Abbey Panels Ltd., originally The Abbey Panel & Sheet Metal Co. Ltd., was a Warwickshire-based
coachbuilding company founded on Abbey Road,
Nuneaton
Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...
in 1941, initially assembling
Supermarine Spitfires
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
for the ongoing war effort. The original partners were Edward Loades, Les Bean, Bill Woodhall and Ernie Wilkinson.
As the business grew they expanded to Old Church Road, Coventry before having their main manufacturing plant on the well known Bayton Road Industrial Estate in Exhall. In 1967,
[ Ted Loades listed the business on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and it became known as Loades PLC, with Abbey Panels its main brand, alongside Albany Zinc (]castings
In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a Mold (manufacturing), mold (usually by a crucible) that contains a negative impression (i.e., a three-dimensional negative image) of the intende ...
), Loades Dynamics (machining
Machining is a process in which a material (often metal) is cut to a desired final shape and size by a controlled material-removal process. The processes that have this common theme are collectively called subtractive manufacturing, which utilizes ...
) and Loades Design (automotive styling
Automotive design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent the ergonomics) of motor vehicles - including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans.
The functional design and development of a modern motor ...
) (previously known as Descartes Design).
The company specialised in producing handmade prototype car bodies and did so for many notable car companies including: Bristol Cars
Bristol Cars were manufacturers of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Bristol, England. After being placed in receivership and being taken over in 2011, it entered liquidation in February 2020.
After the Second World War, the car division ...
, Lea Francis, Jaguar Cars
Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...
, Rover, MG, Healey, Rolls-Royce, Buick
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
, Lincoln, Volvo and BMW amongst others. They fashioned the bodywork of cars such as the Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
winning Ford GT40
The Ford GT40 is a high-performance endurance racing car commissioned by the Ford Motor Company. It grew out of the "Ford GT" (for Grand Touring) project, an effort to compete in European long-distance sports car races, against Ferrari, which ...
, numerous Jaguars ( XK120, C-type, D-type, E-type, XJ13, XJ220, XK180), the original Mark I
Mark I or Mark 1 often refers to the first version of a weapon or military vehicle, and is sometimes used in a similar fashion in civilian product development. In some instances, the Arabic numeral "1" is substituted for the Roman numeral "I". ...
Land Rover Station Wagon
A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...
, Jim Clark's Lotus 38 and Stirling Moss's 1957 Pescara Grand Prix winning Vanwall. They also produced many specialist parts for the aerospace industry, particularly for Rolls-Royce plc, such as the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine duct of the Harrier jump jet.
In 2002 the company stopped much of its manufacturing and began a phased closure of the Abbey Panels plant in Coventry. They continued to run their aerospace engineering and machining company for some time, and refocused their efforts on redeveloping their industrial properties.
Gallery
File:AP Autocar 2.jpeg, An advert in 'The Autocar' (1956).
File:Abbey panels jaguar le mans 1957.jpg, 'The Autocar' advert (1957).
File:Abbey Panel and Sheet Metal Co..jpg, Abbey Panel and Sheet Metal Co. factory on Bayton Road.
File:All-aluminium Bristol convertible coachwork by Abbey Panels.jpg, Bristol 402
__NOTOC__
Year 402 ( CDII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Arcadius and Honorius (or, less frequently, year 1155 ' ...
Roadster (1949).
File:Bill Woodall Vanwall Streamliner Abbey Panels.jp
Founder Bill Woodhall sat in a Vanwall VW6 Streamliner at Abbey Panels (c.1956).
File:GT40 bonnet at Abbey Panels.tif, Ford GT40 bonnet at Abbey Panels (1960s).
File:XJ13 at Abbey Panels with Tony Loades.jpg, Rebuilding the XJ13 (c. early 1970s).
File:RollsRoycePhantomMajestic-AbbeyPanels.jpg, Sultan of Brunei
The sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates bac ...
's Rolls-Royce Phantom Majestic (1990s).
File:Ftype-Loades-Scheele.jpg, Ted Loades with Ford COO, Sir Nick Scheele and Jaguar XK180
References
External links
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{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom
Companies based in Warwickshire
1941 establishments in England
Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom