Watsonian Squire is a British manufacturer of

sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

s and

trailers Trailer may refer to: a Transportation * Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle ** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers ** Full-trailer ** Semi-trailer **Horse trailer ...

for attachment to

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s. The original business was established in 1912 by Thomas Fredrick Watson as the Patent Collapsible Sidecar Company Ltd. at

Balsall Heath Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle. History Balsall Heath was agricultural land between Moseley village and the city of B ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. The current company is based in the heart of the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

Blockley Blockley is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about northwest of Moreton-in-Marsh. Until 1931 Blockley was an exclave of Worcestershire. The civil and ecclesiastical parish ...

, near

Moreton-in-Marsh Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England. The town stands at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road (now the A429) and the ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

History

'Fred' Watson founded the Patent Collapsible Sidecar Company, later renamed to Watsonian Folding Sidecar Company Ltd, after he built a folding sidecar that allowed him to get his motorcycle and sidecar combination through a narrow entrance to the yard at his house. Early sidecars were initially built with

wickerwork Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...

bodies, which were then replaced by ash frames with plywood or steel panels. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the company built sidecars for use as

motorcycle ambulance Motorcycle ambulances are a type of emergency vehicle which either carries a solo paramedic or first responder to a patient; or is used with a trailer or sidecar for transporting patients. Because of its size and performance, a motorcycle ambul ...

s. In 1922, the company moved to

Hockley Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 189 ...

in Birmingham. In 1930, the company was renamed to the Watsonian Sidecar Company Ltd. In the same year the factory was destroyed by fire and in 1931 the company moved to new premises in Greet. In 1956, Watsonian took over the rights to the Swallow Sidecars name from

Tube Investments TI Group plc (formerly "Tube Investments") was a holding company for specialised engineering companies. It was based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It was registered as ''Tube Investments'' in 1919, combining the seamless steel tube businesses of Tu ...

. Watsonian was an early supplier to the Swallow Sidecar Company, which after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was renamed to

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...

. From 1956, Watsonian started to manufacture sidecar bodies in

glass-reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

(GRP). As well as civilian models, they also manufactured sidecars for the RAC to use for roadside rescue. Watsonian sidecar with triumph combination

Watsonian sidecar with triumph combination

In the 1970s, Watsonian used their expertise in GRP to diversify into production of

hardtop A hardtop is a rigid form of automobile roof, which for modern cars is typically constructed from metal. A hardtop roof can be either fixed (i.e. not removable), Convertible#Detachable hardtop, detachable for separate storing or retractable ha ...

s for

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

and for sports cars. When the Land Rover contract ended in 1981, Watsonian was forced to scale back production and make several staff redundant. In 1984, the company moved to its current location in

. In 1988, Watsonian merged with Squire Sidecars to form Watsonian Squire. From 1999 until 2013, Watsonian were the UK distributor for Royal Enfield motorcycles which are now built in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Squire

Squire (founded 1973 in

Bidford-on-Avon Bidford-on-Avon is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire, very close to the border with Worcestershire. In the 2001 census it had a population of 4,830, increasing to 5,350 at the 2011 census. History Ryknie ...

) is a British manufacturer of motorcycle

sidecars A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

that pioneered the design of the modern

motorcycle trailer A motorcycle trailer is either a trailer used to carry motorcycles or one to be pulled by a motorcycle in order to carry additional gear. Motorcycle carrying trailers Motorcycle carrying trailers may be open or enclosed. They may be wide, for ...

for being pulled behind a bike in the early 1980s. In 1988 Squire merged with the struggling Watsonian company to form Watsonian Squire, now the UK's largest sidecar producer. In 2002

Motor Cycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly Motorcycle, motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Verlagsgruppe, Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspape ...

set a Guinness World Record for a motorcycle and trailer reaching a timed speed of 139.5 mph at Millbrook in Bedfordshire, UK, pulling a Squire D21 trailer behind a

Kawasaki ZZ-R1100 The ZZ-R1100 or ZX-11 is a sport bike in Kawasaki's Ninja series made from 1990 to 2001, as the successor to the 1988–1990 Tomcat ZX-10. With a top speed of , it was the fastest production motorcycle from its introduction until 1996, surpass ...

motorcycle.

References

External links

Official website

Watsonian historic advertising
{{Authority control Sidecars Manufacturing companies established in 1912 Companies based in Gloucestershire 1912 establishments in England