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

Talbot

1903 – 1938

Clement-Talbot Ltd, North Kensington, London W.10

From 1903, Clement-Talbot Ltd, a company backed by the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, began importing the French Clément car into Britain; in spite of its name and an interest held by Adolphe Clément, the concern was British, and by the end of the year its cars were called Talbot cars. The 1904 models Talbot cars were a 6hp single, and 11hp twin, and two big fours. All of the Talbot cars had shaft drive and side valves in T-heads, except for the biggest, the 27hp voiture de luxe Talbot car, which used overhead inlet valves and a single camshaft. Trucks, buses and boats were also advertised, next to Talbot cars. Promotion of the Talbot car, which was at first in the hands of the managing director, D.M. Weigel, was energetic and successful.
By the end of 1904, an impressive Talbot car factory had been built, complete with test track, and in the following year British-assembled, and partly British-made Talbot cars emerged from it. A wide variety of types Talbot cars was listed, from an 11hp twin to a great 50hp 4-cylinder Talbot car. One model that was to be famous, the 12/16hp Talbot car, had already been designed. French cars were still being imported by the Talbot car company. However, the 20hp Talbot car of 1906 was the first British-made Talbot car. It was designed by C.R. Garrard, and while still conventional, this Talbot car had an unusually efficient engine of 3.8 litres’ capacity. Both this and the 2.7-litre ‘12/16’ Talbot car were fast cars that quickly made a name for themselves in competitions; the slogan for the Talbot cars became ‘The Invincible Talbot’. For 1907 a 3-litre 15hp, a Talbot car in the same mould, superseded the ‘12/16’. By 1908 this Talbot car was the only British chassis offered, into which could be installed 15hp, 25hp or 35hp engines. The Talbot car popularity was due to a combination of smoothness, reliability, speed and reasonable price. The French range Talbot cars was still listed. A six was introduced for 1910, and the 4½-litre 25hp was revised by G.W.A. Brown with an L-head valve arrangement. This model Talbot car, highly tuned and lightened, and fitted with a racing body, became the first car to cover 100 miles in an hour, at Brooklands in 1913 in the hands of Percy Lambert. In the same year a new model Talbot car, the 2.6-litre 15/20hp, was introduced. This Talbot car and the 25hp, now called the ‘25/50’, were the famous cars that kept the Talbot car name before the public eye in competitions. A sports model Talbot car of the latter was also listed. By this time, the French range Talbot cars had been dropped.

In 1919 Clement-Talbot was taken over by another French-sounding, but in fact British-owned firm, the Société Alexandre Darracq of Paris. Darracq proceeded to acquire Sunbeam as well, but private Talbot car policy was at first unaffected. The 25/50hp and 15/20hp Talbot cars were continued. For 1922, however, the new 1-litre Darracq light car was offered as the 8/18hp Talbot car. In the Talbot tradition, this Talbot car was a solid car with above-average performance and handling. The push-rod overhead valve engine had coil ignition, there were only two seats in the Talbot car, there was no differential, and suspension was by quarter-elliptic springs all round. Both acceleration and brakes of the Talbot car were excellent; in other words, this Talbot car was a light car more typical in France than of England. Georges Roesch, who had been Chief Engineer since 1916 and had already devised the Talbot 12hp of 1919, a Talbot car which was never put on the market, quickly revised the ‘8/18’ Talbot car as the 10/23hp, which was more ‘English’ in that the Talbot car had a long, wide, roomy body, and a differential, with an enlarged bore and 1100cc to cope with the added weight.
From 1923 to 1926, the Talbot car company tried to exist on the ‘10/23’ Talbot car and a series of obscure small sixes of which few Talbot cars were made. The pre-war big four Talbot cars had been dropped, but nothing as popular had been found. Clement-Talbot cars were at a very low ebb when Georges Roesch saved them with a one-model policy, based on a small six of the type just becoming fashionable. However, the 14/45hp Talbot car was better than the rest because the Talbot car combined efficiency and high quality with comfort, roominess and smoothness. Considering all this, the price of the Talbot car was not high. It was, in fact, Roesch’s intention to provide the characteristics of the Rolls-Royce 20hp to the Talbot car but with half the engine size, weight and price. The cubic capacity was only 1665cc (61x95mm). The reciprocating parts, including the overhead valves, were very light, and the compression ratio was notably high, enabling revolutions and power output to be high also. Even so, the engine of the Talbot car was an unusual combination of silence and flexibility. The brakes were excellent, though it was suprising to find only quarter-elliptic springs at the rear of the Talbot car. The car’s main drawback was weight: bodies of these Talbot cars were very spacious, mounted on a deep, stiff but heavy frame with a long wheelbase. However, most Talbot car customers did not want ultra-high performance; the 60-65mph of the ‘14/45’ Talbot car was very good for such a large car with so small an engine.

The Talbot car company’s crisis had allowed no time for development, so the new Talbot car came straight off the drawing board to the public; but the Talbot car was so good in design that there were no major snags, and the Talbot car firm sold all they could make. The engine of the Talbot car was very difficult to work on without garage equipment, but the ‘14/45’ Talbot car was designed for replacement rather than repair of parts: another very modern, if not entirely desirable, feature. The design was obviously capable of great development, and during 1930 the first stages were announced – the Talbot 75 and 90. Both Talbot cars had the same size of engine; the ‘14/45’ Talbot car with an enlarged bore, providing 2¼ litres. The ‘75’ Talbot car was a touring model available alongside the ‘14/45’ to those who wanted a little more performance, while the ‘Talbot AM90’ was a more highly-tuned sports Talbot car, giving over 80mph with the same refinement. This Talbot car was sold in closed as well as open form, but the most handsome body was the standard sports tourer. Additionally, a cheaper Light Six 14/45 Talbot car with a shorter chassis was added at the lower end of the range.
With the ‘Talbot AM90’ began Talbot cars second lease of life as a distinguished sporting make. Third and fourth places in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race were followed by class wins of Talbot cars in the Irish Grand Prix, the Ulster Tourist Trophy Race and the Brooklands 500 Miles Race. In spring 1931 the Talbot 105 was introduced with a new, 75x112mm engine providing 3-litres. To improve the breathing, the valves were in a staggered arrangement instead of bing in line as hitherto. All types of body, from saloon to four-seater sports, were offered on this Talbot car chassis. The last Talbot car was a 100mph machine. The bigger engine of the Talbot car was difficult to start, in spite of assistance from two 12-volt batteries, for the starter was not geared down. It was no help when the optional Wilson self-changing gearbox was fitted from 1933. In competitions, the Talbot car name went from strength to strength. The ‘Talbot 105’ came 3rd in the Irish Grand Prix and at Le Mans, 4th in the Tourist Trophy and 2nd in the 500 Miles Race. A 105 tourer Talbot car took home a Coupe des Glaciers after a fault-free performance in the Alpine Trial. The Coupe des Alpes team prize was won in 1932 by Talbot 105s, and in that year came a 2nd place in the Brooklands 1000 Miles Race (which replaced the Double Twelve), and 3rd place at Le Mans and in the 500 Miles Race with a Talbot car.
These racing successes were won by Talbot cars prepared by Fox & Nicholl Ltd with works support; in spite of the fame and success of the Talbot car, the Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq group had been in financial trouble since 1930 and earlier, and racing was a luxury. At the end of 1932, however, Fox & Nicholl’s participation was discontinued and the great run of triumphs for Talbot cars ended. The normal production Talbot cars continued to do well. In 1932 the Talbot 65, a new model basically the same as the ‘14/45’, was announced. The ‘Talbot 95’, consisting of the ‘Talbot 105’ engine in a longer wheelbase for more sedate use, was introduced for 1933. In the following year Talbot cars with the self-changing gearbox were given a centrifugal clutch to avoid drag, and for 1935 there appeared the last developments of the standard type Talbot car, the ‘Talbot 110’. This superb Talbot car had a larger bore than the 105, giving 3½-litres. Early in 1935, however, Rootes gained control of Clement-Talbot. The ‘Talbot 65’ was dropped for 1936 in favour of the Rootes Talbot Ten, a Hillman Minx-based design, and by 1938 the last Roesch survivor, the ‘Talbot 110’ was gone.

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