![Phoenix Motors Ltd 1920](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Phoenix_Motors_Ltd_1920.jpg)
Phoenix was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
manufacturer of
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
s, motorcycles and
tricars (
motor tricycles) active from 1903–1926. It was founded by a Belgian, Joseph van Hooydonk, at his factory in
Holloway Road
Holloway Road is a road in London, in length. It is one of the main shopping streets in North London, and carries the A1 road as it passes through Holloway, in the London Borough of Islington. The road starts in Archway, near Archway Under ...
,
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire.
The term ''nort ...
, and named after the Phoenix Cycle Club.
The company moved from its
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
base to
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249.
Letchworth ...
,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, in 1911, but failed to survive the 1920s going into liquidation in 1924 but assembling a few more cars in the following two years.
Phoenix
at motorbase.com
The Letchworth factory went on to be used for car manufacture by Ascot and Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
.
Production
The first product was a motor tricycle called the Trimo with an engine imported from the Belgian Minerva
Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...
company. This was followed in 1905 by a single seat four wheeler the Quadcar with 6/7hp twin cylinder Fafnir engine.
A proper four wheel car was introduced in 1908 as the 8/10 with 8hp engine and chain drive to a three speed transmission with further chain to the rear axle.
After the move to Letchworth a larger 11.9hp model with 1496 cc 4 cylinder engine, three speed transmission and worm final drive. It had the radiator behind the engine, Approximately seven cars a week were being made by a workforce of 150 at the outbreak of World War I.
The 11.9 was re-introduced in 1919 still with the scuttle radiator but changing to a more conventional front radiator in 1921. For 1922 the 11.9 was replaced by the 12/25 with Meadows
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...
1795 cc and four speed transmission.
A small number of six cylinder cars were made in 1925.
Models
Other Phoenix car companies
The Phoenix name has been used by several British car makers including:
Phoenix Motor Works in Southport (1902-1904)
Phoenix Carriage Co in Birmingham (1905)
Phoenix Automotive of Moreton-in Marsh, Gloucestershire
Phoenix Car Works Ltd in Pluckley, Kent
See also
* List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
:''This list is incomplete. You can help by adding correctly sourced information about other manufacturers.''
As of 2018 there are approximately 35 active British car manufacturers and over 500 defunct British car manufacturers. This page lists ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Autopendium page on Phoenix
Vintage vehicles
Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England
Motor vehicle manufacturers based in London
Companies based in North Hertfordshire District
Car manufacturers of the United Kingdom