Paramount Cars was a British company which produced the Paramount automobile between 1950 and 1956. Founded by WA Hudson and S Underwood from Derbyshire, the company initially manufactured cars in

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de ...

with production moving shortly after to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

(again in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

) and then to Leighton Buzzard. Two models were produced, the Paramount Ten and the Paramount 1½-Litre.

History

The Paramount had an aluminium over wood frame body with BMW like grille and was mounted on a separate tubular steel chassis with front transverse and rear semi elliptical leaf springs. It was originally intended to have

Alvis Alvis may refer to: *Alvis Car and Engineering Company, British luxury car and military vehicle manufacturer which later became Alvis plc * Alvis plc (formerly United Scientific Holdings plc), a defence contractor which acquired Alvis Cars and bec ...

engine and suspension but to reduce cost the production versions used

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

10 components including the 1172 cc side valve engines, but fitted with twin SU carburettors, which resulted in poor performance. The car was listed in both 2 and 4 seat versions. In 1953, the company was bought by Camden Motors and production moved to Leighton Buzzard and the

Ford Consul The Ford Consul is a car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1951 until 1962. The name was later revived for a model produced by Ford in both the UK and in Germany from 1972 until 1975. Between 1951 and 1962, the Consul was the four-cy ...

1,508 cc engine was an option in a longer chassis as also was a

Wade Wade, WADE, or Wades may refer to: Places in the United States * Wade, California, a former settlement * Wade, Maine, a town * Wade, Mississippi, a census-designated place * Wade, North Carolina, a town * Wade, Ohio, an unincorporated communi ...

Shorrock supercharger The Shorrock supercharger was an eccentric sliding-vane type engine supercharger patented by James Haydock and Christopher Shorrock in 1933. Originally known as the Centric supercharger, it was widely used by engine tuners in the UK in the 1930s a ...

. The price was now an uncompetitive £1009 and production ceased in 1956 after about 70 cars had been made. After the end of car production the remaining chassis were sold off and several were fitted with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

glass fibre bodies. There was no connection with the two separate American Paramount Car companies of

Azusa Azusa may refer to: Relating to California From a Native American language, likely Tongva language, Tongva ''Asuksagna:'' *Azusa, California, a city in the United States *Azusa Pacific University, a Christian-based institution in Azusa, California ...

, California (1923-1924) and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(1927-1931).

Performance

A 1500 cc car tested by the British magazine

The Motor ''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine ''Car'' is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published by Bauer Automotive in Republi ...

in 1956 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 31.2 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1013 including taxes.

Gallery

File:1956 Paramount 1½ Litre.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1½ Litre with the Ford Consul engine File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 front left chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 left side chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 rear left chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 front chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 rear chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Alvis_Crested_Eagle_Paramount_Coupe_front.jpg, Alvis-based prototype 1948 File:Alvis_Crested_Eagle_Paramount_Coupe_head.jpg, Alvis badge and 3litre engine File:Alvis_Crested_Eagle_Paramount_Coupe_side.jpg, Aluminium body on 1933 Alvis

References

Bibliography

* Lawrence, Mike. (1991). AZ of Sports Cars since 1945 - page 252. Bay View Books. * Sedgwick, Michael. (1985) CARS OF THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES - page 225. AB nordbook. * Georgano, G.N. (1973) The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars1885 to the present - page 536. Ebury Press. {{ISBN, 0852230486

External links