Turns out where I live and work was once literally MECCA for cool old cars being built and I had NO IDEA! Way cooler than anything made near you.
We all know that when they weren't busy POISONING the Thames with their linoleum waste products, Staines once housed the Lagonda factory. But DID YOU KNOW about the others?
You might have heard of Atalanta,which was a desperate attempt in 2011 to make money by reviving an old brand who built luxury sports cars between 1937 and 1939. They built a whopping twenty cars and even managed to stick one in the 1938 Le Mans 24hrs.
Lazy Wikipedia link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atalanta_(1937_automobile)
Then there was Tamplin, initially on Kingston Road in Staines between 1919 and 1923. They built cyclecars which, if you're too lazy to click the link, were small inexpensive cars sort of halfway between a motorbike and car and usually only seating two. Let's have a look at some of those:
Pretty shonky to start with, but soon gained aero wheel covers (important if you're me) and a roof. Powered by J V-twin engines. Quite a bit more information on the net about these than than the Atalanta. I'll just bore you with a Graces Guide and Wikipedia link but there's lots to read about these with a Google search.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamplin
www.gracesguide.co.uk/Tamplin_Motors
I'll try and get a picture of Railway Garage. Pretty sure I know which building it is, assuming it's still there.
AND I'M NOT DONE YET. Because we've got to cover where I work as well. Which is currently Teddington. And that's where they made the pointy AV Monocar between 1919 and 1924.
Looks like almost nothing of that era got away with not being raced at Brooklands. AV Monocar was no exception.
Again, loads of info on these if you search, but here's a lazy Wikipedia link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AV_(cyclecar)
I might take a wander and see if I can work out where their factory was on Somerset Road
So I'm pretty sure I've won this already because these are all cooler than anything made near you. But are they? Prove me wrong. What did they make near you? (Doesn't have to be as old as these.)
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Edit 1: Posted this update further in the thread. Adding it here so I can find it later, as I'm planning to do a ride-around to see if I can find some of the old premises.
I thought I might do a ride-around and see if I could find any of the old works. While looking up addresses, I found this site:
www.geocities.ws/kelada2000/cars.htm
I didn't even know Geocities still existed, but it looks a bit like geocities.ws rescued all the old sites and re-hosted them. There used to be a lot of good information on them back in the day and I thought it was all gone. That can make the links a bit harder to access, particularly on sites which are long gone. However, wayback machine makes it a bit easier.
From the links there, we've got:
Carden in Teddington who became AV Motors. Apparently the garage on Teddington railway bridge was still called AV Motors until a few years ago, so that shouldn't be too hard to find. The AV factory was on Somerset Road. These are all a 5 minute ride from work.
Tamplin in Staines were at Railway Garage, Kingston Road, Staines. There's an Art Deco building around there which could have been their premises. Maybe a pipe dream hoping it's that one, but you never know. Else, there are quite a few other premises along that bit of the road which could have also been a garage back then. I can go down this road on the way home from work. The Tamplins of Twickenham premises in Twickenham shouldn't be too hard to find, as all of them have building numbers in the WBM link.
Frazer Nash in Isleworth. Bit of a longer ride, this one, as will be HRG.
Railton will be more of a weekend ride, but shouldn't be too hard to find.
Cooper were in Surbiton. That's doable one lunchtime, as is the Cooper's house in Kingston.
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Edit 2: Ride-around 1 results, looking for Carden and AV in Teddington: forum.retro-rides.org/post/2679389/thread
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Edit 3: Looking for Tamplin in Staines: forum.retro-rides.org/post/2682695/thread
We all know that when they weren't busy POISONING the Thames with their linoleum waste products, Staines once housed the Lagonda factory. But DID YOU KNOW about the others?
You might have heard of Atalanta,
Lazy Wikipedia link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atalanta_(1937_automobile)
Then there was Tamplin, initially on Kingston Road in Staines between 1919 and 1923. They built cyclecars which, if you're too lazy to click the link, were small inexpensive cars sort of halfway between a motorbike and car and usually only seating two. Let's have a look at some of those:
Pretty shonky to start with, but soon gained aero wheel covers (important if you're me) and a roof. Powered by J V-twin engines. Quite a bit more information on the net about these than than the Atalanta. I'll just bore you with a Graces Guide and Wikipedia link but there's lots to read about these with a Google search.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamplin
www.gracesguide.co.uk/Tamplin_Motors
I'll try and get a picture of Railway Garage. Pretty sure I know which building it is, assuming it's still there.
AND I'M NOT DONE YET. Because we've got to cover where I work as well. Which is currently Teddington. And that's where they made the pointy AV Monocar between 1919 and 1924.
Looks like almost nothing of that era got away with not being raced at Brooklands. AV Monocar was no exception.
Again, loads of info on these if you search, but here's a lazy Wikipedia link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AV_(cyclecar)
I might take a wander and see if I can work out where their factory was on Somerset Road
So I'm pretty sure I've won this already because these are all cooler than anything made near you. But are they? Prove me wrong. What did they make near you? (Doesn't have to be as old as these.)
------------------------------------------------------
Edit 1: Posted this update further in the thread. Adding it here so I can find it later, as I'm planning to do a ride-around to see if I can find some of the old premises.
I thought I might do a ride-around and see if I could find any of the old works. While looking up addresses, I found this site:
www.geocities.ws/kelada2000/cars.htm
I didn't even know Geocities still existed, but it looks a bit like geocities.ws rescued all the old sites and re-hosted them. There used to be a lot of good information on them back in the day and I thought it was all gone. That can make the links a bit harder to access, particularly on sites which are long gone. However, wayback machine makes it a bit easier.
From the links there, we've got:
Carden in Teddington who became AV Motors. Apparently the garage on Teddington railway bridge was still called AV Motors until a few years ago, so that shouldn't be too hard to find. The AV factory was on Somerset Road. These are all a 5 minute ride from work.
Tamplin in Staines were at Railway Garage, Kingston Road, Staines. There's an Art Deco building around there which could have been their premises. Maybe a pipe dream hoping it's that one, but you never know. Else, there are quite a few other premises along that bit of the road which could have also been a garage back then. I can go down this road on the way home from work. The Tamplins of Twickenham premises in Twickenham shouldn't be too hard to find, as all of them have building numbers in the WBM link.
Frazer Nash in Isleworth. Bit of a longer ride, this one, as will be HRG.
Railton will be more of a weekend ride, but shouldn't be too hard to find.
Cooper were in Surbiton. That's doable one lunchtime, as is the Cooper's house in Kingston.
------------------------------------------------------
Edit 2: Ride-around 1 results, looking for Carden and AV in Teddington: forum.retro-rides.org/post/2679389/thread
------------------------------------------------------
Edit 3: Looking for Tamplin in Staines: forum.retro-rides.org/post/2682695/thread