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Abbott of Farnham, E D Abbott Limited was a British coachbuilding business based in
Edward Dixon Abbott (b. 1898)Graces Guide – Edward Dixon-Abbott
/ref> had been employed in the design department of
/ref> Abbott became their London Sales Manager and when Page and Hunt's business failed in 1929 he took over their Farnham works, forming a new company using his own name. Many of the early orders were for commercial vehicles, which kept the business afloat during the worst of the depression, but some car body making continued. From 1931 Abbott took a stand each year at the London Motor Show. Cars fitted with bodies included the Austin 7,
Bentley R-type 4820274477.jpg, Bentley coupé 1953
Bentley R-type 4820895616.jpg, Bentley instrument panel
Healey Abbott Off the Dragon Trail 7880867818.jpg, Healey Abbott
Image:Ford_Zodiac_206E_Estate_1960_tail.jpg, Zodiac MkII by Abbott
Image:Ford_Zodiac_206E_Estate_1960_side.jpg, Zodiac MkII conversion
Image:Ford_Zephyr_213E_Abbott_Estate_side.jpg, Ford Zephyr 6 conversion
Image:Ford_Zodiac_213E_Abbott_Estate_tail.jpg,
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1951 Jaguar XK120 four-seater open tourer by E D Abbott
1952 Bentley R-Type coupé by E D Abbott
1970 Ford Capri Convertible by E D Abbott
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, trading under that name from 1929. A major part of their output was under sub-contract to motor vehicle manufacturers. The business closed in 1972.
Origin
Edward Dixon Abbott (b. 1898)Graces Guide – Edward Dixon-Abbott/ref> had been employed in the design department of
Wolseley Motors
Wolseley Motors Limited was a British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in early 1901 by the Vickers Armaments in conjunction with Herbert Austin. It initially made a full range, topped by large luxury cars, and dominated the market in the Ed ...
before he joined the coachbuilders Page and Hunt who had started operations in 1920.Graces Guide – Page and Hunt/ref> Abbott became their London Sales Manager and when Page and Hunt's business failed in 1929 he took over their Farnham works, forming a new company using his own name. Many of the early orders were for commercial vehicles, which kept the business afloat during the worst of the depression, but some car body making continued. From 1931 Abbott took a stand each year at the London Motor Show. Cars fitted with bodies included the Austin 7,
Daimler
Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to:
People
* Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies
* Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler
* Paul Da ...
s and Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...
s.
Sailplanes
Abbott built a glider called the Farnham Sailplane and in 1931 the company established a subsidiaryAbbott-Baynes Sailplanes Ltd
Abbott-Baynes Sailplanes Ltd. was a 1930s glider manufacturing company based at Wrecclesham, near Farnham, Surrey. It was founded as a subsidiary of E. D. Abbott Ltd in 1931 by L. E. Baynes and E. D. Abbott to build the Scud
A Scud missil ...
to build more sailplanes. The parent company continued to sell and advertise the sailplanes.
Lagonda
In 1934 Abbott won a major contract from Lagonda to provide all the bodies for the new small Rapier and work fromFrazer-Nash
Frazer Nash was a brand of British sports car manufactured from 1922 first by Frazer Nash Limited founded by engineer Archibald Frazer-Nash. On its financial collapse in 1927 a new company, AFN Limited, was incorporated. Control of AFN passed ...
for coachwork on imported BMW chassis.
During the second world war the company manufactured experimental radar aerials for the Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...
.
Postwar
After World War 2 the company restarted its coachbuilding activities, building production runs of coupés for Sunbeam-Talbot and Healey, as well as some special bodies forJowett
Jowett was a manufacturer of light cars and light commercial vehicles in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1906 to 1954.
Early history
Jowett was founded in 1901 by brothers Benjamin (1877–1963) and William (1880–1965) Jowe ...
, Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
and Lanchester.
Large orders came from Ford for estate car versions of their Consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
and Zephyr
In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind.
Zephyr may also refer to:
Arts and media
Fiction Fiction media
* ''Zephyr'' (film), a 2010 Turkish ...
models, which kept the firm in business during the late 1950s and early 1960s, after which Ford estate production (aside from the Corsair) was done by Ford themselves as the level of demand had shown mass production was viable.
The days of the special coachbuilding industry were numbered and orders declined through the 1960s; the company finally closed in 1972.
Farnham Estates for Ford
Ford Zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...
MkIII by Abbott
External links
1951 Jaguar XK120 four-seater open tourer by E D Abbott
1952 Bentley R-Type coupé by E D Abbott
1970 Ford Capri Convertible by E D Abbott
References
*Walker, Nick. ''A-Z of British Coachbuilders'', Bay View Books, 1997. {{Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Defunct companies based in Surrey Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1929 British companies established in 1929 1929 establishments in England 1972 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1972