819-566: The entire unit drove to the Caucasus, the majority of the force operating throughout the Caucasus down to the Turkish border, whilst a detachment went into north Persia . When the rainy season arrived in October, the force drove via the northern shores of the Black Sea into Romania . In June 1917 the unit moved into Galicia to support the unsuccessful Kerensky Offensive . In November 1917
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#1732771979931858-413: The fighting compartment and turret was almost identical to the Rolls-Royce. The engine of the Lanchester was located beside the driver's feet, allowing for a more effective, well sloped frontal armour than the Rolls-Royce. A number of changes were made to the Sporting Forty chassis, including reinforcing to accommodate the additional weight of the armour, strengthened rear cantilever spring suspension and
897-458: The financial support they had previously received from the two brothers, Charles Vernon Pugh and John Pugh of Rudge-Whitworth . Others who took directorships included the Whitfield brothers, J. S. Taylor and Hamilton Barnsley – a master builder who sold the business to BSA-Daimler in 1931. Work on the first Lanchester car had been started in 1895, significantly designed from first principles as
936-427: The first production cars in 1900, when six were made as demonstrators. These had two-cylinder, 4033 cc, horizontal air-cooled engines, retaining the twin crankshaft design. Steering was by side lever (or tiller ) not wheel. The gearbox used epicyclic gearing . The first cars were sold to the public in 1901. In 1902 Lanchester became the first company to market disc brakes to the public. They were mechanical and on
975-405: The front wheels only. The discs were very thin and made of a very soft metal like brass. Although probably leaving much to be desired, they completely fit the definition of a disc brake, and beat all others to market by many years. The Lanchester Motor-Car Company show a number of handsome vehicles. The design here is novel throughout, or, rather, it differs from other designs, as the Lanchester car
1014-572: The mainly terraced area; notably it is home to a large Somali population. Sparkbrook is also the location of Birmingham's " Balti Triangle ", and many of the residents have their own balti businesses. Lanchester armoured car The Lanchester armoured car was a British armoured car built on the chassis of the Lanchester "Sporting Forty", it saw wide service with the Royal Naval Air Service and British Army during
1053-532: The ships encountered heavy storms en route and subsequently became icebound, putting in to Alexandrovsk instead. The cars were found to have broken loose in the hold during the storms and were badly damaged, additionally many of their radiators had cracked in the freezing weather as they had not been drained prior to departure, so they were all returned to Britain for repair. In 1916 Locker-Lampson's force, No 1 Squadron, Royal Naval Armoured Car Division, returned to Russia with their Lanchesters and other vehicles, and
1092-555: The site where Lanchester built their first four-wheel petrol car in 1895. Sparkbrook Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham , England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council. The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that flowed south of the city centre. It was later channelled and partially used for
1131-529: The spy-cam scheme', he was proactive in contacting the media, it was Steve Jolly who made Paul Lewis of The Guardian aware of this issue. When Paul Lewis wrote his article, it sparked national and international debate on Project Champion, this then led to massive public resistance to Project Champion, which eventually led to it being stopped. West Midlands Police were forced into making an apology. Chief Constable Simms said: "I am sorry that we got such an important issue so wrong and deeply sorry that it has had such
1170-570: The tornado in 2005. The Health centre that is on the site of the Christ church has been rebuilt in 2012. Consecrated in the same year as St Agatha's Church, Emmanuel Church , was a chapel of ease to Christ Church until it received its own parish in 1928. Located within the church is an ancient blank bell from Ullenhall . Ladypool Road mission hall was opened in 1894 by the Sparkbrook Gospel Mission (founded 1886). In 1849,
1209-568: The turret. Production models followed, produced in Britain from early 1915, the only differences from the prototype were the reinforcing and strengthening works to the chassis and suspension, and the wheels. In 1915, three squadrons of the Royal Naval Armoured Car Division were equipped with Lanchester armoured cars and sent to France. In September 1915 the Royal Navy handed all of their armoured cars over to
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1248-741: Was called the Sprite. Daimler was in decline, and in 1960 BSA sold Daimler's premises and business to Jaguar Cars who have since used the Daimler name on their most expensive products. Jaguar has moved into and out of the Ford group and since 2008 Jaguar, Lanchester belongs to Tata Motors . An open-air sculpture, the Lanchester Car Monument , in the Bloomsbury Heartlands area of Birmingham , designed by Tim Tolkien , on
1287-471: Was frozen in June 2010 amid allegations that the police deliberately misled councillors about its purpose, after it was revealed that it was being funded as an anti-terrorism initiative, rather than for 'reassurance and crime prevention'. The campaign was spearheaded by a local activist called Steve Jolly, who 'wrote an article for a local magazine, started a petition and lobbied MPs and councillors to denounce
1326-706: Was kept on as a senior designer and Frank became the Lanchester sales director. The first new offering, still designed by George Lanchester, was a version of the Daimler Light Twenty, the Lanchester Eighteen with hydraulic brakes and a Daimler fluid flywheel . The Ten of 1933 was an upmarket version of the BSA Ten. The pre-war Fourteen Roadrider of 1937, was almost identical to the Daimler New Fifteen . The then Duke of York ,
1365-511: Was one of the first English cars to be made. The engine is horizontal and is balanced in a most ingenious manner, the change speed gear is by epicyclic trains controlled by band brakes, the electric sparking is most ingeniously contrived, and the suspension is also of special type. To describe the mechanism of these cars would, however, be impossible without elaborate diagrams. They are notable for their easy running and absence of vibration. All bodies were made by external coachbuilders until 1903 when
1404-481: Was purchased by the BSA Group at the end of 1930, after which its cars were made by Daimler on Daimler's Coventry sites. So, with Daimler, Lanchester became part of Jaguar Cars in 1960. In 1990 Ford Motor Company bought Jaguar Cars and it remained in their ownership, and from 2000 accompanied by Land Rover , until they sold both Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors in 2008, who created Jaguar Land Rover as
1443-459: Was the home of Joseph Priestley , one of the founding fathers of modern chemistry. In 1791, his mansion was partially destroyed in what became known as the Priestley riots . It stood on what is now Priestley Road. Sparkbrook is also home of the legendary Farm Park just off of the Stratford Road near Grantham Road. The late 2000s recession resulted in Sparkbrook and Small Heath ward having
1482-517: Was the standard Admiralty pattern as fitted to the Rolls-Royce, with beveled sides and mounting a single .303 Vickers machine gun . In December 1914, the prototype of what was to become the Lanchester armoured car was produced from a Lanchester Sporting Forty in the service of the Royal Naval Air Service in Dunkirk, the designs were heavily influenced by the experiences of Commander Charles Samson and his subordinates, Arthur Nickerson designed
1521-528: Was their use of leaf springs, rather than coil springs. Frank Lanchester ran the London sales office. During World War I the company made artillery shells and some aircraft engines but some vehicle production continued with the Lanchester armoured cars built on the Lanchester 38 hp chassis for use by the Royal Naval Air Service on the Western Front . After the first World war the company adopted
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