H.E.

GB, 1920 – 1931

Herbert Engineering Co Ltd, Caversham, Reading, Berks.

The HE car was one of the select company of British fast tourers of the 1920s. Like so many of them, its characteristics included a generally straightforward design, good workmanship, sporting lines – and high price. The HE car’s oval radiator was particularly handsome and so was its aluminium, wire-braced coachwork by Morgan. Designed by R.J. Sully, the HE car was a car of very modern design when it first appeared in 1919. The proprieraty engine, of 1.795cc, was a side-valve Monobloc four with a detachable cylinder head. There was a separate 4-speed gearbox on the HE car and overhead worm drive – unusual in a car of this type. The only other unusual feature of the HE car was its rear suspension, which for many years was by underslung three-quarter elliptic springs. The original HE car gave way to the HE 14/20hp tourer of 1920, with an engine of just over 2 litres’ capacity, providing 40bhp at 3.000rpm, and a stiffer frame. In 1922 a sports model called the ‘HE 14/40’ was added. This HE car had dual coil ignition, a tuned engine, a close-ratio gearbox and a shorter chassis. However, even the tourer could achieve 67mph. For 1927, HE cars followed fashion by introducing a six alongside the old four. This was a 2.3-litre unit rated at 15.7hp, wtill with side valves. Performance was about the same as for the earlier tourer HE cars. It, too, had a sports alternative, which in 1929 could reach 80mph. By this time the four had been dropped in the HE car range and for 1930 was replaced, predictably, by a small 1½-litre six which could be had in supercharged form. Presumably in the interests of cost-cutting, the HE car had a quarter-elliptic springs at both ends.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN

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