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The AV was a British
1919 AV Monocar advertisement
{{Commons category, AV vehicles Vintage vehicles Cyclecars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Vehicle manufacture in London Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1919
The AV was a British cyclecar
A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car. A key ...
manufactured by Ward and Avey in Somerset Road, Teddington
Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long me ...
Middlesex between 1919 and 1924.
It was one of the more successful cyclecars and was based on a design bought from Carden and built in the factory that they had previously used. At the peak they had 80 employees.
The first model was a single-seater, the Monocar, only wide with bodies built by the Thames Valley Pattern Works out of wood, plywood or even compressed paper. The complete car only weighed about . Engines were rear mounted, air-cooled and rated from 5 to 8 hp. There was a choice of JAP (most commonly), Blackburne or rarely MAG units. Gearboxes were either a two-speed epicyclic
An epicyclic gear train (also known as a planetary gearset) consists of two gears mounted so that the center of one gear revolves around the center of the other. A carrier connects the centers of the two gears and rotates the planet and sun gea ...
unit with foot-operated change or three-speed Sturmey-Archer
Sturmey-Archer was a manufacturing company originally from Nottingham, England. It primarily produced bicycle hub gears, brakes and a great many other sundry bicycle components, most prominently during their heyday as a subsidiary of the Ralei ...
with chain drive to the rear axle. Steering was by a wire and bobbin system with the entire front axle being pivoted on early cars. Several hundred were made.
The Monocar was described by ''Ixion'' of ''The Motor Cycle
''The Motor Cycle'' was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles. Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication ''Motor Cycling'', wh ...
'' as "a low, coffin-shape projectile, moderately attractive in dense fog.
In 1920 a two-seater, the Bi-car, was added with the passenger behind the driver. The width of the car increased to 36 inches. About 50 were made. A more conventional side by side model was added in 1921 called the Runabout with a body long. The original Monocar and Bi-car were dropped in 1922 but production of the Runabout continued until 1924 and later to special order.
The company changed its name in 1923 to A.V. Motors Ltd and after the end of car production became Jowett and later Rootes Group
The Rootes Group or Rootes Motors Limited was a British automobile manufacturer and, separately, a major motor distributors and dealers business. Run from London's West End, the manufacturer was based in the Midlands and the distribution and de ...
dealers.
See also
* List of car manufacturers of the United KingdomReferences
External links
1919 AV Monocar advertisement
{{Commons category, AV vehicles Vintage vehicles Cyclecars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Vehicle manufacture in London Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1919