International

GB, 1898 – 1904

(1) International Motor Car Co, London, 1898 – 1900

(2) International Motor Car Co Ltd, London, 1900 – 1904

Oscar Seyd’s firm never built a car, though some International car offerings were assembled in their Great Portland Street Showrooms and a certain amount of work was also undertaken at the service depot in Kilburn, where International cars had been operating since 1896. The original International-Benz was in fact a French-built Roger, a car which had become hard to sell in France; International added their own improvements to the International car, among them a reverse, a British-built version of the ‘Crypto’ gear and bodywork made to their order. Single- and twin-cylinder variations on the Benz theme were offered until 1901, later International car being German-built after the demise of M. Roger’s company. In 1899 International presented a ‘light two-seater racing car’ with wheel steering, a Benz-based 12hp with wheel steering, pneumatic tyres and double phaeton coachwork on the International car at £800, and a 9hp ‘vibrationless’ flat-twin (not on Benz lines) in addition to their regular range of International car. International cars became a limited liability company in 1900, when two Coventry firms, Payne and Bates (Godiva) and Allard, were approached to make a new design for the International car. The Payne and Bates-built International car(possibly the twin-cylinder Royal with steel frame and wheel steering, offered for £367 10s) proved unsatisfactory, but Allard’s effort, the International Charette, introduced in November 1900, sold in some numbers. This International Charette car was a belt-driven light car with front vertical 823cc engine of De Dion type (designed to run at only 1.000rpm), a coal-shovel shaped bonnet and rack-and-pinion steering. It sold for £165. Early International cars were rated at 5hp (later increased to 6hp) and there were 2-speed and 3-speed variants. All International Charette chassis were delivered to London under their own power. This type International car was not offered after 1903 and apart form the Mountaineer motorcycle, the later cars of the International company were of French origin. The International Armstrong (1902) was a single-cylinder 1.100cc machine with shaft drive on Renault lines and this gave way in 1903 to the Aster-engined Portlands, also shaft-driven and offered in a variety of sizes from a 6hp single at £205 up to a big 24hp 4-cylinder car with a 4-speed gearbox.

The smallest International car, the Portland was still available in 1904, but by this time the International car company was mainly concerned with importing the Diamant car. International were defunct by 1905.

US, 1900

International Motor Carriage Co, Stamford, Conn.

This International car company showed a light car with a 2-stroke engine designed to run on paraffin at the Madison Square Garden show in 1900, but this International car did not go into production.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS, GNG

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Winton

US, 1897 – 1924

Winton Motor Carriage Co, Cleveland, Ohio

Alexander Winton, a Cleveland bicycle maker, built a 12hp twin-cylinder experimental Winton car in 1897, which recorded 33.7mph over a mile. He produced his first Winton car for commercial sale the following year; this was a two-seater phaeton Winton car with a horizontal single-cylinder engine, 2-speed transmission, and laminated wood frame, listed at $1.000; 25 Winton cars were sold in the first season, early customers including the Packard brothers.

The first of the Gordon Bennett Cup races in 1900 stemmed from a challenge issues by Winton cars to Fernand Charron, and the designer himself took part on a Benz-like Winton car with an enormous single cylinder of 3.8-litres’ capacity, said to produce 14bhp. The Winton car failed to make any impression, but by 1901 Winton cars was producing a large horizontal-twin with its 2-speed gearbox mounted under the floor and alongside the engine. The bonnet of the Winton car was devoted to tankage, wheel steering was provided, and 40bhp was claimed. A Winton car characteristic which persisted for several years was a variable-lift inlet valve actuated by compressed air, a medium to which Alexander Winton was addicted. A 15hp touring Winton car on similar lines, with central chain drive, sold for $2.000 in 1902, increased to $2.500 for a Winton car in 1903, when nominal output went up to 20hp. One of these Winton cars was used for Jackson’s successful trans-Continental run; also in 1903 Winton cars made another bid for international racing laurels with his two Winton Bullets. Both of these Winton cars had in-line engines lying on their sides in the frame, and the inevitable pneumatic governor. Percy Owen’s Gordon Bennett car was an 8½-litre four, but Winton himself drove an 80bhp eight Winton car of 17 litres’ capacity, and with only a single forward speed. Both Winton cars retired, though the Bullets later did fairly well in American sprint events.

Vertical 4-cylinder engines and conventionally-located gearboxes were the order of the day on Winton cars in 1905, and high-tension magneto ignition was also used, but 2 forward speeds were still deemed sufficient. Three types Winton cars were marketed, ratings being 16, 24, and 40hp. The 5.8-litre Winton Model K of 1906 retained the 2-speed box, but sliding-type transmissions were found in both of Winton cars 1907 offerings, the 35hp 4-cylinder Winton Model M, which Winton car had 4-speeds and a geared-up top, and the 7¾-litre Winton Model XVI six, a 3-speed model. Two sixes Winton cars were sold in 1909, the larger of the two Winton cars having a capacity of over 9½-litres and a wheelbase of 10ft 10in. This Winton car cost $4.500, and Winton offered a compressed-air starter; by 1911 this was being used to pump up the tyres as well. Thereafter pair-cast sixes were standard on the Winton car and electric starting was adopted finally in 1915. No major changes occurred after 1920, when the earlier types Winton car gave way to the 5.7-litre Series 25 with a 4-speed gearbox.

Winton elected to abandon Winton car manufacture in 1924 in favour of marine diesel engines, and the Winton car company is still active in this field as a Division of General Motors.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS    

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com