Mass, the forgotten make

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Now more or less forgotten but before the Great War the Mass was a well-known make in the UK. Despite its name and reputation the Mass car was probably never sold in very large quantities, though. From 1903 the Mass was produced for a Mr. Masser-Horniman, who had the Lancaster Motor Garage in London as his basis, the name of the car being an abbreviation of his own name. They were produced in the factory of J.R. Richardson in Saxilby (Lincolnshire). Between 1903 and 1907 Richardson also built cars bearing his own name, but these can't have been much different because initially both makes were largely based on Lacoste & Battmann parts. Around 1907, when Lacoste & Battmann were losing popularity, Richardson became the director of “L'Usine Automobiles Pierron” in Courbevoie, France, where the french engineer Pierron produced cars of his own design. Also these cars were marketed by his agent Masser-Horniman in the UK under the name Mass. Initially these cars were not available in France itself, but at least from 1910 the cars were also sold there under the name Pierron, though with slightly different specifications.

The Mass was a conventional, but solid car and regularly successful in competition. Engines from several sources were used from small to large size, but in the years before the war Ballot became the sole supplier. Shortly before the Great War the Mass car was in decline and agencies for the american makes R.C.H. and Paige (the latter sold as Mass-Paige) were added to the repertoire. After the war the Mass had a very short revival.

That most people don't recognize a Mass anymore is confirmed by the fact that two PreWarCar-mysteries in the past remained unsolved: the Lady Redcote- as well as the Brooklands Macclesfield-mystery. Both cars are early 1910's Masses.

While France is still counting several Pierron survivors, I know of only one Mass survivor: a 1905 model, which is well before the Pierron era. It would be nice to hear if anybody knows about any Masses from after 1907 still being around ...

     

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