Lea-Francis

GB, 1904 – 1906; 1920 – 1935; 1937 – 1953; 1960

(1) Lea & Francis Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1904 – 1935

(2) Lea-Francis Cars Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1937 – 1960

Lea Francis started as bicycle manufacturers, like so many car makers, but unlike most of the rest, never went over permanently and consistently to Lea Francis cars. These Lea Francis cars appeared in fits and starts. The first appeared in 1904, in the shape of a 15hp Lea Francis car with a 3-cylinder horizontal engine, the oddest feature of which was its connecting rods over 3ft long. In the same year, however, Lea Francis stopped making their cars, and Singer the Cycle Company began building Lea Francis cars under licence and under the Singer name. R.H. Lea had in fact worked for Singer before branching out on his own. Thus began another famous car name. Lea Francis made motor cycles from 1911, and they concentrated on these until 1920. In that year two Lea Francis cars reappeared beside the motorcycles; assembled 4-cylinder touring Lea Francis cars of 11.9 and 13.9hp. Few of either were made. Then, late in 1922, the Lea Francis car company found its feet at last, with an equally conventional assembled light Lea Francis car. This Lea Francis car had a 1.074cc 4-cylinder sv engine of 8.9hp by Coventry-Simplex, replaced in the following year by a 10hp Meadows unit of 1¼ litres with overhead valves. A Lea Francis car with 7hp Bradshaw flat-twin engine came to nothing. There were 3 forward speeds and quarter-elliptic springs at both ends. The 10hp Lea Francis car was very popular, and was made until 1928. Like other Lea Francise cars to come, it was well made, dependable, and lively. The great moment came for the Lea Francis cars in the very important RAC Small Car Trials of 1924, in which the Lea Francis car made the best all-round performance. During 1925 a wider family market was sought with the 12/22hp J-type Lea Francis car. This Lea Francis car had a longer wheelbase, allowing more spacious bodies, front-wheel brakes, a 1½-litre 4EC Meadows engine to cope with the weight and a 4-speed gearbox. For the sake of comfort, semi-elliptic springs were substituted at the rear on the P-type Lea Francis car introduced for 1928, which also had a plate clutch and 4ED meadows engine.

The Lea Francis car firm’s first serious sports car was the L-type with 4ED engine, announced for 1925. The Lea Francis 12/40hp was one of the best assembled cars in Britain, and appealed more widely than the light Lea Francis cars. It was, indeed, current until the second cessation of car production in 1935. However, Lea Francis also made some more ponderous, less lively Lea Francis cars, without the same degree of success. From 1925 until 1929, the Lea Francis range duplicated some of the heavy 6-cylinder machines offered by Vulcan of Southport, with whom Lea Francis cars had been associated since 1922. The 18hp Lea Francis car was a 2¼-litre car with cantilever rear springs and overhead worm drive. This Lea Francis car was succeeded by A.O. Lord’s Type T, with its advanced but unreliable Lea Francis LFS-type, double ohc engine of 1.7-litres. There was also, in 1928, a 2-litre six Lea Francis car. These Vulcan/ Lea Francis cars ended with the demise of the Vulcan. However, an excellent Lea Francis car with a six was at last introduced for 1931: the Lea Francis Ace of Spades model, with their own 2-litre, single ohc engine. This Lea Francis car continued alongside the old 12/40hp until 1935, together with a new 18hp Lea Francis car, which was a 2¼-litre enlargement of the Lea Francis Ace of Spades. However, a really powerful Lea Francis car was also listed from 1928. This Lea Francis Hyper Sports was a quite different car, with its heavily-modified, Cozette-supercharged Meadows 1½-litre engine, low build and raked radiator. The sports-racing two-seater Lea Francis car could attain 90mph, though a coupé and a short open tourer could also be had by those who did not intend to enter competitions. The Lea Francis Hyper Sports won the 1928 Ulster Trophy race.

A new company introduced two entirely new Lea Francis cars for 1938. These Lea Francis cars were designed by Hugh Rose, who had been responsible for the Riley Nine engine and, like the Riley, had 4-cylinder power units with push-rod overhead valves operated by two high camshafts. The Lea Francis car had ceased to be an entirely assembled car. A 12hp and a 14hp Lea Francis car were available, with cubic capacities of 1½ and 1.6-litres. Both had a 4-speed synchromesh gearbox. A sports version of the 1½-litre Lea Francis car was also sold, thus maintaining the old tradition. These two ‘Leafs’ were good cars, and as they were new, up-to-date Lea Francis carmodels, they could be continued after World War 2. Most of those built in this period were Lea Francis Fourteens, which were heavier but had a bigger bore and a capacity of 1.8-litres. A tuned sports Lea Francis car of the 14hp arrived for 1948. At the end of that year, an export version of the 14hp Lea Francis car, with torsion-bar independent front suspension, was shown and this suspension was adopted for both the 14hp and for the new 18hp, with a 2½-litre engine, in 1950. The sports model of the 18hp Lea Francis car was a fine car, with 100bhp available. The Lea Francis cars for 1953 had hydraulic brakes, but that was the last year in which the Lea Francis car appeared as a competitive production car. By mid-1952, output had fallen to six Lea Francis cars a week. An expensive car of specialist appeal,  the post-war years were too hard for it. In 1960 a few prototypes of a new sports Lea Francis car, the Leaf-Lynx, were made, but it never reached production. The power unit of this Lea Francis car was a 2½-litre Ford Zephyr, there was independent front suspension and disc brakes were supplied, but the car was ill-favoured and ill received. No better luck attented the Lea Francis carfirm’s attempt to make the Nobel bubble-car.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN

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

Rolls-Royce

GB, 1904  to date

(1) Royce Ltd, Manchester, 1904 – 1906

(2) Rolls-Royce Ltd, Manchester, 1906 – 1908

(3) Rolls-Royce Ltd, Derby, 1908 – 1945

(4) Rolls-Royce Ltd, Crewe, Cheshire, 1946 – 1971

(5) Rolls-Royce Motors (1971) Ltd, Crewe, Cheshire, 1971 to date

The Rolls-Royce car was the result of a meeting between Henry Royce, a manufacturer of electric cranes in Manchester, and the Hon. C.S. Rolls, a pioneer motorist then selling Panhards in London, who wanted a quality car to boost falling sales. The first Rolls-Royce cars were based on the 1.8-litre (later enlarged to 2-litre) vertical-twin 10hp ioe Royce with shaft drive, but the range of Rolls-Royce cars was expanded to embrace a 3-litre, 3-cylinder, ‘light’ and ‘heavy’ versions of a 4-cylinder Rolls-Royce Twenty, and a 6-litre pair-cast six retailing at £900. A Light Twenty Rolls-Royce car with geared-up top, driven by Rolls, won the 1906 Tourist Trophy, and also broke the Monte Carlo-London record.

An abortive 3½-litre V8 petrol brougham Rolls-Royce car with square cylinder dimensions was shown in 1905, but 1906 was the start of a one-model policy based on the 40/50hp 6-cylinder Rolls-Royce car, later to win immortality as the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, which Rolls-Royce car made its début at Olympia that year. This Rolls-Royce car had a conventional 7-litre sv engine with pressure lubrication and dual ignition, as well as the 4-speed overdrive gearbox. Output of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was a modest 48bhp, but the Rolls-Royce car’s reputation was assured after a successful 15.000 mile RAC-observed trial in 1907, from which the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost emerged with flying colours. 6.173 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost cars were made: the first ones at Manchester, and from 1908 on the Rolls-Royce cars were made at Derby. At £985 for a chassis the Rolls-Royce car was backed by a unique inspecition scheme, and in mid-1909 it was revised with a longer-stroke 7.4-litre engine and conventional 3-speed box. The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts reverted to 4 speeds in 1913, when cantilever rear suspension was adopted; later modifications were full electrics (1919) and Hispano-Suiza-type mechanical servo 4-wheel brakes (1924). The ‘Best Car in the World’ – a reputation which was well established by Rolls-Royce cars by 1914 – was not normally entered in competitions but in 1911 a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was successfully driven from London to Edingburgh and back on top gear for a fuel consumption of 24.32mpg, and a works team Rolls-Royce car swept the board in the 1913 Austrian Alpine Trials. Armoured-car versions of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost gave yeoman service both during and after World War 1.

Production of Rolls-Royce cars was resumed after the Amistice, the chassis price being inflated to £2.100. In 1920 an American Rolls-Royce car actory was opened, this making the Rolls-Royce car until 1931. Post-war 1 inflation led Rolls-Royce to abandon their one-model Rolls-Royce car policy in 1922 and to introduce a 3.1-litre ohv 6-cylinder Rolls-Royce Twenty with a 3-speed unit gearbox and central change at £1.100 for a chassis. This Rolls-Royce car was regarded by Rolls-Royce enthusiasts as heresy, but the Rolls-Royce Twenty was an excellent if sluggish car which last none of the traditional quality; nearly 3.000 Rolls-Royce cars were made up to 1929. In 1925 the Rolls-Royce car acquired a 4-speed box, right-hand change, and the servo 4-wheel brakes of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, which was retired that year in favour of a 7.7-litre Rolls-Royce Phantom I with overhead valves and vertical radiator shutters. An improved Phantom II Rolls-Royce car with hypoid back axle and redesigned combustion chambers was listed from 1930, while the Rolls-Royce Twenty emerged as the more powerful Rolls-Royce 20/25 with a 3.7-litre engine. A Continental version of the bigger Rolls-Royce car gave a genuine 90mph with closed coachwork. Refinements of the early 1930s on Rolls-Royce cars included synchromesh (on the 20/25 in 1932, and on the Phantom a year later), and centralized chassis lubrication (1933).

In 1931 the Rolls-Royce car company bought Bentley Motors, after Napier had made an unsuccessful bid. The Bentley emerged two years later, as a Rolls-Royce-based 3½-litre: it was not to lose its identity until the 1950s. Sir Henry Royce died in 1933, and the entwined ‘R’s of the radiator emblem of the Rolls-Royce car was changed from red to black, supposedly in mourning. The smaller Rolls-Royce cars acquired hypoid final drive in 1936, in which year an alternative power unit of 4¼-litres’ capacity was offered, first as an option on the Rolls-Royce car, and then as standard: thus the 20/25 Rolls-Royce car grew up into the 25/30. In this year Rolls-Royce cars stopped making their own carburetors, though electrical equipment was not bought out until after World War 2. Aero-engine influence (the Rolls-Royce car company had been making these units since 1914 and had been responsible both for the Schneider Trophy R engine of 1931 and the Merlin of 1935) was reflected in the 12-cylinder Phantom III Rolls-Royce car first shown in 1935. The capacity of this Rolls-Royce car was 7.3-litres, and it was the first Rolls-Royce car to have independent front suspension. Later examples Rolls-Royce cars had overdrive gearboxes. It offered 90-95mph for £2.600 and up. This Rolls-Royce car model was still being made in 1939, along with a development of the 25/30, with independent front suspension, the Rolls-Royce Wraith, which Rolls-Royce car could be bought for around £1.600 complete.

Post-war 2 production Rolls-Royce cars was transferred from Derby to Crewe and the first new Rolls-Royce car model was the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, with a 4¼-litre engine, overhead inlet valves and hydraulic actuation for the front brakes, this Rolls-Royce car costing around £4.300 in 1947. The Rolls-Royce Phantom III was not revived, but sixteen ioe 5.7-litre straight-8 Phantom IV Rolls-Royce cars were made for heads of state from 1949 onwards. Among the customers of the Rolls-Royce car was HRH Pincess Elizabeth, who was to become the first reigning British monarch to use Rolls-Royce cars officially. The 6-cylinder Rolls-Royce cars continued up to 1959. 1949 brought the first Rolls-Royce car factory-bodied model, the export only Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn, using the standard Bentley saloon body, left-hand drive, and steering column change. In 1952 capacity of the Rolls-Royce car went up to 4.6-litres and a long-chassis version was listed with an 11ft 1in wheelbase. The General Motors Hydramatic transmission became an option in 1953, and the famous manual box with right-hand control was finally dropped two years later with the advent of a 4.9-litre Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, a restyled saloon with 15in wheels, which Rolls-Royce car could be bought with power-assisted steering and full air-conditioning. 1960 Rolls-Royce cars were identical in outward appearance, but were powered by entirely new oversquare alloy 6.2-litre V8 engines. Power assisted steering was now standard on the Rolls-Royce car, though the hydro-mechanical servo brakes were retained. The standard saloon Rolls-Royce car cost £6.093, and a limousine version on a 12ft wheelbase, the Rolls-Royce Phantom V, was some £3.000 dearer. A four-headlamp layout was introduced on the Rolls-Royce car in 1963, and a year later Rolls-Royce cars started to supply a 4-litre version of their ioe 6-cylinder engine to BMC for installation in the Vanden Plas Princess.

At the 1965 Shows Rolls-Royce cars introduced an entirely up-to-date design, the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. This Rolls-Royce car boasted unitary construction, self-levelling, all-round independent suspension, and servo-assisted disc-brakes with three separate circuits. It retained the 1960 V8 engine, also the (now dummy) traditional radiator. The Phantom V Rolls-Royce car with its separate chassis was kept on, a ceremonial limousine for head of state being listed at £10.695. A Silver Shadow convertible was available in 1968 for £10.449; 1969 brought both a long-wheelbase version of the Rolls-Royce car model and the enlargement of the engine to 6.745cc. In 1970 a new 3-speed automatic gearbox (already used on left hand drive export models since late 1965) replaced the earlier 4-speed type on the Rolls-Royce car, and the Phantom VI replaced the Phantom V; production of these state Rolls-Royce carriages ran at about 50 Rolls-Royce cars a year. Similar modifications were applied to the parallel Bentley cars. The sensational bankruptcy of February 1971 found the Rolls-Royce Car Division still profitable; indeed, within a month the Rolls-Royce car company had announced their high-performance Rolls-Royce Corniche 2-door saloon and convertible with coachwork by H.J. Mulliner-Park Ward, at prices from £12.829 upward, and that December the 10.000th Silver Shadow Rolls-Royce car left Crewe. By late 1972 prices of the more expensive Rolls-Royce cars had risen to £14.399 for the Rolls-Royce Corniche and £15.559 for the Rolls-Royce Phantom Limousine.

US, 1921 – 1931

Rolls-Royce of America Inc, Springfield, Mass.

The American Rolls-Royce car company was formed in November 1919 to build the famous British Rolls-Royce cars in an American factory and so avoid high import duties. The Rolls-Royce car plant was bought from the American Wire Wheel Co, and the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost went into production there in 1921. This Rolls-Royce car had a 6-cylinder 7.4-litre sv engine developing 80bhp, and came in two wheelbases, 12ft and 12ft 6½in. Right-hand drive was used until 1923. Unlike the British Rolls-Royce car company, Rolls-Royce of America always advertised coachwork and supplied complete Rolls-Royce  cars if customers wished. Most bodies of the American Rolls-Royce cars were by Brewster, and in 1926 this firm was taken over by Rolls-Royce car company. In 1926 came the New Phantom, or Rolls-Royce Phantom I as it was later called. This Rolls-Royce car had a 6-cylinder 7.7-litre engine with overhead valves, and again came in two wheelbases, 11ft 11½in and 12ft 2½in. The Depression badly hit sales of the American Rolls-Royce car, and production of Rolls-Royce cars at Springfield came to an end in 1931, although a few British Rolls-Royce cars were assembled there later. A total of 2.944 American Rolls-Royce cars was made, of which 1.703 were Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts and 1.241 were Rolls-Royce Phantom Is.

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