Birmingham Stories | Britain falls in love with the motorcar

back

Britain falls in love with the motorcar
Frederick Lanchester's unusual design

Listen to the words of George Lanchester explaining how the project evolved | © Thinktank Trust

back to story

‘After the 1914-1918 War, my brother Dr Frederick William and I were discussing the possibility of a small two-seat car.
We both had ideas on the subject but decided, rather than divide our effort, it would be better to work together.

The conception was to build a cheap car mainly of wood, to sell at something under £100.

We called the first experiment the “Heath Robinson” car.  It was a 3-wheeler with single wheel in front.  The major portions of the car were made by me in my back yard.  We very quickly condemned the 3-wheel version, and using such parts as were appropriate, built a 4 wheeler.

In Mark II we had a mahogany car body made by Saunders, the yacht builders of Cowes.  This car I drove about a great deal and if I stopped at a shop it immediately drew a small crowd.  Often I was asked ‘where can get a car like this’, or ‘it’s just the sort of car I want’.

The next Mark was further developed by my brother who designed a neat engine, a flat twin so that it could be housed under a luggage deck, instead of being perched up visibly as was the two-cylinder “V” motorcycle engine.

Fred took this one over entirely for his own use, and I think it was the one in which he crashed into the back of a lorry. Thereafter his ideas became more ambitious, and the petrol-electric busied him, resulting in the car now being salvaged for the Museum.

In my opinion this was a mistake.  The car grew in weight, cost, and complication, so that it no longer was suitable for the market originally envisaged. Moreover, in the meantime all these devil opponents were progressing; the Austin produced their 4 HP 4-cylinder car of orthodox appearance and completely dominated the small, cheap car market.

When my brother died, his workshop was sold and the car and engine were sold to a dealer, intending that they should be sold for sources, but evidently the dealer saw in them a more profitable deal if resold as useable machines.

How often does the genius continue to develop and improve his designs until the original concept is lost!’

Performed by Peter Dickson, Crescent Theatre Company, Birmingham