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All the Makes: Railton to Rover |
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RAILTON
(1933 - 1949) |
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RELIANT
(1935 - present)
Founded in 1935 by T L Williams to take over making
the Raleigh 3 wheeler delivery van, a vehicle that
Williams himself had designed in 1933, and one that
Raleigh no longer wished to make. Powered by a 750
cc V-twin engine driving the rear wheels through a
3 speed gearbox and shaft drive, in 1939 the engine
was replaced by Reliant's version of the straight four
cylinder 747cc Austin 7 side-valve engine. In 1952
a four seater was launched and, in 1956, the bodywork
was changed to fibre-glass.
The company then went on
to make other composite-bodied specialist vehicles,
such as the Scimitar, Saber Six and Reliant SS1 sports
cars, along with the three wheeled varieties such as
the Reliant Robin, Regan and Rialto. The Sabre Six
was powered by a Ford six cylinder engine, and when
it was replaced by the Scimitar coupe in 1966 the new
Ford V6 was used, and arguably best of all was the
1968 hatchback/estate GTE which could reach 193 km/h,
seat four adults and presented some very useable cargo
space, qualities very rare in a sports car. It quickly
garnered a stellar reputation, even Princess Anne became
a customer.
As for the three-wheelers, the Regal was
replaced by the more up-to-date Robin in 1973, then
a four wheeled version named the Kitten was launched,
this even being made under license in India as the
Dolphin. Reliant was also responsible for the production
of the 1970’s fun car, the Bond Bug, a sporty three wheeler
designed by the Ogle designer Tom Karen.
In 1982 the
Robin was replaced by the Rialto, then in 1985 the Reliant
SS1 made a fresh assault on the budget sports car market.
Reliant's expertise in the area of composite car body
production also saw the company produce lightweight body
shells for Ford RS200 Rally cars and new fiberglass bodied
London taxis, the "MetroCab" - the first to
have full wheelchair provision, manufactured by a division
of Kamkorp. Reliant has provided designs to several other
manufacturers, including Autocars in Israel and Otosan
in Turkey in the 1960s, MEBEA in Greece and Sipani in
India in the 1970s.
In 2001, production rights for the
Reliant Robin were sold to B&N Plastics, but production
ceased in 2002. Reliant has since concentrated on importing "speciality" vehicles
from European manufacturers, including Piaggio, Bultaco
and Ligier.
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RENAULT
(1898 - present)
Founded by Louis
Renault and his brothers Marcel and Fernaud as
the Société Renault Frères in 1898.
Louis provided the engineering expertise, while the brothers
concentrated on running the business. Their first car,
the “Voiturette”, was sold to a friend of
Louis after he took a test ride. The company turned to
motor racing to raise their profile, and Louis and Marcel
quickly garnered success in the first French city-to-city
races.
Marcel was tragically killed in an accident
during the 1903 Paris to Madrid race, and although
Louis would choose never to race again, he remained
committed to motor racing, his company taking out the
inaugural Grand Prix race of 1906 in a Renault AK 90CV.
Renault went on to manufacture cars, taxis, buses and
commercial vehicles in the pre-war years, however they
turned to munitions, airplanes and even the Renault
FT-17 tank during World War 1. Louis Renault was honored
by the Allies for his company's contributions to their
victory, and by wars end Renault was the number one
private manufacturer in France. A dark period for the
manufacturer came during the next conflict, Renault
using their factories to manufacture trucks for Nazi
Germany.
Just how Louis Renault should have played
his hand during this dark period of history remains
debatable, but following the liberation of France in
1944 he was arrested and sent to prison; he would be
killed (broken neck) before having time to prepare
his defense.
The Renault industrial assets were seized
by the provisional government, their factories becoming
a public concern. Against the odds, new chief Pierre
Lefaucheux would lead the company into a resurgence,
mostly attributable to the wonderful 4CV model, a car
that rivaled the German Beetle and British Morris Minor.
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RILEY
(1899 - 1969)
Riley started out as a family concern, for many years
working as master weavers. With a downturn in trade
to both Germany and Austria William Riley, who had
inherited the business from his father, decided he
needed to diversify, and so in 1890 he acquired the
Bonnick Cycle Company. Against Riley’s wishes,
his five sons would experiment with engines, and in
1899 the company had manufactured their first powered
tricycle. In 1902 brothers Victor, Allan and Percy
(the designer) would start the Riley Engine Company,
manufacturing engines for both their fathers products,
and others such as Singer. They would patent the mechanically
operated inlet valve, and in 1907 the detachable road
wheel.
This latter invention would have almost universal
appeal to the burgeoning worldwide automotive industry,
with 183 manufacturers taking up patent rights so they
could use the detachable wheels on their iterations.
Naturally enough the decision was made to concentrate
on wheel manufacture, and in 1911 bicycle manufacture
was discontinued.
Enlisting the help of Harry Rush
as designer, Riley would release their first aptly
named “Light Car” in 1919, but the cost
of bringing the car to market proved too great, and
the company went into receivership. Lord Nuffield would
come to the rescue, buying the company privately before
later selling it to his own Morris conglomerate.
In
1926 Riley took the wraps off its prototype “Riley
9”, the “Monaco” version arguably
the first small car to feature fully enclosed saloon
bodywork. The 9 used a completely new engine featuring
overhead valves, and they would soon find success on
the track – extremely popular for the time, approximately
6000 would be sold between 1926 and 1929. After the
war Riley was only ever a shadow of its former self,
the 1953 Pathfinder being the last to use a Riley engine.
In 1961 a Riley version of the Mini was launched – afforded
a better standard of trim it was obvious that by now
the company lived on by name alone. But even that was
short lived, with British Leyland pulling the plug
on the name entirely in 1969.
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Marques | Price
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ROLLS-ROYCE
(1906 - present)
Arguably the most famous partnership in automotive
history belongs to Rolls Royce. Having acquired a Deauville
car, Henry Royce was so dissatisfied that he decided
to build his own; somewhat of a perfectionist his first
car, the 10hp, ran with unsurpassed precision. It would
impress many, none more so than one Charles Rolls,
who offered to sell as many cars as Royce could manufacture.
A partnership was formed, and Rolls Royce born.
At
first there would be only one model, a running chassis
40/50 that required the purchaser to obtain a body
from a coachbuilder (a practice not uncommon for the
time). As demand grew, the company would move from
Manchester to Derby, then came the smaller Twenty,
powered by a new overhead valve six of 3.1 liters,
which would grow to 4.3 liters by 1936.
The 40/50 was
replaced by the awesome 7.6 liter Phantom, which featured
a hypoid rear axle with allowed the body to sit lower
on the car, resulting in a significant handling improvement;
this would be the last car designed by Royce, he passing
in 1933. Subsequent exports to the US market would
ensure the marques survival through the difficult depression
years, there even being a factory set up in Springfield
Massachusetts (in 1919) to build cars not only designed
for US conditions, but to avoid the crippling US Tariff’s. The Phantom III of 1935
was powered by a V12 to help it compete with the best
Detroit could offer, it fitted with independent front
suspension.
The company would garner a stellar reputation
during the Second World War with the Merlin engines fitted
to Britain’s Spitfire fighter and Lancaster bomber.
After the war Rolls Royce switched to providing their
cars with factory fitted bodies, each built with the
same care and precision that went with the chassis and
engines. It has always been the case that Britain has
produced the finest in quality combined with upper-class, the
Silver Ghost, Silver Cloud and Silver Shadow are without
peer, and only one company would have dared manufacture
cars of this ilk, one founded by a perfectionist of
course.
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ROVER
(1904 - 2005)
Founded in 1877 in a partnership between John Kemp
Starley and William Sutton, the Coventry based bicycle
company would be at the forefront of modern bicycle
design. Car manufacture would commence in 1904 with
a range of single and twin cylinder sleeve-valve engines,
one of their cars even taking out the 1907 Tourist
Trophy race. The company would supply motorcycles to
both the British and the Russian Armies during World
War 1, along with Maudslay trucks and Sunbeam cars
to government orders.
Models released after the war
were much better sellers than the pre-war sleeve-valve
models, and from the 1920’s the company expanded manufacturing
a wide range of cars, although it was not until the
1930’s until the company managed to turn a healthy
profit, under the management of Spencer Wilks. The
Rover’s became renowned for their quality, and
by the World War 2 the company had garnered an enviable
reputation among the upper middle class. The 1948 P3
was the first all new iteration to follow the war,
it sharing its new inlet-over-exhaust engine with the
other newcomer, the Land Rover.
The P4 would follow
in 1949, featuring a beautiful new saloon body and
paving the way for a long line of high class and beautifully
made iterations, including the P5 of 1959. Such were
the profits being made from the venerable Land Rover
that the company was able to experiment with such things
as gas turbine power, one even competing at Le-Mans.
The 1963 P6 2000 set the benchmark for executive style
transportation, featuring all-round disc brakes and
independent suspension. Rover would become part of
the troubled British Leyland conglomerate in the 1970’s,
the halcyon days now reserved for the history books.
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