 |
BACK | | Britain falls in love with the motorcar
Frederick Lanchester's unusual design |
|
| | |
|
DESCRIPTION Petrol-Electric Car
MANUFACTURER Dr Frederick William Lanchester (1868-1946), British
INVENTOR/DESIGNER Dr Frederick William Lanchester (1868-1946), British
DATE 1926
MATERIAL Steel, copper alloy, brass, wood, rubber, glass, paint
DIMENSIONS 1570x3610x1450
PROVENANCE Private gift in 1961
LOCATION Thinktank
CAT. NO 1961.S.01404 | |
|
Lanchester Petrol-Electric Mark 7 Prototype Car | © Thinktank Trust | Come and see it in the Move It gallery at Thinktank
While most early cars were imported, Frederick Lanchester built the first British car in Saltley, Birmingham in 1896. He designed it from scratch to avoid paying to use patents registered by European inventors like Benz.
Frederick was most famous for designing luxury cars but in the 1920s he began designing a budget car with his brother George. Things did not go to plan and instead a new concept emerged - a petrol-electric car. However, its radical design meant it never went into production. Another engineer, Herbert Austin had more success with budget cars... MORE |
|
|
| |
|
