White armored car
American armored vehicle
The White armored car was a series of armored cars developed by the White Motor Company in Cleveland, Ohio from 1915.
Models.
The White Motor Company continued after the First World War to develop armored cars including the M1 Scout Car, M3 Scout Car, M2 Half Track Car, M3 Half-track, M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage, and M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage.

White Motor Company
American automobile, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980.
The White Motor Company (commonly known as White) was an American car, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic lathes, and sewing machines. Before World War II, the company was based in Cleveland, Ohio. White Diesel Engine Division in Springfield, Ohio, manufactured diesel engine generators, which powered U.S. military equipment and infrastructure, namely Army Nike and Air Force Bomarc launch complexes, and other guided missile installations and proving grounds, sections of SAGE and DEW Line stations, radars, Combat Direction Centers and other ground facilities of the U.S. aerospace defense ring, such as the Texas Towers.
During the Vietnam Era, the company retained its position within the Top 100 Defense Contractors list (it ranked 87th in the Fiscal Year 1965, 77th in 1967, 73rd in 1968, 89th in 1969). Its production facilities, such as the Lansing Truck Plant in Lansing, Michigan, and the main plant in Cleveland were engaged in production, inspection, engineering services and maintenance of thousands of military/utility cargo trucks M39, M44, M600, and M602 series trucks, as well as spare parts, such as cylinder heads, diesel and gasoline engines with accessories.
History.
Around 1898, Thomas H. White purchased a Locomobile steam car and found its boiler unreliable. His son, Rollin, set out to improve its design. Rollin White developed a form of water tube steam generator which consisted of a series of stacked coils with two novel features: the first was the coils were all joined at the top of the unit, which allowed water to flow only when pumped, allowing control of the steam generation; the second was pulling steam from the lowest coil, closest to the fire, which allowed control of steam temperature. This second point was critical because the White steamer operated with superheated steam to take advantage of steam's properties at higher temperatures. Rollin White patented his steam generator, US patent 659,837 of 1900.
White Steamer.
Rollin H. White patented his new design and offered it to, among others, Locomobile. Finally, he persuaded his father, founder of the White Sewing Machine Company, to allow the use of a corner in one of his buildings to build an automobile.
White's brother, Windsor, who was a management talent, joined the business venture, followed by their brother, Walter, who became instrumental in the sales, promotion and distribution of the product. The first group of fifty cars were completed in October 1900, but none were offered to the public until April 1901 so the design could be thoroughly tested. Since the cars were being offered by the automobile department of the sewing machine company, White could not afford to diminish the reputation of the parent company by the introduction of an untested product.
In 1905, it became necessary to separate the automobile department from its parent company to accommodate the growth of the business and to physically separate them, as a fire in one could ruin both operations. On 4 July 1905, a racing steam car named "Whistling Billy" and driven by Webb Jay set a record of on the Morris Park Racecourse.
A 1907 White Steamer was one of the early vehicles in the White House when Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, allowed the Secret Service to use the car behind his horse-drawn carriage. In 1909, president William Howard Taft converted the White House stables into a garage and purchased four automobiles: two Pierce-Arrows, a Baker Electric, and a 1911 White. This $4,000 car was one of the last steam cars produced and proved a favorite of the President who used bursts of steam against "pesky" press photographers. The White Model M 7-seat tourer generated favorable press for the newly formed White Motor Company. Taft's White Model M is currently housed in the collection at the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
The last steam car was built in January 1911 as the company made a transition to gasoline-powered vehicles. The company continued to show them in their catalogues as late as 1912. 9122 White steam-powered cars were built, more than the better known Stanley.
In 2019 Mitch Gross and Chris Rolph drove a 1910 model MM 40 hp White steam car from Beijing to Paris, likely the only time such a feat has been done by a steam car. The journey of over 8000 miles crossed 12 countries, 7 time zones and included the first crossing of a major desert (the Gobi) by a steam car.
The White steam car reentered popular culture in 2023 when comedian and classic car collector Jay Leno, while repairing his 1907 White steam car in his garage in Burbank, suffered third-degree burns on his face and hands when a fuel line sprayed him at the same time a spark ignited.
Gasoline Models.
White companies' manufacturing facility expanded. The White steamer used unique technology, and it was vulnerable in a market that was accepting the internal combustion engine as the standard. White canvassed existing gas manufacturers and licensed the rights to the Delahaye design for the "gas car", showing a chassis at an English auto show in December 1908.
White Tractors.
Rollin became more interested in agricultural tractors, and developed designs for tractors derived from standard White truck parts. When the White Company was not interested in producing tractors, Rollin set out to develop his own designs and, with brother Clarence, eventually founded Cleveland Motor Plow, which later became Cletrac tractor. Cletrac was later purchased by Oliver Tractor Co, which in of itself was bought by White in 1960. the early 1920s, Rollin briefly produced the Rollin car to diversify the tractor company, but found it could not compete in cost versus price against much larger manufacturers.
White was successful with their heavy machines, which saw service around the world during World War I. White remained in the truck industry for decades.
Truck Manufacturing.
White Motor Company ended car production after World War I to focus exclusively on trucks. The company soon sold 10 percent of all trucks made in the US. Although White produced all sizes of trucks from light delivery to semi, the decision was made after WWII to produce only large trucks. White acquired several truck manufacturing companies during this time: Sterling (in 1951), Autocar (in 1953),
REO (in 1957) and Diamond T (in 1958). White also agreed to sell Consolidated Freightways, Freightliner Trucks through its own dealers. White produced trucks under the Autocar nameplate following its acquisition. Diamond T and REO Motor Car Company became the Diamond REO division, which was discontinued in the 1970s.
A White Semi performed a role in the 1949 James Cagney film "White Heat". This era was probably the peak of White Motor market penetration, with the substantial gasoline engined tractors moving a large part of the tractor trailer fleet.
White designed and (with other companies) produced the M3 Scout Car, the standard United States Army reconnaissance vehicle at the start of World War II. White also built the later M2, M3, M13 and M16 half-tracks.
In 1967, White started the Western Star division to sell trucks on the west coast.
White Buses.
The White "Model 706" chassis emerged as the winner of a four-way competition with Ford, REO and GMC, held by the National Park Service in 1935 at Yosemite National Park. Starting in 1936, White produced 500 of the Model 706, specifically designed to carry passengers through seven of the major National Parks of the western US; bus tours were offered as most tourists arrived from trains before World War II. The distinctive vehicles, with roll-back canvas convertible tops, were the product of noted industrial designer Alexis de Sakhnoffsky and used bodies from the Bender Body Company of Cleveland. They originally operated in seven National Parks: Glacier, Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion. After being retired from service in the 1960s, many buses were sold to private collectors and tour operators. The Skagway Street Car Company assembled a fleet of eight buses starting in 1987, naming each bus for the location from which they were acquired.
Today, Glacier National Park operates 33 of its original 35 buses, where they are referred to as "Red Jammers", and eight (of an original 98) have been restored for renewed service in Yellowstone National Park. Glacier's 33 buses were refurbished by Ford and TransGlobal in 2000–2002, while Yellowstone's eight buses were refurbished by TransGlobal in 2007. Glacier has kept one bus in original condition. Yellowstone has five White buses in original condition, two model 706s and three older units as well. In addition, a private operator uses two of the White 706 buses originally built for Yellowstone for Gettysburg National Battlefield tours. One ex-Mount Rainier White 706 is on display at the Longmire Historic District.
The bus driven by Egg Shen in the film "Big Trouble in Little China" into Chinatown, San Francisco is a White 706 which was later purchased by the Skagway Street Car Company. It was one of the eight sold to Xanterra in 2001; they were subsequently restored by TransGlobal for tours in Yellowstone. The character "Ol Jammer" from the Disney animated film "" is based on the White 706.
In addition to the National Parks touring buses, White built similar buses with fixed roofs for intercity service. White entered the transit bus market in 1937 with the 700 series, available in lengths. The longer model was produced through 1953, with an update in 1948 as the 1100 series.
Company Culture.
During the time brothers Walter and Windsor White ran the company, it offered a library branch, a store which sold necessities at low cost, sports teams, and concerts by orchestras and jazz bands, as well as musical performances by the workers, many of whom were immigrants from Slovenia and Poland. The company also had picnics at Euclid Beach Park.
After Walter White was fatally injured in a traffic accident, management changed and so did the firm's culture. Employees started one of the country's first automobile unions. The Great Depression caused a drop in sales, forcing White to merge with Studebaker. However, White soon became independent again.
In 1935, Robert Fager Black became president, but workers were still unhappy, and they went on strike. Black negotiated with the workers who were striking, and he even got baseball equipment for them and let them play while on strike, so they would have something to do. Black learned people's names, visited the plant frequently, and asked customers if they were happy with what they purchased. Anyone could visit his office.
Black brought the company back to where it had once been by World War II, during which the company supplied the military with much of its equipment. White ranked 54th among US corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. When husbands went to serve, wives took their jobs, and the work force totaled over 4000. Black provided the services the company had at one time, and helped employees get to work with carpools.
Black retired in 1956, still beloved by employees.
Demise.
In 1953, White purchased Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Autocar Company. From 1951 until 1977, White Motors also distributed Freightliner Trucks. This took place under an agreement with Freightliner's parent, Consolidated Freightways. White manufactured trucks under its own brands—White, Autocar, and Western Star—as well, leading to the company becoming known as the "Big Four" through to the mid-1970s. The Sterling nameplate, unused by White as long as the company owned it, went to Freightliner after the companies' split. It was then used by Daimler Trucks, who manufactured the former Ford heavy truck line under the Sterling name, from 1997 to 2008.
Sales dropped during the 1960s, and White tried merging with White Consolidated Industries, the original company that once made sewing machines, however the federal government blocked this deal. The company opened plants in Virginia and Utah, since they did not have unions, but this did not help. Semon Knudsen, former president of Ford, made the company successful for a time, but the decline continued. Later, the federal government approved a merger with White Consolidated, which feared being hurt by White Motor's troubles. Mergers with Daimler and Renault were also considered. Production was somewhat limited as White did not have a lighter range (13,330 units built in 1978), leading to several attempts at linking up with various European manufacturers.
By 1980, White was insolvent, filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy case 80-13361 in the Northern District of Ohio on September 4 of that year. Volvo acquired most of the US assets of the company in 1981, while two energy-related companies based in Calgary, Alberta, Bow Valley Resource Services, and NovaCorp, an Alberta corporation, purchased the Canadian assets, including the Kelowna, British Columbia plant, and the Western Star nameplate and product range.
Products.
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White AM armoured car
French First World War armoured car
The White AM armoured car (officially the Automitrailleuse White or abbreviated as the White AM) was a French First World War armoured car that was built on a commercial American White Motor Company truck chassis with armoured bodies supplied by the French firm Ségur & Lorfeuvre, it was used by the French military from its introduction in 1915. Between the wars the French military completely rebuilt the vehicles as the White-Laffly AMD 50 and the Laffly-Vincennes AMD 80, in these guises it served until at least 1943.
History.
In 1915 France imported bare White Motor Company trucks chassis from the United States for which the French firm Ségur & Lorfeuvre designed, manufactured and fitted armoured hulls locally, the designers were able to draw upon lesson learnt from the earlier Renault and Peugeot armoured cars, the White combining the two weapons from the two variants of the Peugeot into the one turret. An initial batch of 20 vehicles were built, known as the "White AM Mle 1915". In 1915 the Western Front had bogged down in trench warfare and there was little use in French service for armoured cars, so production was suspended. In 1917 production was recommenced using locally manufactured White truck chassis, known as the "White AM Mle 1917/1918", unlike the Mle 1915 they had right hand drive, approximately 230 were built. 205 White AMs were still in service by the war's end in 1918.
In the late 1920s the original White chassis were deemed to be completely worn out, but the armoured bodywork was seen to be in good condition so in 1927 and 1928 designs were drawn up to replace the chassis. The first prototype White-Laffly AMD 50 (AMD standing for Auto-Mitrailleuse de Découverte) was delivered in 1931 and 98 examples were upgraded, despite retaining none of the original White chassis the name White was retained to indicate the vehicle's origins. It was soon determined that a further upgrade was required and so in 1933 the first Laffly-Vincennes AMD 80 was delivered, in total 28 examples were produced before the French Army switched procurement to the completely new Panhard 178.
Design.
White AM.
The White AM consisted of a turreted armoured car built upon imported American White truck chassis, with the armoured bodywork built and fitted in France, later vehicles were built upon locally manufactured White truck chassis. The layout was similar to other armoured cars of the period with a front mounted engine, driver and co-driver in the centre behind the engine with the turret immediately behind the drivers, a set of duplicated rear facing driver's controls were at the rear of the hull to allow the vehicle to safely be driven backwards at speed. Fully loaded the vehicle weighted around , comparatively heavy compared to other similar armoured cars of the period.
The White AM's armoured hull had a maximum armour thickness of , it comprised approximately 30 armoured panels bolted onto a rigid steel frame and provided full over head protection for the crew. The fully enclosed turret housed a 37mm Puteaux SA 18 gun and an 8mm Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun, unusually the two weapons were at opposite sides of turret, in service this arrangement proved difficult for the gunner compared to a coaxial arrangement. The chassis was 4x2 rear wheel driven with leaf springs and doubled wheels at the rear, its 4-cylinder petrol engine delivered for a maximum speed of , it had a maximum range of .
White-Laffly AMD 50.
The White-Laffly AMD 50 upgrade saw the White chassis completely discarded, with armoured hull fitted to a Laffly chassis. The new chassis had a more powerful Laffly 4-cylinder engine delivering which gave an increased maximum speed of and increased range of , the vehicle retained the original turret with the 37 mm main armament, whilst the machine gun was substituted for a 7.5 mm FM 24/29 still in the rear facing position.

Laffly-Vincennes AMD 80.
The Laffly-Vincennes AMD 80 was a new design by Atelier de Fabrication de Vincennes, basing upon Laffly LC2 chassis, with a whole new body, superficially similar to previous designs. This chassis featured a more powerful again Laffly 4-cylinder engine delivering which gave an further increased maximum speed of and range of . The White-Laffly AMD 80 also had a new turret which mounted a 13.2 mm Hotchkiss M1929 heavy machine gun, a coaxial 7.5 mm FM 24/29 machine gun and a second FM 24/29 mounted at the rear of the turret.

Service.
By 1918 the French Army considered the White AM to be their best and most useful armoured car design and they were used extensively on the Western Front.
From 1937 both the White-Laffly AMD 50 and Laffly-Vincennes AMD 80 had been replaced in continental French service by the Panhard 178 and they were predominantly relegated to France's overseas territories, by May 1940 AMD 50s could be found in Algeria, Tunisia, Indochina and Lebanon although 13 remained in Metropolitan France, whilst all remaining AMD 80s were in French North Africa. The Metropolitan French examples were captured by the invading German forces and were briefly used by the Wehrmacht to train personnel. The vehicles in North Africa continued in service until at least 1943 when the remaining vehicles were replaced by American M8 Greyhounds. The 5th Algerian Spahis Regiment received a peloton of AM 80s in 1944 but they were replaced before 1946 by Panhard 165/175 armoured cars.
References.
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Windsor T. White
Windsor Thomas White (August 28, 1866 – April 9, 1958) was an American automobile developer. A native of Orange, Massachusetts, he produced the White steamer cars in 1900, and later expanded to trucks. These vehicles were used militarily during World War I. White, along with two of his brothers Rollin White and Walter, were inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1997.
He was the father of polo player Windsor Holden White.
References.
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Autocar Company
American truck manufacturer
The Autocar Company is an American specialist manufacturer of severe-duty, Class 7 and Class 8 vocational trucks, with its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. Started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 1897 as a manufacturer of early Brass Era automobiles, and trucks from 1899, Autocar is the oldest surviving motor vehicle brand in the Western Hemisphere.
Their last cars of their own manufactures were produced in 1911; after that the company continued as a maker of severe-duty trucks. The Autocar Company was taken over 42 years later, in 1953, by the White Motor Company (established 1900), which made Autocar their top-of-the-line brand for continuing producing heavy-duty industrial trucks. White Motors was in turn taken over 28 years later by Volvo Trucks of Sweden in 1981, with Autocar continuing as a separate division. In 2001, Autocar was acquired by GVW Group, LLC, which revived Autocar as an independent company. Autocar now builds four models of custom-engineered heavy-duty trucks and has regained leading positions in several vocational segments.
History.
The company was originally called the Pittsburgh Motor Vehicle Company when started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 1897 but was renamed two years later in 1899 as The Autocar Company when it moved east across the "Keystone State" to Ardmore, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. One of the company's early cars was named the "Pittsburgher". By 1907, the company had decided to concentrate on commercial vehicles and soon withdrew from the passenger automobile manufacturing / production business, and the "Autocar" brand is still in use a century and a quarter later for commercial trucks.
Based on the minutes of Autocar company board of directors meetings during 1903–1907, it is known that in 1903 the board of directors included the president, Louis S. Clarke, the secretary, John S. Clarke, and James K. Clarke. Both Louis Semple Clarke and his brother John S. Clarke were members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club connected with the causes of the disaster of the Great Johnstown Flood of May 1889.
Founder.
Autocar founder Louis Semple Clarke (1867–1957) was a successful mechanical engineer. Among Clarke's innovations were the porcelain-insulated spark plug for gasoline engines, a perfected drive shaft system for automobiles, and the first design of a useful oil circulation system. Other impacts include Clarke's initiative to place the driver on the left hand side of the vehicle which eventually became the standard in much of the automotive industry worldwide, as well as the Autocar thread specification which became the standard in the U.S. automotive industry.
Clarke was also a talented photographer. His family were members of the exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club above Johnstown, Pennsylvania, whose earthen dam at Lake Conemaugh burst on May 31, 1889, causing the Johnstown Flood.
Clarke sold his interest in Autocar in 1929 and retired from business. He died in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 6, 1957, and is buried in Allegheny Cemetery, in Pittsburgh.
Products.

Clarke experimented with a series of vehicles from 1897, with a tricycle, later called "Autocar No. 1", now in the collection of the Smithsonian. In 1899 the company, now renamed Autocar, built the first motor truck ever produced for sale in North America. The first production Autocar automobile was a 1900 single cylinder chain drive runabout. About 27 were made. In 1901 Autocar built the first car in North America to use shaft drive. This vehicle is also now in the Smithsonian collection.
The 1904 Autocar was equipped with a tonneau; it could seat four passengers and sold for $1,700 (). The horizontal-mounted flat twin engine, situated at the front of the car, produced 11 hp (8.2 kW). This was a somewhat unusual engine design for the time, with most companies producing inline designs. A three-speed transmission was fitted. The steel and wood-framed car weighed 1675 lb (760 kg). The early cars had tiller steering.
In 1905, the company was selling the Type XII car for $2,250 () and another it called the Type X for $1,000 (). It discontinued the Type XI and sold the last of them in 1905. The cars then had a wheel steering with left-hand drive.
The Type X was a runabout. During the 1905–1906 model year the company produced 1000 Type X cars. The manufacture of 500 Type XV runabouts was authorized for 1907 in place of 500 touring cars (Type XIV) in addition to the 1000 runabouts already planned. At special meeting on June 19, 1906, held at 711 Arcade Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the board authorized the hiring of a general manager by the name of Harry A. Gillis at a salary of $10,000 per year. Production of 300 Type XVI cars and 500 Type XVII were authorized during a board meeting on November 21, 1906.
Commercial vehicles were made the focus from 1907 and soon outnumbered cars.
As of 1911, Autocar was making only trucks. The first model, the Type XVII, had a 97-inch wheelbase, a one and a half-ton capacity, and a two-cylinder gasoline engine under the seat. Later engines had 4 and 6 cylinders, and wheelbases became longer. Inline engines became the company's focus.
During World War I, the Canadian Armoured Autocar used an Autocar chassis.
In 1929, Autocar sold 3300 units, though the number fell to 1000 in 1932 and continued to decline during the Great Depression. Larger trucks with "Blue Streak" gasoline engines and Diesel engines, mainly from Cummins, came later.
During World War II, Autocar supplied 50,000 units to the military, including specialty vehicles such as half-tracks; during its entire prewar history, the company had only built 70,000 units. Autocar ranked 85th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. Civilian production resumed in 1944 and sales increased greatly after the war. Autocar soon had 100 dealers.
Models.
For specifications on various Autocar Company models:
Subsidiary of White Motor Company.
The boom after the war ended quickly, however; and in 1953, Autocar sold out to the White Motor Company, which made Autocar their top-of-the-line brand among their "Big Four" brand portfolio. The Ardmore plant was replaced in 1954 with a new plant in Exton, Pennsylvania, though the Ardmore plant burned while being torn down in 1956 and the fire could have destroyed a neighborhood.
AP off-road vehicles became an important product for Autocar. The 1964 AP19 shown in September 2007 at a Golden Age Truck Museum exhibit "has a GCW of 900,000 lbs, a 30,000lb front axle, planetary rear axles rated at 200,000 lbs, and was originally powered with a 525 HP Cummins V-12 diesel which was later replaced with a 6-cylinder Cummins KT rated at 750 HP."
Most Autocar trucks continued to use the Autocar Driver Cab; in 1977 Autocar launched the Construcktor 2 model which used the Xpeditor cab that had recently been launched by sister-company, White.
The Exton plant ended production in 1980, with production moving to the modern White plant in Ogden, Utah.
White, Volvo and GMC.
Shortly after the move to Utah in 1980, with White insolvent, in 1981 AB Volvo acquired the U.S. assets and brands to become Volvo-White LLC. Volvo produced trucks under both the White and Autocar brands and Autocar continued as the division focused on severe-duty trucks. The Autocar DK severe-duty line was launched in 1983 and, as a replacement of the DC line, was used in heavy dump truck, concrete mixer, refuse, and oil field applications, among many others. Also launched in 1983 was the Autocar AT64F, a top-of-the-line long-haul tractor marketed as "The Legend". The last traditional Autocar with a "Custom Driver Cab" was made in Ogden on December 18, 1987. In 1988, the DK was replaced by the Autocar ACL and ACM models, which used the White Xpeditor cab, first used by Autocar in the Construcktor 2 model. While the AC-series trucks were tough and reliable, they incorporated an expanded number of Volvo components and, for some Autocar loyalists, marked a dilution of the Autocar brand.
Volvo-White bought GMC's heavy truck business in 1987 creating the Volvo WhiteGMC brand. Volvo later dropped any reference to White but used the Autocar bow-tie emblem on the radiator and hood side panels. In 1996 "Autocar" became a truck model name.
Autocar remained a part of Volvo until 2001. When Volvo acquired the North American operations of Renault Trucks in 2000, including its wholly-owned subsidiary Mack Trucks, the merged company would have had an excess or anti-competitive share of the refuse truck market sector. Volvo agreed to sell select designs for the Xpeditor low cab-forward severe-duty products, intellectual properties, and the Autocar brand to Highland Park, Illinois-based "Grand Vehicle Works Holdings, LLC" (GVW Group). Autocar used the Xpeditor cab developed by White in the Autocar ACL and ACM conventional truck models and had also used it in the earlier Autocar Construcktor 2 conventional truck model, beginning in 1977.
Contemporary activities.
Once again independent after nearly 50 years, as of 2021 the Autocar company now employs over 400 at its manufacturing facilities in Birmingham, Alabama (model ACX cabover and model DC trucks) and Hagerstown, Indiana, where the company produces custom-engineered ACMD and ACTT models for severe-duty vocational applications. The company's severe-duty ACX model offers features ranging from improved ergonomic cabs, integrated controls, and complex multiple axle configurations, up to triple-steer, triple-drive 12x6 trucks weighing over 100,000 lbs. The Autocar ACX is now second nationally in several segments, including concrete pump trucks and refuse trucks. The Autocar ACTT is a leading model of terminal tractor. The company has a nationwide service network in the US. Autocar's customer base includes large fleets, private fleets and major municipalities in the United States and Canada such as Miami, Newark, Houston, Chicago and Vancouver.
Autocar announced on September 13, 2017, that it had opened a second, 1.2 million square-foot manufacturing site in Birmingham, Alabama.
Since 2012, Autocar also builds a medium-duty vocational truck series called the Xpert (ACMD). It uses a 2-3 person cab made by Chinese Qixing (QX-PW21TGD). Autocar has also offered the Xpert with dual-steering system for garbage truck service.
Autocar announced on May 7, 2019, the relaunch of the DC conventional truck that had been the core of Autocar's business from the 1950s through the 1970s. The relaunched DC is completely new and reported to have several unique features, such as the first 160,000 PSI steel frame rails, an upgraded electrical system, and a cab that fits three workers and is designed for serviceability, with a full steel structure inside the dashboard and aluminum sheets as dash panels. The first version released is the DC-64R, which is purpose-built for refuse applications. Another unique feature of the DC is that Autocar mounts full roll-off hoist bodies on the Autocar production line, avoiding numerous problems when modifications are made after production. Additional variations of the DC announced include the DC-64D for dump trucks, the DC-64M for concrete mixer trucks, and the DC-64P specifically for concrete pump trucks.
On May 13, 2021, Autocar announced the launch of the E-ACTT, a fully electric terminal tractor. Autocar had first introduced electric trucks in 1923.
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Grahame-White
Grahame-White was an early British aircraft manufacturer, flying school and later manufacturer of cyclecars.
The company was established as "Grahame-White Aviation Company" by Claude Grahame-White at Hendon in 1911. The firm built mostly aircraft of its own design, including the successful Type XV, but during World War I produced Morane-Saulnier types under licence for the British military. The company ceased aircraft manufacturing operations in 1920.
In the same year the company was renamed "Grahame-White Company Ltd." and manufactured cyclecars until 1924 when the company ceased its operations completely.
Cyclecars.
From 1920 onwards a very basic two-seat 3.3 hp type with air-cooled single-cylinder engine of 348 cc capacity was offered. It had a two-speed transmission with final chain drive. The car had quarter elliptical spring suspension front and rear as well as flex in the wood frame and seat cushions. In 1921 a 7 hp type with a Coventry Victor twin-cylinder engine (capacity: 689 cc) and friction drive was added for one year only followed in 1924 by a four-cylinder 10 hp type with a Dorman engine of 1,094 cc, but very few were made. The final Angus-Sanderson cars were also made in the factory.
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Armstrong Whitworth
Former British heavy engineering company
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and aircraft.
The company was founded by William Armstrong in 1847, becoming Armstrong Mitchell and then Armstrong Whitworth through mergers. In 1927, it merged with Vickers Limited to form Vickers-Armstrongs, with its automobile and aircraft interests purchased by J D Siddeley.
History.
In 1847, the engineer William George Armstrong founded the Elswick works at Newcastle, to produce hydraulic machinery, cranes and bridges, soon to be followed by artillery, notably the Armstrong breech-loading gun, with which the British Army was re-equipped after the Crimean War. In 1882, it merged with the shipbuilding firm of Charles Mitchell to form Armstrong Mitchell & Company and at the time its works extended for over a mile (about 2 km) along the bank of the River Tyne.
Armstrong Mitchell merged again with the engineering firm of Joseph Whitworth in 1897. The company expanded into the manufacture of cars and trucks in 1902, and created an "aerial department" in 1913, which became the Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft subsidiary in 1920.
In 1927, it merged with Vickers Limited to form Vickers-Armstrongs.
Automobiles.
The Armstrong Whitworth was manufactured from 1904, when the company decided to diversify to compensate for a fall in demand for artillery after the end of the Boer War. It took over construction of the Wilson-Pilcher, designed by Walter Gordon Wilson, and produced cars under the Armstrong Whitworth name until 1919, when the company merged with Siddeley-Deasy and to form Armstrong Siddeley.
The Wilson-Pilcher was an advanced car, originally with a 2.4-litre engine, that had been made in London from 1901 until 1904 when production moved to Newcastle. When Armstrong Whitworth took over production two models were made, a 2.7-litre flat four and a 4.1-litre flat six, the cylinders on both being identical with bore and stroke of 3.75in (95mm). The engines had the flywheel at the front of the engine, and the crankshaft had intermediate bearings between each pair of cylinders. Drive was to the rear wheels via a dual helical epicyclic gears and helical bevel axle. The cars were listed at £735 for the four and £900 for the six. They were still theoretically available until 1907. According to "Automotor" in 1904, "Even the first Wilson-Pilcher car that made its appearance created quite a sensation in automobile circles at the time on account of its remarkably silent and smooth running, and of the almost total absence of vibration".
The first Armstrong Whitworth car was the "28/36" of 1906 with a water-cooled, four-cylinder side-valve engine of 4.5 litres which unusually had "oversquare" dimensions of bore and stroke. Drive was via a four-speed gearbox and shaft to the rear wheels. A larger car was listed for 1908 with a choice of either 5-litre "30" or 7.6-litre "40" models sharing a bore but with strokes of and respectively. The "40" was listed at £798 in bare chassis form for supplying to coachbuilders. These large cars were joined in 1909 by the 4.3-litre "18/22" and in 1910 by the 3.7-litre "25", which seems to have shared the same chassis as the "30" and "40".
In 1911, a new small car appeared in the shape of the 2.4-litre "12/14", called the "15.9" in 1911, featuring a monobloc engine with pressure lubrication to the crankshaft bearings. This model had an wheelbase compared with the of the "40" range. This was joined by four larger cars ranging from the 2.7-litre "15/20" to the 3.7-litre "25.5".
The first six-cylinder model, the "30/50" with 5.1-litre bore by stroke engine came in 1912 with the option of electric lighting. This grew to 5.7 litres in 1913.
At the outbreak of war, as well as the 30/50, the range consisted of the 3-litre "17/25" and the 3.8-litre "20/30".
The cars were usually if not always bodied by external coachbuilders and had a reputation for reliability and solid workmanship. The company maintained a London sales outlet at New Bond Street. When Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers merged, Armstrong Whitworth's automotive interests were purchased by J D Siddeley as Armstrong Siddeley, based in Coventry.
An Armstrong Whitworth car is displayed in the Discovery Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Aircraft.
Armstrong Whitworth established an Aerial Department in 1912. This later became the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company. When Vickers and Armstrong Whitworth merged in 1927 to form Vickers-Armstrongs, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was bought out by J. D. Siddeley and became a separate entity.
Armaments.
The Elswick Ordnance Company (sometimes referred to as Elswick Ordnance Works, but usually as "EOC") was originally created in 1859 to separate William Armstrong's armaments business from his other business interests, to avoid a conflict of interest as Armstrong was then Engineer of Rifled Ordnance for the War Office and the company's main customer was the British Government. Armstrong held no financial interest in the company until 1864 when he left Government service, and Elswick Ordnance was reunited with the main Armstrong businesses to form Sir W.G. Armstrong & Company. EOC was then the armaments branch of W.G. Armstrong & Company and later of Armstrong Whitworth.
Elswick Ordnance was a major arms developer before and during World War I. The ordnance and ammunition it manufactured for the British Government were stamped EOC, while guns made for export were usually marked "W.G. Armstrong". The 28 cm howitzer L/10 which played a major role in the Siege of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War was developed by Armstrong.
Locomotives.
After the Great War, Armstrong Whitworth converted its Scotswood Works to build railway locomotives. From 1919 it rapidly penetrated the locomotive market due to its modern plant. Its two largest contracts were 200 2-8-0s for the Belgian State Railways in 1920 and 327 Black 5 4-6-0s for the LMS in 1935/36.
AW also modified locomotives. In 1926 Palestine Railways sent six of its H class Baldwin 4-6-0 locomotives to AW for conversion into 4-6-2 tank locomotives to work the PR's steeply graded branch between Jaffa and Jerusalem. PR also sent another six H Class Baldwins for their defective steel fireboxes to be replaced with copper ones.
AW's well-equipped works included its own design department and enabled it to build large locomotives, including an order for 30 engines of three types for the modernisation of the South Australian Railways in 1926. These included ten 500 class 4-8-2 locomotives, which were the largest non-articulated locomotives built in Great Britain, and were based on Alco drawings modified by AW and SAR engineers. They were a sensation in Australia. AW went on to build 20 large three-cylinder "Pacific" type locomotives for the Central Argentine Railway (F.C.C.A) in 1930, with Caprotti valve gear and modern boilers. They were the most powerful locomotives on the F.C.C.A.
AW obtained the UK license for Sulzer diesels from 1919, and by the 1930s was building diesel locomotives and railcars. An early example is the Tanfield Railway's 0-4-0 diesel-electric shed pilot, No.2, which was built by AW as works number D22 in 1933. In the same year, the company launched the UK's first mainline diesel locomotive, the 800 bhp "Universal". It was successful in trials, but not repaired after an engine crankcase explosion a year later. A total of 1,464 locomotives were built at Scotswood Works before it was converted back to armaments manufacture in 1937.
Overseas operations.
After the end of WWI demand for armaments and naval ships all but evaporated, and Armstrong Whitworth had to look into diversifying its business.
The company built a hydroelectric station at Nymboida, New South Wales, near Grafton, Australia in 1923–1924. This is still in use and is substantially original. In 1925 the company tendered unsuccessfully to construct the South Brisbane-Richmond Gap (on the New-South Wales-Queensland border) section of the last stage of the standard gauge railway linking Sydney and Brisbane. This was a heavily engineered railway which includes a long tunnel under the Richmond Range forming the state border and a spiral just south of the border. AW's tender price was £1,333,940 compared with Queensland Railway's tender price of £1,130,142. In the mid-1920s the company clearly was trying to break into the booming Australian market, but was stymied by a preference for local companies.
The Dominion of Newfoundland, an island country then mostly dependent on its fishery, had plenty of pulpwood but only one paper mill at Grand Falls-Windsor and one pulp mill at Bishop's Falls, both built in the 1900s. The owners of the Reid Newfoundland Company convinced AW to invest in building a second paper mill at Corner Brook, to be supplied with hydroelectricity from a generating station 50 km away at Deer Lake. A joint venture, the Newfoundland Power and Paper Company, was founded in 1923. After much fighting between Harry Reid and then-PM of the dominion Richard Squires, the so-called Humber project (after the Humber River) received support from the local government and loan guarantees both from it and the UK; Squires even campaigned on it, making "Hum on the Humber" his slogan for the 1923 Newfoundland general election.
The company was heavily involved with the establishment of the town of Deer Lake. The hydroelectric station there was built between 1922 and 1925, while the canal system used by the hydroelectric station helped to expand the forestry operations in the area. Some of the equipment used in the construction of the Panama Canal was shipped to Newfoundland. The pulp and paper mill in Corner Brook began operations in 1925. Overall, AW spent about £5M (equivalent to £ million in 2023) on the development, which went significantly over the original budget and led to an overdraft, only to witness a consistent decline in newsprint and pulp prices after 1923, which was caused by overexpansion of the Canadian industry and wasn't predicted by either party of the project, both lacking experience in paper trade. Since on a falling paper market longtime players with established customer bases had a clear advantage, shareholders sold their well-working but overleveraged and loss-making business to International Paper & Power Company in 1927. The deal left AW with a loss of £2.8M, and the whole group collapsed.
Shipbuilding.
Shipbuilding was the major division of the company. From 1879 to 1880 the predecessor shipbuilding company of Charles Mitchell laid down a cruiser for the Chilean Navy at Low Walker Yard. This vessel was later supplied to Japan as the 'Tsukushi' of 1883; the ship was launched as of Armstrong Mitchell build. Between 1885 and 1918 Armstrong built warships for the Royal Navy, Beiyang Fleet, Imperial Russian Navy, Brazil Navy Imperial Japanese Navy, and the United States Navy. Amongst these were HMS "Glatton" which, due to bodged construction, suffered a magazine explosion in Dover Harbour less than one month after commissioning.
Armstrong Mitchell and later Armstrong Whitworth built many merchant ships, freighters, tank-ships, and dredgers; notable among them was the ice-breaking train ferries in 1897 and in 1900, built to connect the Trans-Siberian Railway across Lake Baikal. The company built the first polar icebreaker in the world: "Yermak" was a Russian and later Soviet icebreaker, having a strengthened hull shaped to ride over and crush pack ice.
Mergers and demergers.
In 1927, the defence and engineering businesses merged with those of Vickers Limited to create a subsidiary company known as Vickers-Armstrongs. The aircraft and Armstrong Siddeley motors business were bought by J. D. Siddeley and became a separate entity. Production at the Scotswood Works ended in 1979 and the buildings were demolished in 1982.
Products.
Hydraulic engineering installations.
The forerunner companies, W. G. Armstrong & Co. and later, from 1883 "Sir WG Armstrong Mitchell & Company", were heavily involved in the construction of hydraulic engineering installations. Notable examples include:
Ships.
Between 1880 and 1925 they built a number of warships:
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They built oil tankers, including:
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Locomotives.
Armstrong Whitworth built a few railway locomotives between 1847 and 1868, but it was not until 1919 that the company made a concerted effort to enter the railway market.
Contracts were obtained for the construction and supply of steam and diesel locomotives to railway systems in Britain and overseas, including those detailed in the following table.
Armament.
Cannons and other armament were produced by the Elswick Ordnance Company, the armament division of Armstrong Whitworth. An especially notable example is the Armstrong 100-ton gun.
References.
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Bibliography.
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White Road Commander
The White Road Commander was a series of heavy-duty cab-over trucks built by the White Motor Company from 1972 until 1980. After Volvo Trucks's 1980 takeover the Road Commander received a light facelift and continued to be sold as the White High Cabover.
Design.
In 1975 the modernized Road Commander 2 was introduced, with a split wraparound windshield and redesigned cabin using the "tapered" doors seen across the White lineup (many "2" version Autocars, and other classic White-owned Autocar and Western Star trucks sharing the White classic cab). Originally fitted with single round headlights, in the 1980s twin rectangular units also became available.
The Road Commander 2 has a bolted frame made of high tensile steel, while the all-aluminum cabin is hydraulically tilted. This allows access to a wide range of available diesel engines from Cummins, Caterpillar, and other manufacturers. The available range in 1977 was from . An unusual feature for the time was the RC2's pull-out drawer containing all electrical fuses and connections, located inside the cab.
The later White High Cabover was available in WHS ("White High-cab Short"), WHL ("White High-cab Long"), WHE ("Extended") and WHM ("Medium") versions.
After the White nameplate was combined with that of GMC in 1988 the design continued to be built as a White GMC.
Foreign sales.
The RC2 was also sold in many export markets, as such models met all period EEC and ECE regulations. It was sold in several European markets such as Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Western Star.
Western Star had originally been created by White in 1967, specifically to target the west coast trucking markets dominated by west coast makers Peterbilt and Kenworth. After White was purchased by Volvo in 1980, Western Star went its separate way — but the White-built cabovers continued to be available in Canada and in some western states with Western Star badging. The Western Star model never received the diagonal crossbar logo that other Volvo-built White trucks had. The Western Star Cabover also has a riveted on shield beneath the front windshield, helping to alter its appearance.
References.
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Whitlock (manufacturing)
"This article may confuse and conflate two (or more) separate English manufacturers of carriages and automobiles and commercial vehicles across the claimed span of 213 years! Please Note: :de: Wikipedia both warns and
differentiates between
and the older "
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The Whitlock company, based in London, England, started as a carriage builder in 1778, moved into the car industry in 1903 and finally closed in 1991.
History.
Joseph Whitlock had set up his company making coaches and carriages in Holland Park, London in 1778. They must have been successful as by the start of the twentieth century they described themselves as "Coachbuilders to the Royal Family".
1900s.
In 1903 a move into the car business was made when they started to sell the Whitlock Century. They had not built this themselves however, it was a re-badged car from Century Engineering (1885-1907) (), a manufacturer in Willesden, London, but they may well have built its body. In 1904 the range was expanded with (probably) engines and chassis from the French Aster (Ateliers de Construction Mecanique l'Aster) company again probably with Whitlock's own coachwork. Aster manufactured engines in Saint-Denis, Paris, in single, twin or four cylinder configurations, and in 1904 they also produced a chassis.
A separate company was formed in 1905 called The Whitlock Automobile Company which continued to market the Whitlock-Aster cars which, although well received, could not have been a commercial success as the company closed down in 1906. Meanwhile, another coachbuilder had been operating in Liverpool founded in 1870 by Jo Lawton and called J A Lawton and Company. It also turned to car body making and in the early 1900s opened a London works run by William Lawton-Goodman, Jo Lawton's nephew. Lawton died in 1913 and left the company in his will to his brother, leaving William with nothing, so he started a new company, Lawton-Goodman Ltd, and took over the defunct name of Whitlock and moved to new premises in Slade Works, Cricklewood, north London. Two new models were announced, initially called Lawtons but rapidly changing to Whitlock. Before production could be established war broke out.
First World War.
During the war years the company concentrated on building ambulances on both its own and other makers' chassis and fuselages for De Havilland DH4 aircraft.
1920s.
In 1924, a new range of cars was announced still using bought in mechanical components. The smallest was the 11, 12 or 12/35 built until 1925 and using a Coventry Climax (or Coventry Simplex) engine of 1368 cc or an Anzani engine of 1496 cc. Larger was the 14, also called the 16/50, with a six-cylinder 1755 cc or 1991 cc Coventry Climax built from 1924 to 1926 and bigger still the 20/70 with 6-cylinder 2973 cc Meadows engine made from 1926 to 1930. The latter car had a radiator very reminiscent of their near neighbours Bentley. William Lawton-Goodman died in 1932, but his sons carried on the business, turning to commercial vehicle bodies but continuing some car body work.
Second World War.
During the Second World War the company returned again to making ambulances.
Post-war.
With peace in 1945, the company seems to have concentrated on making mobile shops and ice cream vans, continuing to the early 1980s, after which it concentrated on repairs. In 1991, the lease on Slade Works ran out and the company closed.
One Whitlock car is known to survive.
References.
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Fiat-Omsky armoured car
Russian army wheeled light armored car (1918–1921)
The Fiat-Omsky () was a Russian light armored car used by the White Army in the Russian Civil War. It was the only serially produced armoured car built by the White Army, and were used exclusively by the Siberian Army on the Eastern Front in the Siberia and Russian Far East regions.
History.
The Fiat-Omsky vehicles were commissioned by Admiral Alexander Kolchak, the leading White commander on the Eastern Front, following his return from the United States. At the time, both the White Army and the Red Army were using handmade armoured cars in limited numbers. The Fiat-Omsky was constructed using Fiat Tipo 5 chassis supplied from the United States, with different variations equipped with light armour plating and one or two PM M1910 machine guns attached to wheelhouses on sponsons. There are discrepancies in the construction of the Fiat-Omsky, as there are no known records of the designers, as well as the time and location of their manufacture. Reportedly, a series of about 15 vehicles was built from 1918 to 1919 in Omsk, hence the name "Fiat-Omsky", while other sources state they were built from 1919 to 1920 in Vladivostok, the port where the Fiat frames were delivered. Despite being successful in battle, the Fiat-Omsky vehicles were captured by Red forces during the gradual defeat of the White Army on the Eastern Front, and many of the vehicles were scrapped. Two of the cars entered active service in the People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic until 1921, when they were decommissioned. Many of the Fiat-Omsky cars survived, and at least one was known to come into possession of the Japanese by World War II, however the fate of these cars is unknown.

Bristol Cars
Manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars
Bristol Cars was a British manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Bristol, England. It was formed from the car division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company after the Second World War and later became independent as Bristol Cars Limited. After being placed in receivership and being taken over in 2011, it entered liquidation in February 2020.
Bristol was always a low-volume manufacturer; the most recent published official production figures were for 1982, which stated that 104 cars were produced in that year. The company also had only one sales showroom, on the corner of Kensington High Street and Holland Road in London.
The company suspended manufacturing in March 2011, when administrators were appointed, 22 staff were made redundant at the factory in Filton, Bristol and subsequently the company was dissolved. In April 2011, a new company was formed by the administrator to sell the original assets to Kamkorp. The new company was liquidated in 2020 in order to pay creditors.
History.
The British aircraft industry suffered a dramatic loss of orders and great financial difficulties following the Armistice of 1918. To provide immediate employment for its considerable workforce, the Bristol Aeroplane Company undertook the manufacture of a light car (the single-seat Bristol Monocar, powered by a motorcycle engine) and the construction of car bodies for Armstrong Siddeley, alongside bus bodies for their sister company, Bristol Tramways.
On the outbreak of World War II, Sir Stanley White, managing director of the Bristol Aeroplane Company from 1911 to 1954, was determined not to suffer the same difficulties a second time. The company now employed 70,000 and he knew he must plan for the time when the wartime demand for Bristol aircraft and aircraft engines would suddenly end. The company began working with AFN Ltd, manufacturers of Frazer Nash cars and British importer of BMWs before the war, on plans for a joint venture in automotive manufacture.
As early as 1941, a number of papers were written or commissioned by Sir George White, Sir Stanley's son, proposing a post-war car manufacturing division. It was decided to purchase an existing manufacturer for this purpose. Alvis, Aston Martin, Lagonda, ERA and Lea-Francis were considered.
Beginning.
In May 1945, a chance discussion took place between D. A. Aldington, a director of Frazer Nash then serving as an inspector for the wartime Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP), and Eric Storey, an assistant of George White at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It led to the immediate take-over of Frazer Nash by the aeroplane company.
Aldington and his two brothers had marketed the Frazer Nash BMW before the war, and proposed to build an updated version after demobilisation. This seemed the perfect match for the aeroplane company's own ambitions to manufacture a high quality sports car. With the support of the War Reparations Board, H. J. Aldington travelled to Munich and purchased the rights to manufacture three BMW models and the 328 engine.
By July 1945, BAC had created a car division and bought a controlling stake in AFN. A factory was established at Filton Aerodrome, near Bristol.
George White and Reginald Verdon-Smith of the aeroplane company joined the new Frazer Nash Board, but in January 1947, soon after the first cars had been produced, differences between the Aldingtons and Bristol led to the resale of Frazer Nash. The Bristol car division became an independent entity.
Independence.
Bristol Cars was sold after its parent joined with other British aircraft companies in 1960 to create the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), which later became part of British Aerospace.
The car division originally merged with Bristol Siddeley Engines, and was marked for closure, but was bought in September 1960 by George White, the chairman and effective founder. White retained the direction of the company, but sold a forty per cent shareholding to Tony Crook, a leading Bristol agent. Crook then became sole distributor.
New ownership.
In September 1969, only a month before the unveiling of the new Bristol 411 at the Earl's Court Motor Show, Sir George White (as he had become) suffered a serious accident in his Bristol 410. The car was only superficially damaged, but he suffered severe trauma.
As time passed it became clear that he would never regain his health sufficiently to return to full-time work. To safeguard the future of his workforce, he decided in 1973 to sell his majority shareholding to Crook. As the ties with the White family were severed, British Aerospace requested the company to move its factory from Filton Aerodrome and it found new premises in nearby Patchway. The showroom on Kensington High Street became the head office, with Crook shuttling between the two in Bristol's light aircraft.
Under Crook's direction the company produced at least six types, the names of which were largely borrowed from Bristol's aeronautical past: the Beaufighter, Blenheim, Britannia and Brigand.
End of the second era.
In February 1997, Crook, then aged 77, sold a fifty per cent holding in Bristol Cars to Toby Silverton, with an option to take full control within four years. Silverton, then son-in-law of Joe Lewis of the Tavistock Group and son of Arthur Silverton of Overfinch, joined the board with his father.
Crook and Toby Silverton produced the Speedster, Bullet, Blenheim and 411 Series 6, though 2002 saw the transfer of Bristol Cars fully into the ownership of Silverton and the Tavistock Group, with Silverton in the chair and Crook remaining as managing director. Together they developed a V10 engined two-seater named after the first Sir George White's First World War two-seater aircraft, the Bristol Fighter. Crook finally relinquished his connection with Bristol Cars in August 2007.
Kamkorp era (2011–2020).
On 3 March 2011 it was announced that Bristol Cars had gone into administration, with the loss of 22 jobs when the factory at Filton, Bristol was shut down. On 21 April 2011 another new company was formed to sell the assets of the former dissolved company; that company was purchased by Kamkorp, which also owned Frazer-Nash Research, a technology manufacturer of electric power systems. During this era, the company focused on restoring and selling all models of the marque while a new model was being developed.
In 2015 Bristol Cars announced the development of a new model codenamed "Project Pinnacle". Initial reports indicated it would be a petrol-electric hybrid with a petrol engine from BMW. However a later media report and a May 2015 press release, indicated that the car would have non-hybrid V8 power. The car, a two-seater roadster, made its first public appearance, slightly camouflaged, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2016. In July, the car was shown undisguised, technical details were announced, and its name given as the Bristol Bullet. However, subsequently there was no further news about the car's homologation, and many members of the sales and marketing team soon left the company. The Bullet was said to be powered by a normally aspirated 4.8-litre BMW N62 V8 engine (sharing the same drivetrain and chassis as the most recent Morgan Aero 8) driving the rear wheels, had a body of carbon fibre, weighed 1130 kg, and would cost £95,000. The planned production run was said to be limited to 70 cars to commemorate the marque's 70th anniversary.
On 5 March 2020 it was reported that Bristol cars had been officially wound up in order to pay creditors, with court-ordered liquidation under way. The Bristol Owners Club working together with the Bristol Owners and Drivers Association and the Bristol Owners Heritage Trust is reported to be actively engaged in order to preserve the heritage and associated spares for the marque.
Post liquidation (since 2021).
In 2021, intellectual property rights to Bristol Cars were registered by Bristol Fighter Limited, a subsidiary of Bristol Manufacturing Limited, owned by Essex based investor and property developer Jason Wharton, with revocation of 297 defunct trademarks. Wharton plans to transform the company into a "leading British electric vehicle company" by 2026, the brand's 80th anniversary. The new Bristol Cars would firstly launch "remastered" versions of historic cars with modernised mechanicals on a built to order basis. It was also reported that the new company will subsequently revive the Buccaneer nameplate for an all new electric vehicle. Shortly after this announcement, however, controversy erupted between Wharton and Bristol's insolvency practitioner Frost Group. The practitioner stated that Wharton had in fact not purchased any intellectual property rights, but had merely purchased certain tooling and spares at the auction of the company's assets. Despite this controversy, plans to revive the brand continued and Wharton announced in 2024 that Bristol would be revived as a contemporary coachbuilder by 2026.
Pre-war BMW designs, Aldington brothers and early cars.
HJ Aldington, a director of the Bristol Aeroplane Company affiliated AFN (BMW's pre-war concessionaire in the UK), used his British Army connections to visit the bombed BMW factory in Munich several times post-war. In 1945 he took plans for BMW cars back to Britain, and BMW chief engineer, Dr. Fritz Fiedler was also employed. Its first car was the Bristol 400, prototyped in 1946 and introduced at the 1947 Geneva Motor Show. Derived from immediately pre-WW2 BMW products (thanks to a connection to BMW through Frazer Nash), the chassis was based on the BMW 326, the engine on the 328, and the body on the 327. Even a variation on the famous double-kidney BMW grille was retained. Bristol, however, did a thorough examination of the car's handling and ended up with performance "only matched by outright purpose-built competition cars". Seven hundred of the Bristol 400 were built, 17 of which received "handsome" drophead bodywork from Pininfarina.
In 1949, the 400 was joined by the five-place 401. Bodied by Touring, it was aerodynamically sleeker, accelerated better, and had higher top speed. It was joined by the drophead 402, of which just 24 examples were built.
The 403 followed in 1953, which featured improved brakes, gearbox, dampers, heater, and engine (a detuned racing motor, in fact). Bristol would use this same engine in the 450, entered at Le Mans in 1953; it broke its experimental crankshaft, but despite being less than aerodynamically ideal proved fully five seconds a lap quicker than the competition. Bristol withdrew from racing two years later.
Along with the 403 was the 404, on a shorter wheelbase, with a more powerful engine and styling reminiscent of the 450. The 404 introduced a concealed front wing-mounted spare wheel and battery. It was built to extremely exacting standards, and the price reflected it; this, plus newly introduced "punitive taxation", meant only 40 were produced.
The 405, which entered production in 1954, was much more successful, not least for being Bristol's only four-door. It remained in production until 1958, with 297 saloons and 43 drophead coupés produced in all.
Bristol debuted the 406 in 1958, and it remained in production until 1961.
V8 cars.
The 406's replacement, the 407, was powered by a 5.2-litre V8 provided by Chrysler of Canada.
It was followed in 1963 by the 408, with drastic restyling as well as improved suspension. This was succeeded by the 409. Many buyers preferred the crisp steering and gearbox of the earlier six-cylinder cars.
The 410, introduced in 1966, was a return to the high-performance touring tradition, offering the same top speed as the 409, and superior acceleration, with the same powerplant. It also saw Bristol become a private company and marked a return to quality to the exclusion of output: no more than three cars a week were to be made.
In 1969, the Bristol 411 appeared, with a new 6.2-litre Chrysler V8 (still rebuilt and modified by Bristol, as before) delivering higher top speed and even better acceleration.
Engines.
Until 1961 all Bristol cars used Bristol-built derivatives of the BMW M328 2-litre six-cylinder engine. These engines also powered a number of sports and racing cars, including all post-war Frazer Nashes (apart from a few prototypes), some ACs, some Lotus and Cooper racing cars, and several others.
In 1961, with the launch of the Bristol 407, the company switched to larger Chrysler V8 engines, which were more powerful than Bristol's own, BMW derived 2.25-litre 6 cylinder engine. The Chrysler V8s could be bought off the shelf from Canadian Chrysler without the startup costs of Bristol's own 3.65-litre all alloy 6 then in development. All post-1961 Bristols, including the later Blenheim and Fighter models, used Chrysler engines.
References.
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Other sources.
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White Farm Equipment
Tractor manufacturers of the United States
White Farm Equipment is a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, now discontinued and owned by AGCO.
History.
In 1960, the