The ABC was an English car manufactured between 1920 and 1929 by

ABC Motors ABC Motors Limited ("All British (Engine) Company") of Hersham, Surrey, England was a manufacturer of cars, aircraft, motor scooters, and engines for road and air. Established by Ronald Charteris in Hersham, Surrey in 1912, its chief designer ...

. It was a light car (305 kg), powered by a 1203 cc flat-twin, air-cooled engine designed by

Granville Bradshaw Granville Eastwood Bradshaw OBE, AFRAeS (1887–1969) was an English engineer and inventor who designed motorcycle, auto, and aero-engines. History Bradshaw was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1887 as the son of William and Annie Bradshaw. His ...

(the man who was also responsible for the ABC Motorcycle). The engine however was difficult to start, loud, inefficiently lubricated, and prone to breakages, particularly the quite long, exposed push rods. Over time quality improved dramatically. Combined with the vehicle's light weight, the powerplant made the car quite fast for its size, capable of speeds approaching , and boasting quite good acceleration. ABC was originally part of the Harper Bean combine, and was based in

Hersham, Surrey Hersham is a village in Surrey, within the M25. Its housing is relatively low-rise and diverse and it has four technology/trading estates. The only contiguous settlement is Walton-on-Thames, its post town. Hersham is served by Hersham and Wal ...

and Harper Bean supplied castings, stampings, and forgings utilized on the first ABCs. The car was expensive; in 1920 it sold for £414 but came down to £265 for a four seater in 1923. The "radiator" cap was actually the fuel tank filler, which led to problems when mechanics unfamiliar with air-cooled cars topped off the fuel tank with water. In 1925 a more refined version came featuring stronger valve gear, a better system of lubrication, and enclosed pushrods. Front-wheel brakes became an option. The company introduced a Super Sports model in 1925 with a 1320 cc engine. This was the only model offered for the last four years of ABC's production.

References

*Jay Eyesertoff Jr, "ABC", in G.N. Georgano, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885-1968 (New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1974), pp. 24. {{DEFAULTSORT:Abc Cars of England Cars introduced in 1920

See also

References