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

Triumph

US, 1900 – 1901

Triumph Motor Vehicle Co, Chicago, Ill.

The Triumph car company made an electric Stanhope known as the Ellis, and announced that they would accept orders for petrol or steam Triumph cars, for delivery in 90 days.

US, 1906 – 1909

Triumph Motor Car Co, Chicago, Ill.

These Triumph cars were open cars in four- and five-seater models. The engines of the Triumph cars were 4-cylinder units of 30hp and 45hp. In 1907 this Triumph car used ‘the only self-contained, automatic, self-starting motor in the world’. The starting method of the Triumph car stored exhaust gases in a tank under the seat, at a pressure of 125psi. This gas could be bled back into the cylinders for starting.

GB, 1923 to date

(1) Triumph Cycle Co Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1923 – 1929

(2) Triumph Motor Co Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1930 to date

This famous motor-cycle factory Triumph made a tricar in 1903, but 4-wheeler Triumph cars were not offered until 1923, when a 1.4-litre sv 4-cylinder 10/20 Triumph car with a Ricardo-designed engine and 4-speed gearbox was listed at £430; production of Triumph cars was undertaken in the factory formerly occupied by Dawson. This gave way in 1925 to a 1.9-litre 13/30 Triumph car at £495, the first British car to have Lockheed contracting-type hydraulic brakes. Neither this Triumph car nor its 15hp successor made much impression, but in 1928 Triumph car company introduced the 832cc sv Triumph Super 7, with unit gearbox, hydraulic brakes, and worm final drive, which Triumph car sold well both at home and overseas. There was a supercharged sports version Triumph car listed at £250 in 1929-1930, and the manufacture of small family saloon Triumph cars of superior quality was pursued until 1933-1934. Ribbon-type radiators were featured on Triumph cars in 1930, and in 1931 came a 1.2-litre small six Triumph car, the Triumph Scorpion, really a Super 7 Triumph car with 2 extra cylinders, and endowed with very low gearing. Ioe Coventry-Climax power units made their appearance in the Triumph Super 9 of 1932, when Triumph car saloons had pillarless doors, and 4-speed gearboxes were adopted. The bigger 1933 models Triumph cars had electric fuel pumps, and during the season a 1.122cc ioe Triumph Ten joined the Triumph car range at £225.

Though these family models Triumph car were still being made in 1934, there were also the more sporting Triumph Glorias with 1.100cc 4-cylinder and 1½-litre 6-cylinder ioe power units, cruciform-braced frames, and free wheels, which in open form could exceed 70mph: one of these Triumph cars, driven by Donald Healey (responsible for the design of 1936 – 1939 Triumph cars) won the light-car class of the 1934 Monte Carlo Rally. An abortive and very Alfa Romeo-like 2-litre twin-ohc supercharged straight-8 Triumph car was listed at £1.225 in 1935, but that year’s Gloria-Vitesse models  were far more successful, especially in 2-litre, 6-cylinder form. Metallic finish was available on Triumph cars, and the saloon models Triumph cars were sold with screenwashers as standard equipment.

In 1936 the Triumph car and motorcycle businesses were divorced, and from 1937 onwards the Triumph cars became heavier; synchromesh was adopted, Triumph-built engines with full overhead valves supplanted the ioe Coventry-Climax units, and Triumph cars ranged from a 1½-litre, 4-cylinder Triumph Gloria saloon at £288 up to the 1.8-litre 4-cylinder and 2-litre 6-cylinder Triumph Dolomites, with ugly fencer’s mask radiator grilles at £348 and £368 respectively.

The Triumph Dolomites were comprehensively equipped, with centralized chassis lubrication and radio as an factory extra, and the handsome if rather American looking roadster coupés Triumph cars of 1938-1940 were regular concours winners.

From the summer of 1938 only Triumph Dolomites were catalogued, the smallest Triumph car model being a compact 1½-litre Triumph car (actually 1.767cc) on a 9ft wheelbase at £313, but during 1939 a conventionally-styled 12hp sports saloon Triumph car appeared at £285. Only 50 Triumph cars were made since Triumph went into receivership just before World War 2, and when the Triumph cars reappeared after VJ Day they were products of Standard, the new 1800 Triumph car having the 65bhp 1.8-litre ohv 4-cylinder unit made for the 1½-litre Jaguar. Other features of these Triumph cars were Girling brakes, and an unusual right-hand column change for the 4-speed gearbox. Both the roadster at £799 and the saloon at £831 were traditionally styled, the latter Triumph car having a razor-edge body of the type favoured by British specialist coachbuilders in the later 1930s.

By 1949, 2.1-litre Standard Vanguard engines and 3-speed gearboxes had been adopted on Triumph cars, and 1950 brought a curious little razor-edged 2-door saloon, the Triumph Mayflower, with a 10hp sv engine, which Triumph car persisted until 1953.

In that year the first of a successful line of sports Triumph cars appeared, descended from an abortive 1950 design with retractable headlamps, fully aerodynamic bodywork with power top, and overdrive gearbox, which had been a casualty of the Korean War. The new Triumph TR2 weighed only 1.888lb, had a 2-litre, 90bhp development of the Vanguard engine, independent coil-and-wishbone front suspension, 2LS Lockheed brakes, hypoid final drive, and the useful combination of over 100mph and 25mpg in regular service. The Triumph car distinguished itself in competition, early successes including an outright win in the 1954 RAC Rally and the team award in the 1956 Alpine Rally, as well as being an outstanding dollar-earner. The Triumph TR3, its successor, acquired front disc brakes in 1956, and this Triumph car was made until 1962. The power unit of Triumph cars was adopted by Morgan (1954), Swallow Doretti (1954), Peerless (1958), and its successor Warwick (1960).

After the discontinuation of the razor-edged 2.1-litre Renown saloon early in 1955, the TR was the staple Triumph car until mid-1959, when the Triumph Herald saloon appeared, using a development of the 948cc Standard 10 engine in a separate chassis. This Triumph car had all-round independent suspension (the first small British family saloon to be so equipped), a collapsible steering wheel, and Michelotti styling. The Triumph car could be bought in 38bhp single carburetor and 50bhp twin-carburettor versions for prices starting at £702. This model Triumph car did not really prosper until Standard-Triumph cars was taken over by Leyland in 1961, when a more powerful 1.147cc development Triumph car with the option of front disc brakes appeared, followed two years later by the 12/50 with disc brakes as standard, and a sunshine roof. A 1.6-litre 6-cylinder Triumph car with four headlamps, the Triumph Vitesse came in 1962, and the Triumph Spitfire sports two-seater was a further Herald derivative announced for 1963. 4-cylinder Triumph car engines are used by Amphicar, Bond, and Fairthorpe.

In 1962 the Triumph TR4 with restyled bodywork, a 2.1-litre engine, rack-and-pinion steering, and all-synchromesh box, was introduced, acquiring independent rear suspension as the Triumph TR4A in 1965, while the Triumph car features were also incorporated in a 90bhp 2-litre 6-cylinder saloon Triumph car, the Triumph 2000, which was a successful introduction in 1964. Triumph’s new car in 1966 was the 1300 Triumph car, still with all-synchromesh gearbox, all-round independent suspension, and front disc brakes, but this Triumph car also featuring front-wheel drive and a 61hp development of the basic Herald engine. 1967 Triumph Vitesses had the 2-litre engine, also used in the new GT6 hardtop coupé, a Spitfire derivative. A Triumph TR5 sports car, with a 2½-litre 6-cylinder fuel injection engine at last replacing the tough old Vanguard unit and a 75bhp TC version of the 1300 saloon, were introduced in 1968. It was also announced that sohc 4-cylinder engines of Triumph cars were being manufactured for SAAB’s new 99 model, though all the new 1969 Triumph cars retained push-rod engines. These included revised versions of the GT6 and Vitesse with wishbone rear suspension, and a more expensive companion for the 2000 Triumph car, the 2.5 PI using a detuned Triumph TR6 fuel-injection unit; this Triumph car was rallied by the works, the Culcheth and Syer car coming 2nd in the 1970 World Cup event. In 1970 Triumph cars introduced the Triumph Stag, a luxury sporting 2+2 powered by a 3-litre dohc V8 engine of their own design developing 145bhp. This Triumph car featured alternator ignition, a choice of synchromesh and overdrive or automatic transmission, all-independent springing, power-assisted rack and pinion steering, and vacuum servo brakes with discs at the front. A big and heavy Triumph car weighing 3.020lb, this Triumph car carried semi-convertible coachwork with built-in rollbar.

In the 1971 range of Triumph cars was a Herald replacement, the Triumph Toledo 2-door saloon. This Triumph car combined the 1300 structure with the 1.296cc Herald 13/60 engine driving the rear wheels. Rear suspension was by live axle and coils, and all-drum brakes were standard, though front disc brakes, four doors and a 1.500cc engine were used on an export-only model. The Triumph 1300 was replaced by a more powerful 1500, and in August 1971 4-door Triumph Toledos in basic form reached the home market. That summer the Herald/ Vitesse range of Triumph cars was finally phased out (apart from Indian production of ‘Standard’ Heralds) and after many delays Triumph cars medium-sized luxury Triumph Dolomite was finally launched at the beginning of 1972. This Triumph car followed Toledo lines with front disc brakes, but the Triumph car was powered by a 91bhp twin-carburettor edition of the 1.854cc ohc engine as supplied to SAAB. Principal 1973 improvements were the standardization of front disc brakes on the Toledo, and of overdrive on manual versions of the 2.5 PI and Stag.

D, 1933

Triumph Werke AG, Nuremberg

This well-known motorcycle manufacturer built a few 3-wheeled coupés Triumph cars powered by 350cc engines driving the single rear wheels.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; GNG, GMN, MCS 

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