The Storey was a British car manufacturer operating from 1916 to 1930. The company originally operated from premises at 47 Pomeroy Street,

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich, ...

, London but in 1919 built a new factory in

Tonbridge, Kent Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

. The company was founded by mining engineer John Henry Storey in the 19th Century as John H Storey & Co trading as engineers and toolmakers based at

Hatcham Hatcham was a manor and later a chapelry in what is now London, England. It largely corresponds to the area around New Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham. The ancient parish of Deptford straddled the counties of Surrey and Kent and there c ...

in south east London. He was joined at the company by his second son Will in the early years of the 20th century. Will was an early motoring enthusiast and built a few one-off vehicles in the period before 1914. In around 1912 the company name was changed to Storey Machine Tool Co and moved to new premises in New Cross and part of the factory was set aside with a view to car production. This was stopped by the outbreak of World War I when all activities were concentrated on war work. John H Storey died in 1913 and in 1916 a limited company was formed and Will became Managing Director and his brother Jack joined the management team. Work expanded into the aviation industry and Gnome and Le Rhone aero engines were made. With peace, the company found itself with a large, well-equipped factory and nothing to make, and the decision was taken to produce cars and on a large scale in a new factory. A 40-acre site was found in Tonbridge, Kent and construction of the new works was underway by 1919. The original New Cross site was kept as a general engineering works and it was here that a prototype car was built powered by a

Coventry Simplex Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, racing, and other specialty engine manufacturer. History Pre WW1 The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was reloca ...

engine. A showroom was opened in

Kingsway, London The A4200 is a major thoroughfare in central London. It runs between the A4 at Aldwych, to the A400 Hampstead Road/ Camden High Street, at Mornington Crescent tube station. Kingsway Kingsway is a major road in central London, designa ...

and a body shop built adjacent to the Pomeroy Street premises. The car was formally launched in 1920 and was powered by either a 2815cc or 3817cc

Chapuis-Dornier Chapuis-Dornier was a French manufacturer of proprietary engines for automobiles from 1904 to 1928 in Puteaux near Paris. Between 1919 and 1921 it displayed a prototype automobile, but it was never volume produced.Linz, Schrader: ''Die große Automo ...

engine with a

tax horsepower The tax horsepower or taxable horsepower was an early system by which taxation rates for automobiles were reckoned in some European countries such as Britain, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy; some US states like Illinois charged license plate pu ...

rating of 14.3 or 20 hp. There was a three or four speed gearbox and the front suspension was conventional semi elliptic springs but at the rear were long cantilevered springs. At the Glasgow Motor Show three cars were exhibited: the 20 hp Tonbridge saloon, the 14.3 hp four-seat Kent tourer and the 20 hp London closed coupe. By April 1920, the Tonbridge works was fully operational assembling cars from parts made in New Cross and by the end of the year their own 1327cc engine was added to the range. However, the post was boom was coming to an end and many other makers were trying to sell cars and in October the bank called in their overdraft even though the company was trading profitably and forced Storey into liquidation. The Tonbridge works was closed and the contents sold. It was claimed that 1000 cars had been made. Will Storey was left homeless but brother Jack managed to gather as many parts as possible and from his home in

Clapham Park Clapham Park is an area in the Borough of Lambeth in London, to the south of central Clapham and west of Brixton. History The original Clapham Park Estate was a speculative development by Thomas Cubitt, who bought of Bleak Hall Farm in 1825 ...

started assembling cars and trading as Storey Motors. As the original engine supply ran out a wide variety of other units was fitted to the cars to keep production going. In 1925 a range of three open sports models was in theory available called the 10/25, 14/40 and 17/70. The cars were still being advertised in 1929 but it is thought that only around 50 were made. After the cessation of car making the company continued as a service station and finally dissolved in 1937. Will Storey returned to the machine tool industry. He died in 1971. Jack Storey died in 1962 at the age of 83.

References

{{reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Tonbridge New Cross Motor vehicle manufacturers based in London