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The Perry was a British car made by the Perry Motor Company based in
Tyseley Tyseley is a district in the southern half of the city of Birmingham, England, near the Coventry Road and the districts of Acocks Green, Small Heath and Yardley. It is located near the Grand Union Canal. Etymology Tyseley means "Tyssa's cleari ...
, Birmingham who made cars between 1913 and 1916.


History

The company can trace its roots back to 1824 with James and Stephen Perry making pens in a workshop in London, later moving to Birmingham and building bicycles. By the late 1890s they were having financial problems and were bought by James William Bayliss, part owner of the Bayliss-Thomas car making company. Their first car, a three-wheeler, was made in 1899 followed by a
forecar A Forecar is a body style of small sometimes three-wheeler vehicles that were produced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Forecars were produced with three or four wheels and by companies which produced light cars or motorcycles. In thi ...
in 1903. Cecil Bayliss, the son of the new owner, built a
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 ...
in 1911 with an 800 cc Fafnir engine, and this was developed into the first Perry car to reach production.


Perry 8hp

The cyclecar was described as 'just placed on the market' when exhibited at the November 1912 Motor Cycle and Cycle Car Show at Olympia. It was described as 'an exact replica of a full-sized model, but is of exceptionally light weight - less than 7cwt'. The engine for the car was built in-house and was a twin-cylinder vertical water cooled unit, with bore and stroke, unusual in that both pistons rose and fell at the same time. Drive was to the rear wheels through a 3-speed gearbox with reverse and worm-driven axle and spur differential. The rear springing was unusual in that the long semi-elliptic leaf springs were supplemented by coil springs. It was fitted with Sankey detachable wheels and Dunlop tyres. The basic body was an open two-seater, but a long-wheelbase version allowing a
dickey seat A rumble seat (American English), dicky (dickie/dickey) seat (British English), also called a mother-in-law seat, is an upholstered exterior seat which folded into the rear of a coach, carriage, or early motorcar. Depending on its configuration ...
was also available. About 800 were made.


Perry 11.9

A full-sized car was introduced in 1914 with four-cylinder 1795 cc engine with a bore and stroke. The larger car allowed four seat bodies to be offered as well as two seaters and these were mainly made by Mulliners of Birmingham. About 300 were made before World War I curtailed car-building activities. A very few were made in 1919 when the design, jigs, patterns and tools were sold to
Bean Cars Bean Cars was a brand of motor vehicles made in England by A Harper Sons & Bean, Ltd at factories in Dudley, Worcestershire, and Coseley, Staffordshire. The company began making cars in 1919 and diversified into light commercial vehicles in 192 ...
for £15,000, who reintroduced it as the Bean 11.9.


See also

* List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom


References

{{British bicycle manufacturers Cyclecars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Defunct cycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Defunct companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands Cars introduced in 1913