HOME
*





Arrol-Aster
Arrol-Aster was a British car maker founded in 1927 when Arrol-Johnston and the English Aster company merged. The Wembley, London works of Aster was closed and production concentrated at the Heathhall, Dumfries factory of Arrol-Johnston. At first, manufacture of all the cars previously made by the two companies was continued along with those made under the Galloway badge but in 1928 a rationalisation was carried out. The cars were complex and expensive and sales were poor resulting in the company going into receivership in 1929 and finally closing in 1931. The company was responsible for making the body for Sir Malcolm Campbell's Blue Bird car in 1929 and an Arrol-Aster car was entered in the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans. Model range *1927-1930 Aster 21/60 3042 cc Straight-6 Overhead valve *1927-1930 Aster 24/70 3460 cc Straight-6 Sleeve valve *1927-1929 Arrol-Johnston 15/40 2413 cc Straight-4 Overhead valve *1927-1930 Arrol-Aster 17/50 2370 cc Straight-6 Sleeve valve *1929-1930 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Arrol-Johnston
Arrol-Johnston (later known as Arrol-Aster) was an early Scottish manufacturer of automobiles, which operated from 1895 to 1931 and produced the first automobile manufactured in Britain. The company also developed the world's first "off-road" vehicle for the Egyptian government, and another designed to travel on ice and snow for Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole. History George Johnston was by training a locomotive engineer from Neilson, Reid and Company Limited of Springburn, Glasgow. Johnston was commissioned by Glasgow Corporation Tramways in 1894 to build an experimental steam-powered tramcar to replace their fleet of horse-drawn trams. During a final test before a Corporation committee, it caught fire and work was abandoned. Johnston's attention was then turned to a detailed examination of continental makes of motor cars and he came to the conclusion that he could design and make a better vehicle than any of them and, in particular, a better engine. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1931 24 Hours Of Le Mans
The 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 9th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 13 and 14 June 1931. With the demise of Bentley, the favourite for an outright victory was split between the Bugatti and Alfa Romeo works teams, with a lone privateer Mercedes as an outside chance. Once again it was one of the smaller fields, with only 26 starters. At the start of the race it was the Mercedes setting the pace from the Bugattis of Chiron and Divo. But tyre-wear was a big issue, with many cars suffering tyre blowouts and punctures. This left Marinoni leading in the works Alfa. Coming up to the first refuelling stops, the rear tyre on Maurice Rost's Bugatti blew out at full speed on the Mulsanne Straight. Rost lost control of the car and went through a fence, hitting three spectators, killing one. When more tyre issues plagued Chiron's car, the Bugatti team withdrew their remaining two cars. Tyre troubles had also cost the Mercedes team eight laps. T ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Aster (automobile)
: ''For the French Aster automobile manufacturer of 1900-1910, see Ateliers de Construction Mecanique l'Aster'' The Aster was an English automobile manufactured from 1922 to 1930. The company's car roots can be traced to 1899 when Begbie Manufacturing of Wembley, in north London became British licensees of the French Aster company (Ateliers de Construction Mecanique l'Aster) making mainly stationary engines. In 1913 they became Aster Engineering Co (1913) Ltd and during World War I made aircraft engines. Models 18/50, 20/55, 21/60 The first Aster cars were made in 1922 with the luxurious 18/50, which had a 2618 cc six cylinder overhead valve engine driving the rear wheels through a four speed gearbox. The 126 inch wheelbase chassis had semi elliptic springing at the front and cantilevered springs at the rear with four wheel brakes as an early option. The car was listed at £850 in 1923 and about 50 were made before in 1924 the engine was enlarged to 2890 cc by inc ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Napier-Campbell Blue Bird
The Napier-Campbell Blue Bird was a land speed record car driven by Malcolm Campbell. Its designer was C. Amherst Villiers and Campbell's regular mechanic Leo Villa supervised its construction. This was Campbell's first car to use the Napier Lion aero engine. His intention was to surpass his previous Sunbeam ''Blue Bird'''s achievement of the 150 mph barrier and to reach 200 mph. 1927 When first built, the car used a Napier Lion engine of around 500 bhp. It was of conventional form with a front-mounted vertical radiator and the driver behind the engine. The three banks of the W-12 engine were hidden behind bulges in the narrow bonnet, with exhaust stub pipes protruding. Bluebird's first record attempt was on 4 February 1927 at Pendine Sands. A peak speed of was achieved, tantalisingly close to the magic , but the two-way average recorded for the record was lower, at . 1928 The 1927 record was short-lived, as Segrave's Sunbeam 1000 hp achieved both the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ateliers De Construction Mecanique L'Aster
L'Aster, Aster, Ateliers de Construction Mecanique l'Aster, was a French manufacturer of automobiles and the leading supplier of engines to other manufacturers from the late 1890s until circa 1910/12. Although primarily known as an engine mass manufacturer the company also produced chassis for coach-works and a complete range of components. Aster produced a range of engines including: stationary motors; electricity generators; automobile motors; marine engines and aero engines. There were air-cooled and water cooled Gasoline motors, Kerosene motors, and Gas Motors. Among the companies for which Aster produced engines and other parts were Ache Frères, Achilles, Argyll, Ariès, Aster-Newey, Automobiles Barré, Bolide, Belhaven, Bij 't Vuur, Century, Clément, Darracq, Dennis, Durham-Churchill, Ernst, Excelsior, Gladiator, Hanzer, Hoflack, Hurtu, Korn et Latil, Lacoste & Battmann, La Torpille, Lucerna, Newey Aster, Société Parisienne, Passy-Thellier, Pearson, Prun ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

List Of Car Manufacturers Of The United Kingdom
:''This list is incomplete. You can help by adding correctly sourced information about other manufacturers.'' As of 2018 there are approximately 35 active British car manufacturers and over 500 defunct British car manufacturers. This page lists car manufacturers that build or built cars in the United Kingdom. Major current marques Current manufacturers ;A * AC (1908–present) *Alvis (2012–present) *Arash (2006–present) *Ariel (1999–present) *'' Aston Martin'' (1913–present) *Atalanta Motors (2011–present) ;B *'' Bentley Motors'' (1919–present) *Bowler Offroad (1985–present) *BAC (2009–present) * Brooke (1991–present) ;C *Caterham (1973–present) ;D * David Brown (2013–present) ;E * Eagle E-Types (2013–present) * Elemental Cars (2014–present) ;G * Gibbs (2004–present) *Ginetta (1957–present) *Grinnall (1993–present) *Gardner Douglas Sports Cars (1990–present) *Great British Sports Cars (2006–present) ;H * Hawk (1986–present) ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the Anglo-Scottish border and just away from Cumbria by air. Dumfries is the county town of the historic county of Dumfriesshire. Before becoming King of Scots, Robert the Bruce killed his rival the Red Comyn at Greyfriars Kirk in the town on 10 February 1306. The Young Pretender had his headquarters here during a 3-day sojourn in Dumfries towards the end of 1745. During the Second World War, the bulk of the Norwegian Army during their years in exile in Britain consisted of a brigade in Dumfries. Dumfries is nicknamed ''Queen of the South''. This is also the name of the town's professional football club. People from Dumfries are known colloquially in Scots language as ''Doonhamers''. Toponymy There are a number of theories on the etymo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sir Malcolm Campbell
Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam. His son, Donald Campbell, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records. Early life and family Campbell was born on 11 March 1885 in Chislehurst, Kent, the only son of William Campbell, a Hatton Garden diamond seller. He attended the independent Uppingham School. In Germany, learning the diamond trade, he gained an interest in motorbikes and races. Returning to Britain, he worked for two years at Lloyd's of London for no pay, then for another year at £1 a week. Between 1906 and 1908, he won all three London to Land's End Trials motorcycle races. In 1910, he began racing cars at Brooklands. He christened his car ''Blue Bird'', painting it blue, after seeing the play '' The Blue ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sleeve Valve
The sleeve valve is a type of valve mechanism for piston engines, distinct from the usual poppet valve. Sleeve valve engines saw use in a number of pre-World War II luxury cars and in the United States in the Willys-Knight car and light truck. They subsequently fell from use due to advances in poppet-valve technology, including sodium cooling, and the Knight system double sleeve engine's tendency to burn a lot of lubricating oil or to seize due to lack of it. The Scottish Argyll company used its own, much simpler and more efficient, single sleeve system (Burt-McCollum) in its cars, a system which, after extensive development, saw substantial use in British aircraft engines of the 1940s, such as the Napier Sabre, Bristol Hercules, Centaurus, and the promising but never mass-produced Rolls-Royce Crecy, only to be supplanted by the jet engines. Description A sleeve valve takes the form of one or more machined sleeves. It fits between the piston and the cylinder wall in the cylin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sedan (car)
A sedan or saloon (British English) is a passenger car in a three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo. The first recorded use of the word "sedan" in reference to an automobile body occurred in 1912. The name derives from the 17th-century litter known as a sedan chair, a one-person enclosed box with windows and carried by porters. Variations of the sedan style include the close-coupled sedan, club sedan, convertible sedan, fastback sedan, hardtop sedan, notchback sedan, and sedanet/sedanette. Definition A sedan () is a car with a closed body (i.e. a fixed metal roof) with the engine, passengers, and cargo in separate compartments. This broad definition does not differentiate sedans from various other car body styles, but in practice, the typical characteristics of sedans are: * a B-pillar (between the front and rear windows) that supports the roof * two rows of seats * a three-box design with the engine at the front and the car ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving experience, with the ability to provide a roof when required. A potential drawback of convertibles is their reduced structural rigidity (requiring significant engineering and modification to counteract the effects of removing a car's roof). The majority of convertible roofs are of a folding construction framework with the actual top made from cloth or other fabric. Other types of convertible roofs include retractable hardtops (often constructed from metal or plastic) and detachable hardtops (where a metal or plastic roof is manually removed and often stored in the trunk). Terminology Other terms for convertibles include cabriolet, cabrio, drop top, drophead coupé, open two-seater, open top, rag top, soft top, spider, and spyder. Consistenc ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Supercharger
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induction that is mechanically powered (usually by a belt from the engine's crankshaft), as opposed to a turbocharger, which is powered by the kinetic energy of the exhaust gasses. However, up until the mid-20th century, a turbocharger was called a "turbosupercharger" and was considered a type of supercharger. The first supercharged engine was built in 1878, with usage in aircraft engines beginning in the 1910s and usage in car engines beginning in the 1920s. In piston engines used by aircraft, supercharging was often used to compensate for the lower air density at high altitudes. Supercharging is less commonly used in the 21st century, as manufacturers have shifted to turbochargers to reduce fuel consumption and/or increase power outputs. Des ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]