The Carden was a British 4 wheeled

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 c ...

made from 1914 by Carden Engineering originally based in

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

, Surrey but moving in 1914 to

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 m ...

, Middlesex and in 1919 to Ascot, Berkshire.

Sir John Carden Sir John Valentine Carden, 6th Baronet MBE (6 February 1892 – 10 December 1935) was an English tank and vehicle designer. He was the sixth baronet of Templemore, County Tipperary, from 1931. Work Born in London, Carden was a talented, self- ...

was a prolific designer who went on to work on tanks but started his career with cyclecars. His first design was a wooden bodied single seater powered by a 481 cc single cylinder

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese". Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur. In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term very offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. Prior to t ...

engine driving the back axle by belt. There was no gearbox. At first he had built the cars at his home but demand was sufficient to warrant moving to larger premises in Teddington in February 1914. Carden cyclecar

In October 1914 ''

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 (maga ...

''Motor Cycle Magazine, 8 October 1914, p407 reported on a Carden Monocar they had on trial. This vehicle (registration MXY1) was powered by an air-cooled 5HP V-twin JAP engine, and had only a single gear, though gears were available on 'other models'. The engine was mounted behind the rear axle and drove it via chain, there being no differential. The optional gear change was a mechanism whereby one chain sprocket was disengaged and another moved to drive the chai

In 1916 the design and factory was sold to Ward and Avey Ltd who renamed the car the AV (cyclecar), AV and continued manufacture until about 1924. Production, including those made by AV, may have reached 1000. Carden went on to design a new cyclecar in 1919 which he sold later the same year to

Tamplin The Tamplin was an England, English automobile manufactured by Tamplin Motors from 1919 to 1923 in Kingston Road, Staines, Middlesex and from 1924 to 1925 in Malden Road, Cheam, Surrey. Edward Alfred Tamplin, a member of the Henry Tamplin, Su ...

and then a further model which he sold to Arnott and Harrison in 1922 who sold it as the

New Carden New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and made the car until 1925.

References

{{Reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Cyclecars Companies based in Surrey Companies based in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Companies based in Ascot, Berkshire

See also

References