AUSTIN Motor Company

 Austin Motor Company, Longbridge, England, UK, 1905-1952

Austin-ADO-BMC-Hillman-Hudson-Humber-Innocenti-Leyland-MG-Morris-Princess-Riley-Rosengart-Rover-Sunbeam-Vanden Plas-Wolseley

For Austin’s American subsidiary, see American Austin Car Company. For the unrelated American Austin company 1901-1921, see Austin Automobile Company.

The Austin Motor Company Limited

Industry	Automotive
Fate	Merged, The marque is dormant and may be reused.
Successor	British Motor Corporation
Founded	1905
Defunct	1952
Headquarters	Longbridge, England
Products	Automobiles / Rover / Austin Rover / MG / Morris

Austin Marque

Official marque logo, revised by current owners SAIC.
Product type	Automotive marque
Owner	SAIC
Discontinued	1987
Previous owners	Austin Motor Company (1905–1952) BMC (1952–1967) British Leyland (Austin Rover) (1967–1986) BA Rover Group (1986–1988) Rover Group (1988–2005)

The Austin Motor Company Limited was an English manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limited, keeping its separate identity. The marque Austin was used until 1987. The trademark is currently owned by SAIC after being transferred from bankrupt subsidiary Nanjing Automotive which had acquired it with MG Rover Group in July 2005.

History

Herbert Austin 1905

“Mr Austin is starting new works,
where he will manufacture Austin Cars
at Longbridge, near Birmingham”

1905–1918: Formation and development

While running the original Wolseley business, which had a highly cyclical sales pattern, Herbert Austin, searched for products with a steady demand. Starting in 1895, he built three cars in his free time. They were among Britain’s first cars. The third car, a four-wheeler, was completed in 1899. By 1901 his fellow directors could not see future profit in motor vehicles and so with their blessing and the backing of the Vickers brothers Austin started a separate car manufacturing business still using the name Wolseley.

In 1905 he fell out with Thomas and Albert Vickers over engine design. Leaving his creation, Wolseley, which he had made Britain’s largest motor vehicle manufacturer, Austin obtained the backing of steel magnate Frank Kayser for his own enterprise. Kayser provided funds through mortgages and loans, debentures and guarantees to the Midland Bank thereby allowing Austin to keep virtually total ownership of his own business through his personal savings. Further assistance came from Dunlop patent holder Harvey du Cros. However, Austin’s great rival, William Morris, was able to enter the industry proper (he first repaired cars) a little later funding his operation entirely from his own resources.

In November 1905 Herbert Austin acquired a disused printing works which was less than ten years old. It was located seven miles south-west of Birmingham in the small village of Longbridge (then still within Worcestershire). The following month The Austin Motor Company Limited was incorporated. In the last week of April 1906 a large body of motorists travelled to Longbridge “where snow lay full three inches deep on the ground and was still falling fast” to see the new Austin car, a conventional four-cylinder model with chain drive. It was available as a 15/20 hp complete at £500 (chassis, £425) and a 25/30 hp for £650 (chassis, £550). The sole concessionaire for sale of the cars was Mr Harvey Du Cros junior.

Two things were noticeable about Austin’s new design. He had parted from the Vickers brothers because he had refused to use the then more conventional vertical engine in Wolseley cars. His new car had a vertical engine and, in all but minor detail, was identical to the English-built Clément-Gladiators assembled in the same factory.

1907 30hp

1908 100hp Grand Prix Race Car

A further injection of capital was needed in 1906 and William Harvey Du Cros (1846–1918) joined the board of directors. After that Harvey Du Cros junior of the Swift Cycle Co and Austin each held approximately half of the ordinary capital. Herbert Austin remained chairman and managing director.

Editing undertaken: Unsharp Mask Austin Motors showroom, Long Acre, London, c. 1910

Austin’s cars, like Wolseley’s, were luxury vehicles. The published customer list included Russian Grand Dukes, Princesses, Bishops, high officials of the Spanish government and a long list of Britain’s highest nobility.

	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910	1911	1912	1913
Turnover	14,771	84,930	119,744	169,821	209,048	276,195	354,209	425,641
Cars	31	180	218				1,107	1,500
Employees		270				1,500	1,800	2,300

Sources Note: in 1912 Wolseley sold 3,000 cars.

In February 1914 Austin-manufactured bodies in tourer, limousine, landaulette and coupé styles could be provided with engines of 15, 20, 30 and 60 hp. Ambulances and commercial vehicles were also provided.

Austin became a public listed company in 1914 when the capital was increased to £650,000. At that time in number of cars produced it probably ranked fifth after Wolseley (still largest), Humber, Sunbeam and Rover.

The Austin Motor Co. grew enormously during the First World War, fulfilling government contracts for aircraft, shells, heavy guns and generating sets and 1,600 three-ton trucks most of which were sent to Russia. The workforce expanded from around 2,500 to 22,000.

1919–1939: Interwar success

1920 Twenty 3.6-litre allweathercoupé

1926 Seven box saloon

After the war Herbert Austin decided on a one-model policy based on the 3620 cc 20 hp engine. Versions included cars, commercials and even a tractor, but sales volumes were never enough to fill the vast factory built during wartime. The company went into receivership in 1921 but rose again after financial restructuring. Though Herbert Austin remained chairman he was no longer managing director and from that time decisions were made by committee.

Critical to the recovery was the appointment in 1922 of a new finance director, Ernest Payton with the backing of the Midland Bank, and a new works director in charge of car production, Carl Engelbach, at the insistence of the creditors’ committee. This triumvirate of Austin, Payton and Engelbach steered the company’s fortunes through the inter-war years.

In a quest to expand market share, smaller cars were introduced, the 1661 cc Twelve in 1922 and, later the same year, theSeven, an inexpensive, simple small car and one of the earliest to be directed at a mass market. One of the reasons for a market demand for a cars like the Austin 7 was the British tax code. In 1930 every personal car was taxed by the engine size, which in American dollars was $2.55 per square inch of piston displacement. As an example the owner of an Austin 7 in England, which sold for approximately $455.00, would have to pay a yearly engine tax of $39.00. In comparison, the owner in England of a Ford Model-A would have to pay $120.00 per year in an engine tax. And this system of engine displacement tax was common in other European nations as well in the 1930s. At one point, the “Baby Austin” was built under licence by the fledgling1930 BMW Dixi 15 PS BMW of Germany (as the Dixi); by the Japanese manufacturer1937 Datsun 16 Sedan Datsun; as the1939 Bantam Convertible Bantam in the United States; and as the1928 Rosengart LR4.jpg Rosengart in France. And in England the Austin was the most produced car in 1930 (the American Austin Car Company operated as a largely independent subsidiary from 1929 to 1934, and was revived under the name “American Bantam” from 1937 to 1941).

With the help of the Seven, Austin weathered the worst of the depression and remained profitable through the 1930s, producing a wider range of cars which was steadily updated by the introduction of all-steel bodies, Girling brakes, and synchromesh gearboxes. However, all the engines retained the same side-valve conformation. Deputy chairman Ernest Payton became chairman in 1941 on the death of Lord Austin. In 1938 Leonard Lord joined the company board and became chairman in 1946 on the death of Ernest Payton.

1938 Austin Seven Ruby Motor Centre, Gaydon.jpg

 Austin Seven Ruby

Nissan

In the early 1930s Datsun later known as Nissan Motor Company of Japan built cars infringing Austin patents. From 1934 Datsun began to build Austin Sevens under licence and this operation became the greatest success of Austin’s overseas licensing of its Seven. This marked the beginning of Datsun’s international success.

In 1952 Austin entered into another agreement with Nissan for that company to assemble 2000 imported Austins from partially assembled sets and to sell them in Japan under the Austin trademark. The agreement called for Nissan to make all Austin parts locally within three years, a goal Nissan met. Nissan produced and marketed Austins for seven years. The agreement also gave Nissan rights to use Austin patents, which Nissan used in developing its own engines for its Datsun line of cars. In 1953 British-built Austins were assembled and sold, but by 1955, the Austin A50 – completely built by Nissan and featuring a slightly larger body with 1489 cc engine – was on the market in Japan. Nissan produced 20,855 Austins between 1953 and 1959.

1939–1958: War years and post-war years

Austin A30 1954

 1954 A30

During the Second World War Austin continued building cars but also made trucks and aircraft, including the Lancaster bombers of 617 squadron, better known as the Dambusters.

The post-war car range was announced in 1944, and production started in 1945. The immediate post-war range was mainly similar to that of the late 1930s but did include the 16 hp, significant for having the company’s first overhead valve engine.

Austin of England

From late 1950 to mid-1952 products, brochures and advertisements displayed in flowing script Austin of England as if in response to Morris’s Nuffield Organisation. It fell out of use with the financial merger with Morris in BMC.

BMC

In 1952 The Austin Motor Company Limited merged ownership, but not identity, with long-term rival and equal Morris Motors Limited in The British Motor Corporation Limited with Leonard Lord, who had been managing director of Morris from 1932 to 1936, in charge. William Morris (Lord Nuffield) was first chairman but soon retired. Leonard Lord, who had stormed out of Morris declaring he would “take Cowley apart brick by brick”, ensured Austin was the dominant partner and its (more recently designed OHV) engines were adopted for most of the cars. Various models followed the Morris policy and became badge-engineered versions of each other.

Austin A40 Sports, ca 1951

Austin on Blvd Népköztársaság (today Andrássy avenue) in Budapest, end of 1950s

Austin-Healey

Also in 1952, Austin did a deal with Donald Healey, the renowned automotive engineer. It led to a new marque,

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Austin-Healey, and a range of sports cars.

1959–1969: Era of revolution

1963 Mini Cooper S

With the threat to fuel supplies resulting from the 1956 Suez Crisis, Lord asked Alec Issigonis, who had been with Morris from 1936 to 1952, to design a small car; the result was the revolutionary Mini, launched in 1959. The Austin version was initially called the Austin Seven, but Morris’ Mini Minor name caught the public imagination and the Morris version outsold its Austin twin, so the Austin’s name was changed to Mini to follow suit. In 1970, British Leyland dropped the separate Austin and Morris branding of the Mini, and it was subsequently simply “Mini”, under the Austin Morris division of BLMC.

The principle of a transverse engine with gearbox in the sump and driving the front wheels was applied to larger cars, beginning with the 1100 of 1963, (although the Morris-badged version was launched 13 months earlier than the Austin, in August 1962), the 1800 of 1964 and the Maxi of 1969. This meant that BMC had spent 10 years developing a new range of front-drive, transverse-engined models, while most competitors had only just started to make such changes.

The big exception to this was the Austin 3-litre. Launched in 1968, it was a rear-wheel drive large car, but it shared the central section of the 1800. It was a sales disaster, with fewer than 10,000 examples being made.

BMC was the first British manufacturer to move into front-wheel drive so comprehensively. Ford did not launch its first front-drive model until 1976 (in Britain), Ford-Germany in 1962 with the Taunus 12M(P4)), while Vauxhall’s first front-drive model was launched in 1979 and Chrysler UK’s first such car was launched in 1975. Front-wheel drive was popular elsewhere in Europe, however, with Renault, Citroen and Simca all using the system at the same time or before BMC. East Germany’s Trabant used the system from 1958.

In September 1965 BMC completed the purchase of its major supplier, Pressed Steel. Twelve months later it completed the purchase of Jaguar and in December 1966 changed its name from BMC to BMH, British Motor Holdings Limited. In early 1968 under government pressure BMH merged with Leyland Motors Limited and Austin became a part of the large British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) combine.

1970–1979: Era of turbulence

1979 Maxi

By 1970 Austin was part of the British Leyland combine. Austin’s most notorious model of this era was the 1973Allegro, successor to the 1100/1300 ranges, which was criticised for its bulbous styling which earned it the nickname “Flying pig” as well as the doubtful build quality and indifferent reliability. It was still a strong seller in Britain, although not quite as successful as its predecessor.The wedge-shaped 18/22 series was launched as an Austin, a Morris and a more upmarket Wolseley in 1975. But within six months, it was rechristened the Princess and wore none of the previous marque badges, becoming a marque in its own right, under the Austin Morris division of British Leyland that had been virtually nationalised in 1975.

The Princess was not quite as notorious as the Allegro, and earned some praise for its practical wedge shape, spacious interior, and decent ride and handling, but build quality was suspect and the lack of a hatchback (which would have ideally suited its body shape) cost valuable sales. It was upgraded at the end of 1981 to become the Austin Ambassador (and gaining a hatchback) but by that time there was little that could be done to disguise the age of the design, and it was too late to make much of an impact on sales.

By the end of the 1970s, the future of Austin and the rest of British Leyland (now known as BL) was looking bleak.

1980–1989: Austin Rover era

Metro, launched in 1980Maestro, launched in 1983Montego, launched in 1984

The Austin Metro, launched in October 1980, was heralded as the saviour of Austin Motor Company and the whole BL combine. Twenty-one years after the launch of the Mini, it gave BL a much-needed modern supermini to compete with the recently launched likes of the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Nova, VW Polo and Renault 5. It was an instant hit with buyers and was one of the most popular British cars of the 1980s. It was intended as a replacement for the Mini but, in fact, the Mini outlived the Metro by two years.

In 1982, most of the car division of the by now somewhat shrunken British Leyland (BL) company was rebranded as the Austin Rover Group, with Austin acting as the “budget” and mainstream brand to Rover’s more luxurious models. The MG badge was revived for sporty versions of the Austin models, of which the MG Metro 1300 was the first.

Austin revitalised its entry into the small family-car market in March 1983 with the launch of its all-new Maestro, a spacious five-door hatchback that replaced the elderly Allegro and Maxi and was popular in the early years of its production life, although sales had started to dip dramatically by the end of the decade.

April 1984 saw the introduction of the Maestro-derived Montego saloon, successor to the Morris Ital. The new car received praise for its interior space and comfort, but early build-quality problems took time to overcome. The spacious estate version, launched in early 1985, was one of the most popular load carriers of its era.

In 1986 Austin Rover’s holding company BL plc became Rover Group plc and was privatised by selling it to British Aerospace (BAe).

Plans to replace the Metro with a radical new model, based on the ECV3 research vehicle and aiming for 100 mpg, led to the Austin AR6 of 1984–1986, with several prototypes tested. The desire to lose the Austin name and take Rover “upmarket” led to this project’s demise in early 1987.

In 1987, the Austin badge was discontinued and Austin Rover became simply the Rover Group. The Austin cars continued to be manufactured, although they ceased to be Austins. They became “marque-less” in their home market with bonnet badges the same shape as the Rover longship badge but without “Rover” written on them. Instead any badging just showed the model of the car: a Montego of this era, for instance, would have a grille badge simply saying “Montego”, whilst the rear badges just said “Montego” and the engine size/trim level. The Metro was facelifted in 1990 and got the new K-series engine. It then became the “Rover Metro”, while the Maestro and Montego continued in production until 1994 and never wore a Rover badge on their bonnets in Britain. They were, however, sometimes referred to as “Rovers” in the press and elsewhere.

Possible revival

The rights to the Austin name passed to British Aerospace and then to BMW when each bought the Rover Group. The rights were subsequently sold to MG Rover, created when BMW sold the business. Following MG Rover’s collapse and sale, Nanjing Automobile Group owns the Austin name and Austin’s historic assembly plant in Longbridge. At the Nanjing International Exhibition in May 2006, Nanjing announced it might use the Austin name on some of the revived MG Rover models, at least in the Chinese market. However, Nanjing is for the moment concentrating on reviving the MG brand. The MG brand is traditionally used for sports cars and Nanjing has no rights to the Rover name, so a revival of the Austin name would seem a logical brand for selling more standard cars. It might also be argued that a British name would be more respected in the European market than a Chinese name. Nanjing Automobile Group itself merged into SAIC Motor.

Austin Motor Company Limited

A new “Austin Motor Company Limited” was incorporated in July 2012 by Steve Morgan of Birmingham who also owns the last Mini to leave Longbridge, but was dissolved in 2014.

In 2015, the “Austin Motor Company” and the 1930s “Flying A” logo name and patents was purchased by John Stubbs in Braintree, Essex. The company intend to start manufacturing an all new Austin car in 2016.

Plant

Austin’s Longbridge plant

Main article: Longbridge plant

Austin started his business in an abandoned print works at Longbridge, Birmingham. Due to its strategic advantages over Morris‘s Cowley plant, Longbridge became British Leyland‘s main factory. Following the Austin marque’s discontinuance in 1989, Rover and MG continued to use the plant. The collapse of MG Rover meant it was not used from 2005 until MG production restarted in 2008.

Models

Cars

Main article: List of Austin motor vehicles

 

1935 Light 12/6 with Ascot body

1946 12 (1465cc)

1975 1800 (ADO71)

Small cars

1910–11 Austin 7 hp1922–39 Austin 71959 Austin Seven Mini 1959–61 Seven, as BMC1963 Austin Mini 850 mk1 1961-69 Mini, as BMC1980–90 Metro, as Austin Rover

Small family cars

1911–15 Austin 10 hp1932 Austin Ten-Four DVLA First registered 17 June 1932, 1141 cc 1932–47 Austin 101946 Austin 8 4-door Saloon 1939–47 Austin 81954 Austin A30 4-door saloon 1951–56 A30Black Austin A35 1956–59 A35Austin A35 van1961 Austin A35 Countryman Wagon 1956–62 A35 Countryman1959 A right-hand drive convertible Austin Metropolitan 1954–61 Nash Metropolitan/Austin Metropolitan1960 Austin A40 Farina MkI front 1958–61 A40 Farina Mk I1961–67 A40 Farina Mk II1972 Austin 1300GT registered June 1972 1380cc (sic DVLA) 1963–74 1100Morris 1100 Mark II 2 door Saloon 1967–74 13001973–83 AllegroSixteen Westminster saloon 1932

Sixteen Carlton 7-seater 1934

Twenty Mayfair 1936

Eighteen Norfolk 1938

Large family cars

1913–14 Austin 15 hp1922–40 Austin “Heavy” 121927–38 Austin 16 (16/18)1931–36 Austin “Light” 12/61933–39 Austin “Light” 12/41937–39 Austin 141938–39 Austin 181939–47 Austin 12 1945–49 Austin 16 hpAustin A40 Devon saloon1947-1949 Austin A40 Dorset 1947–52 A40 Devon/Dorset1952 Austin A40 DevonAustin A70 HerefordAustin A70 Hampshire produced 1948-50, big brother to the similarly styled A40 Devon 1948–50 A70 Hampshire 1950–54 A70 Hereford1952 Austin A40 Somerset Saloon 1952–54 A40 Somerset1956 Austin A40 CambridgeAustin A40 1956 2Austin A50 Cambridge front

Austin A50 Cambridge

Austin A50 Coupe UtilityAustin A55 Cambridge frontAustin A55 Cambridge sideAustin A55 Coupe Utility1971 Austin (VOD 179J) panel vanMorris half ton van license plate 1970 based on pre Farina Austin Cambridge saloon 1954–58 A40/A50/A55 Cambridge1954 Austin A90 Six cyl Westminster1954 Austin A90 Westminster front 2639cc C series BMC engineAustin A105 Westminster, the 6cylinder A55 Cambridge. Longer bonnet, bigger engine, better car1956 Austin A105 Westminster frontAustin A95 Westminster front

1957 Austin A105 Westminster front1957 Austin A105 Six sideAustin with Vanden Plas detailing 1954–59 A90/A95/A105 Westminster 1956–59 A95 Westminster Station wagon.1958 Austin Westminster A105 21 1956–59 A105 Westminster1957 Austin A55 Cambridge front Cambrian (North America)1959 Austin A55 Cambridge Mark II Saloon 1959–61 A55 CambridgeAustin A55 Cambridge Mark II Estate1961 Austin Westminster Mar 1961 2912cc 1959–61 A99 Westminster1962 Austin 60 Cambridge Sedan 1961–69 A60 Cambridge1962 Austin A60 Wagon1966 Austin A110 Westminster beige 1961–68 A110 Westminster1970 Morris 1800 Mark II 1964–75 1800/2200 (ADO17)1969 Austin 1800 Automatic1969 Wolseley 18-851973 Austin 1800 Mk III 1798cc first reg Jan 1973 rear three quartersAustin 2200 Automatic1972 Wolseley Six Automatic1968 Austin 1800 utility (5080185261)1971 Austin 3-Litre (DVLA) first registered 20 August 1971, 2912cc at SVVC Extravaganza 1967–71 3-Litre1970 Austin Maxi MkI (left) and Austin Maxi MkII 1969–81 Maxi1975-75 1800/2200 (ADO71)1982–84 Ambassador1983–94 Maestro1984–94 Montego

Large Cars

1906–07 Austin 25/301906-07 Austin 15/201908 Austin 18-24 hp with Herbert Austin at the wheel

1908 Austin 18-24 Norfolk single landaulette1910 Austin 18-24 Speedily Phaeton(4299907805) 1907–13 Austin 18/241907 Austin 40hp York landaulette (4362173509)1912 Austin 40 Vitesse1912 Austin 40 f and i 1912 Austin 40 r1912 Austin 40 rr1908–13 Austin 40 hp

1908–10 Austin 60 hp 6-cylinder + Wolseley1910–13 Austin 50 hp 6-cylinder1914 Austin 20 hp Vitesse 1912–18 Austin 20 hp1914–16 Austin 30 hp

1918 Hudson Super Six 

1920 Austin 20 tourer1919 Austin 20 Tourer1919 Austin 20 Tourer rear1922 Austin Twenty Used by A.E. Filby in 1932 and 1935 to drive from London to Cape Town and back1926 Austin Mayfair 3,6-litre with aftermarket bumper 86695565421927 Austin 20 Tourer (DVLA) first registered 10 May 1927, 3600 ccAustin nine1927 Twenty four Mayfair saloon 3.6-litre1931 Austin 20 Raleigh 3,4-litre limousine1935 Austin 20 6 Ranelagh 2.11936 Austin Six registered December 1936 3377 cc1936 Austin 20 Mayfair saloon 192378479 1919–38 Austin Twenty1938–39 Austin Twenty Eight (28/6)1947-54 Austin A125 Sheerline DS1 front 3993cc engine

1947–54 A110/A125 Sheerline1946–56 A120 Princess

1946 Austin A135 Princess II (DS3) 1947–56 A135 Princess1958 Princess IV 3995cc, April 1958 1956–59 Princess IV

Limousines and Landaulettes

1906–07 Austin 25/301906-07 Austin 15/20

1907–13 Austin 18/24 1908–13 Austin 40 hp 1908–10 Austin 60 hp 6-cylinder1910–13 Austin 50 hp 6-cylinder  1912–18 Austin 20 hp1914–16 Austin 30 hp1919–38 Austin Twenty1927–38 Austin 16 (16/18)1938–39 Austin 181938-39 Austin Twenty Eight1947–54 A110/A125 Sheerline1946–56 A120 Princess1946 Austin A135 Princess MkII DS3 front 1947–56 A135 Princess1956–59 Princess IV

Sports cars

1923 Austin 20-4 Sports Tourer 1920–23 Austin Twenty Sports Tourer1950 Austin A90 Atlantic1949 Austin A90 Atlantic convertible green 1948–50 A90 Atlantic Convertible1951 Austin A90 Atlantic Sports Saloon 1949–52 A90 Atlantic Saloon1951 Austin A40 Sports Roadster 1950–53 A40 Sports1956 Austin-Healey 100 Roadster 1953–56 Austin-Healey 100

1954 Austin Healey 1001958–70 Austin-Healey Sprite1959–67 Austin-Healey 30001960 Austin-Healey Frogeye Sprite1971 Austin Sprite

Australian Austin cars1958–62 Austin Lancer1962–66 Austin Freeway

1970–73 Austin Kimberley/Tasman

Military vehicles

WWI Austin Armoured CarWWII Austin Ten Utility TruckWWII Austin K2/Y AmbulanceWWII Austin K41958–67 Austin GipsyAustin Champ

c. 1968 Austin Ant

1937 low-loader

London Taxis1929–34 Austin 12 Taxicab High Lot1934–39 Austin 12 Taxicab Low Loader1938–39 Austin 12 Taxicab Flash Lot1948–58 Austin FX31958–97 Austin FX4—London Taxi

Ambulances

• LD3
• WWII Austin K2/Y

Commercial vehicles

LWB truck 1954A200FT truck 1962Light van c. 1964

• Austin also made commercial vehicles, one of which was the FG, previously the Morris FG. The FG was the workhorse that kept Britain running in the 1960s. These Austin FGs and later the Leyland FGs all had petrol or diesel longstroke engines, producing good torque, but very little in the way of speed (40 mph was a good speed out of these vehicles). Leyland were to take over the FG, but before they did, in 1964, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) commissioned six rolling chassis FGs to be coach built by a Middlesex company, Palmer Coachbuilders. These six vehicles, registration 660 GYE to 666 GYE, were outdoor broadcast scenery vehicles.

Aircraft

During World War I Austin built aircraft under licence, including the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a, but also produced a number of its own designs. None of these progressed past the prototype stage. They included:

Austin-Ball A.F.B.1 (fighter)Austin A.F.T.3 (fighter)Austin Greyhound (fighter)Austin Kestrel (two-seat biplane)Austin Osprey (fighter)Austin Whippet (post-war civil aircraft)

Ambulances and Hearses

1916-knockchis-wolseley-ambulance-of-the-madonnas-of-pervyse-belgium1925 Austin 20hp Hearse

1926-austin-20-4-hearse-thomas startin1930-black-vintage-Austin-hearse1930 Austin 20-6 Landaulette converted from hearse1934-austin-hearse1937 Austin 16 Hearse Dottridge Brothers1938 Austin 18 Six Cylinder Ambulance
1939 Austin Eighteen Ambulance (DVLA first registered 6 January 1939)1939 Austin Six Ambulance (DVLA first registered 6 January 1939)1940 Wolseley Hearse1939-45 Austin Ambulance crews of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANYs)1940 Austin K2 Ambulance1942 The British Army in North Africa with Austin K2 Ambulance in 1942 E13327 1943 Austin K2 Ambulance

1947-54 Austin Sheerline A1251948 Austin K2Y HZ77982 Carrosserie Visser NL1948 Austin Princess Engine 3955 cc S6 OHV 585 1948 Austin Ziekenauto KP 84 131950 Austin A135 Princess Hearse MkII [DS3]1949 Austin K2Y Ambulance1950 Austin Princess Sheerline GB1955 Ambulance Austin A152 Ambulance brochure1957 Ambulance Austin Princess1959 Austin FX3 Hearse1960 Princess 4-Litre Hearse Alpe & Saunders1960 Vanden Plas Princess 4litre Hearse

1960’s Austin A60 Hearse1964-morris-ld-ambulance1964 Vanden Plas Princess lijkwagen1965 Morris Minor Hearse1966 AUSTIN A110 WESTMINSTER LOW LINE HEARSE

1959 Austin Taxi Model FX4D1965 Beardmore ‘London’ Taxi1964 Austin Princess1965 Morris Minor Hearse1966 Vauxhall Vanden Plas Princess 4 Litre R Hearse

There are lots more Ambulances, Hearses, Limousines and so on. I’ll show them in my next blog. There will only be pictures I found on the www.

Notes

1. Jump up^ “Mr H Austin, who has for so many years been associated with the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company, Limited, and who is starting new works, where he will manufacture Austin Cars, at Longbridge, near Birmingham” Mr H Austin, who has been for so long associated with the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co. of Adderley Park, Birmingham, advises us that he is leaving the Company, and is starting works on his own account situated at Longbridge, near Birmingham, where he will manufacture vehicles which are to be known as the ‘’Austin’’ Cars. At first Mr Austin will turn out two sizes of tourist cars viz., a 15-20 hp and a 25-30 hp. both of which models will embody the best approved principles in design, and Mr Austin proposes to use only the highest grade of materials in their manufacture. Moderation is to govern the selling price, and Mr Austin hopes to make the car of his name a household word for reliability and good service. Captan Frank Kayser is associated with Mr Austin in the new undertaking and he will be assisted by a specially-selected staff, several of whom have been connected with him in the past. The works are of considerable extent, covering several acres, and are thoroughly suitable for the construction of automobiles of all types. Mr Austin hopes to have his first 25-30 hp car on the road by the 1st of December and to commence deliveries by the end of March 1906. Mr Austin sends us, in a tabulated form, an extremely interesting record gained by the cars which have been turned out by the Wolseley Company during his direction of that Company. This list bristles with gold and silver medals in all the leading reliability and consumption trials, exhibitions etc whilst in the speed events and hill-climbing contests, the number of winners makes a formidable show, these triumphs being in addition to the selection by the A.C.G.B.I. of the Wolseley racers in 1904 and 1905 for the Gordon Bennett Race.‘’The Automotor Journal, November 4, 1905 Page 1366’’

References

1. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} Roy Church, ‘Austin, Herbert, Baron Austin (1866–1941)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
2. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f} RAC Rating
3. Jump up^ Automobile Notes. The Times, Tuesday, 1 May 1906; p. 6; Issue 38008
4. Jump up^ A Bird and F Hutton-Stott, Lanchester Motor Cars, a History, Cassell London, 1965 p.110
5. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c} The Austin Motor Company (1914) Limited. The Times, Monday, 9 February 1914; p. 13; Issue 40442.
6. Jump up^ “Austin Motor Company”. The Times. 27 May 1911. p. 21.
7. Jump up^ “Austin Motor Company”. The Times. 2 October 1912. p. 7.
8. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c} Sheepish start for the lion of Longbridge. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.The Times, Saturday, 26 August 1995; pg. 3[S1]; Issue 65356.
9. Jump up^ “Midget Cars Next?” Popular Mechanics, August 1930 right column, second paragraph
10. Jump up^ Cusumano, pp. 90–92
11. Jump up^ Dolan, Andy (13 April 2010). “Austin Allegro fan spends £8,500 restoring £800 ‘flying pig'”. Daily Mail. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
12. Jump up^ “Austin Motor Company Limited”.Company Check. Retrieved30 November 2015.
13. Jump up^ “£4.99… and I’m the new boss of Austin Motors!”. Birmingham Mail. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 1 March2015.
14. Jump up^ “News : The final Mini leaves Longbridge”. AR Online. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 2 January2013.

Further reading

• Sharratt, Barney (2000), Men and Motors of “The Austin”: The Intriguing Inside Story, Haynes Group, ISBN 1-85960-671-7
• Cusumano, Michael A. (1985), The Japanese Automobile Industry, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-47255-1

External links

• Austin Memories All about the history of Longbridge and models produced
• Photos of Austin Pickup Van
• The Unofficial Austin-Rover Web Resource
• “Midget Cars Next?” Popular Mechanics, August 1930, pp. 243–245 article on the Austin models offered in 1930

FARMAN Aircrafts and Automobiles

Farman Aviation Works and Automobiles 1908-1936 Châteaufort, Yvelines, France

 

Avions Farman

Industry	Aeronautics, defence
Fate	Merged
Successor	Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre (SNCAC)
Founded	1908
Founder	Dick Farman, Henri Farman and Maurice Farman
Defunct	1936
Headquarters	Châteaufort, Yvelines, France
Products	Aircraft

Henri Farman on September 21, 1913 in France

Far­man Avi­a­tion Works (French: Avions Farman) was a French air­craft com­pany founded and run by the broth­ers Richard, Henri, and Mau­rice Far­man. They de­signed and con­structed air­craft and en­gines from 1908 until 1936; dur­ing the French na­tion­al­iza­tion and ra­tio­nal­iza­tion of its aero­nau­ti­cal in­dus­try, Far­man’s as­sets were as­signed to the Société Na­tionale de Con­struc­tions Aéro­nau­tiques du Cen­tre (SNCAC).

In 1941 the Far­man broth­ers reestab­lished the firm as the “Société Anonyme des Usines Farman” (SAUF), but only three years later it was ab­sorbed by Sud-Ouest. Mau­rice’s son, Mar­cel Far­man, reestab­lished the SAUF in 1952, but his ef­fort proved un­suc­cess­ful and the firm was dis­solved in 1956.

The Far­man broth­ers de­signed and built more than 200 types of air­craft be­tween 1908 and 1941. They also built cars until 1931.

Background

In 1907, Henry Far­man bought his first air­craft from the Voisin; and soon he began to im­prove its de­sign of the air­craft, as a re­sult it was known as ei­therFar­man I or Voisin-Far­man I. In 1908, after fur­ther mod­i­fi­ca­tions which in­cluded re-cov­er­ing it with ‘Con­ti­nen­tal’ rub­ber­ized fab­ric and ad­di­tion of side-cur­tains, the air­craft was re-des­ig­nated Far­man I-bis. Ailerons were fit­ted after Wilbur Wright’s fly­ing demon­stra­tion at Le Mans in Au­gust 1908.

A sec­ond air­craft, to be called Far­man II, was built by the Voisin broth­ers in­cor­po­rat­ing de­sign re­fine­ments to Far­man’s spec­i­fi­ca­tion. Voisin sold this air­craft to J.T.C. Moore-Brabazon, who ex­ported it to Eng­land, where it was re­named

the Bird of Passage. This episode an­gered Far­man, who in early 1909 ended his as­so­ci­a­tion with Voisin and started build­ing his own aircraft.

Air­craft de­signed and built by Henry Far­man had a HF pre­fix, while ex­am­ples de­signed and built by his brother Mau­rice car­ried a MF prefix.

List of aeroplanes

 Farman III in flight, Berlin 1910

 MF.7 Longhorn, Preveza 1912 1912 Biplane Maurice Farman 7 Longhorn Preveza.jpg

 MF.11 Shorthorn 1915 1915 Farman Shorthorn MF11.jpg

 Farman F.60 Goliath 1919

Farman F.430 1934

1909 Farman III Louis Paulhan flying with Mrs. Dick Ferris in his Henry Farman biplane, at the Dominguez Field Air Meet, Los Angeles, January 1910(CHS-5602)

Farman III (1909)

Farman MF.7 Longhorn (1913)

 Farman MF.11 Shorthorn (1913)

Farman HF.14 – two-seat floatplane (1912)

Farman HF.20 – reconnaissance biplane (1913)

Farman F.30 – two-seat military biplane (1915)

Farman F.40 (1915) – single-engined reconnaissance aircraft

Farman HF.30 – fighter biplane (1916)

Farman F.31 – fighter prototype (1918)

Farman F.50 – biplane bomber (1918)

Farman F.60 Goliath bomber/airliner, development of the F.40 (1919)

 Farman F.60 Torp – torpedo carrying floatplane version (1920s)

Farman Moustique – sports, touring aircraft (1919)

Farman Sport – sports, touring biplane (1919)

Farman B.2 – light day bomber biplane (1920s)

Farman BN.4 – long-range night bomber biplane (1922)

Farman F.80 – basic training biplane (1921)

Farman F.90 – passenger transport aircraft (1921)

Farman F.110 – artillery observation biplane (1921)

Farman F.51 – maritime reconnaissance flying boat (1922)

Farman F.120 – 4-engined bomber/airliner (1923)

Farman F.140 Super Goliath – heavy night bomber (1924)

1924 Farman F.160 A.2 Farman A.2 – observation monoplane (1924)

Farman F.130 – long-range night bomber (1925)

 Farman F.170 Jabiru – single-engined airliner (1925)

Russian Knowledge with FARMAN

Farman F.150 – day bomber biplane (1926)

Farman F.160 – torpedo bomber floatplane (1928)

Die Eröffnung der II. Internationalen Luftfahrt -Ausstellung in den Ausstellungshallen am Kaiserdamm in Berlin1 Blick in die Halle der ausländischen Flugzeuge auf der “ILA”. Im Vordergrund das neueste französische Farman-Gross-Flugzeug für mehr als 30 Passagiere eingereichtet.Farman F.180 – airliner biplane (1928)

Farman F.190 – civil utility aircraft (1928)

Farman F.200 – civil utility aircraft (1929) Farman F.230 – touring aircraft (1930)Farman F.250 – passenger transport aircraft (1931)Farman F.280 – mail plane (1931)Farman F.211 – day/night bomber aircraft (1932)

Farman F.220 – 4-engined high-wing heavy bomber (1932) Farman F.1000, F.1001 & F.1002 single-engined, pressurised, high altitude research aircraft (1932-5) Farman F.1010 – experimental cannon carrier aircraft (1933)

Farman F.1020 – experimental aircraft (1933)

Farman F.270 – bomber/torpedo bomber floatplane version (1934)

Airport Malmö Bulltofta BUA, Farman F.300 is getting refuelled at Bulltofta Airport, Malmö, 1920s or 1930s. Farman F.300 – airliner (1930)

Farman F.370 – single-seat racing aircraft (1933) Farman F.380 – single-seat racing aircraft (1933)Farman F.400 – four-seat cabin monoplane (1934) Farman F.420 – multi-role aircraft (1934)Farman F.430 – light transport aircraft (1934)Farman F.460 Alize – training, touring aircraft (1930s) Farman F.480 Alize – training, touring aircraft (1936) Farman NC.470 – six-seat trainer and coastal reconnaissance floatplane (1938) Farman NC.471 – six-seat trainer and coastal reconnaissance floatplane (1938) Farman F.500 – two-seat trainer aircraft (1952)

Cars

1923 Farman A 6.

Farman 12 CV (Panhard)(1902)

 Farman A 6 (1919–1923)

Farman A 6 B (1923–1927)

Farman NF (1927–1929)

Farman NF 2 (1929–1931)

See also

• Société Générale des Transports Aériens – airline initially formed as Lignes Aériennes Farman(“Farman airlines”)

References

Notes

1. ^ Claude Rouxel, Laurent Friry & Sébastien Faures. Farman De l’aviation à l’automobile, Ed. Etai, ISBN 9782726897478
2. ^ Opdycke 1999, p. 264.
3. ^ “Brab’s” First Flights, Flight, 28 May 1964, p. 895.
4. ^ Walter J. Boyne. Air Warfare An International Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO,INC , ISBN I-57607-345-9
5. ^ Green & Swanborough, page 201
6. ^ Green & Swanborough, pages 201 and 202

Bibliography

• Green, William; Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. Godalming, UK: Salamander Books. pp. 201, 202.
• Opdycke, Leonard E. French Aeroplanes Before the Great War Atglen, PA: Schiffer 1999 ISBN 0-7643-0752-5

Die Eröffnung der II. Internationalen Luftfahrt -Ausstellung in den Ausstellungshallen am Kaiserdamm in Berlin1 Blick in die Halle der ausländischen Flugzeuge auf der “ILA”. Im Vordergrund das neueste französische Farman-Gross-Flugzeug für mehr als 30 Passagiere eingereichtet.

EPSON scanner Image

Airport Malmö Bulltofta BUA, Farman’s is getting refuelled at Bulltofta Airport, Malmö, 1920s or 1930s.

Frigidaire photo album # 1

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

SONY DSC

This is everything I could find about Farman, a remarkable French Aeroplane and Automobile(s) maker on the World Wide Web. Enjoy the pictures with me, and when you have pictures or info that can make this blog more interesting I will appreciate this. Thanks and enjoy.

AVIONS VOISIN

Avions Voisin, cars, airplanes and motorcycles Issy-les-Moulinaux France 1905-1946

Avions Voisin

Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	1905
Founder	Gabriel Voisin
Defunct	1946
Headquarters	Issy-les-Moulineaux (France)
Products	Cars, airplane

1919 Avion Voisin C1

1920 The first Avions Voisin C2 prototype

1921 C3 objet c3L

1923 Avions Voisin Type C3L Limousine

1922-26 Avions Voisin C4-C4S c

 

Voisin C5 1924

1923 Avion Voisin C6 Lab

1925 Avion Voisin C7 Chastness

1924 Avion Voisin C8L

1924 Avions Voisin 10CV as shown in the 1924 October catalog.

1926 avion voisin-c11-la-lumineuse

1926 This huge and imposingly elegant Avion Voisin C12 convertible was bodied by Duvivier.

1927 carte Avion Voisin c14 espagnole

1929-30 Avions Voisin C15

1932 Avion Voisin C16, unique example bodied by Ottin

1930-35 Avions Voisin C18

 

1931 Avion Voisin C20

1931-35 Avion Voisin C21 Unique

1934 carte Avions Voisin C22

1931 Avion Voisin C23 Myra Saloon

1934 C24 Figoni a

 

 Voisin C25 Aérodyne, 1934, in a Paris Museum

 Voisin C25 Aérodyne, 1934

 Voisin C26

 Avions Voisin C27

1935 Avion Voisin C28 Aerosport

1936 Avion Voisin C28

1938 Avion Voisin C28 Saliot Cabriolet

1938 Avions Voisin modèle C30

1939 Avion Voisin C30

Avions Voisin was a French luxury automobile brand established by Gabriel Voisin in 1919 which traded until 1939.

History

Gabriel B. Voisin was an aviation pioneer and manufacturer who in 1919 started producing cars using Knight-type sleeve valve engines at Issy-les-Moulineaux, an industrial suburb to the southwest of Paris. Former student of the Fine Arts School of Lyon and enthusiast for all things mechanical since his childhood, Voisin’s uncompromisingly individual designs made extensive use of light alloys, especially aluminum. One of the company’s most striking early designs was the Laboratoire Grand Prix car of 1923; one of the first cars ever to use monocoque chassis construction, and utilising small radiator-mounted propeller to drive the cooling pump. The characteristic Voisin style of ‘rational’ coachwork he developed in conjunction with his collaborator André Noel. Noel prioritized lightness, central weight distribution, capacious luggage boxes and distinctively angular lines. The 1930s models with underslung chassis were strikingly low.

In the early 1930s, Gabriel Voisin could not pay all of his draftsmen any more and a young creative engineer called André Lefèbvre quit, recommended by Gabriel to Louis Renault. Lefèbvre finally entered Citroën where he led three particularly significant car projects: the Traction Avant, the 2CV and the DS, using a lot of Gabriel’s lessons.

Engines

Sleeve valve Knight engines were used exclusively until some later models switched to Graham 3.5 litre engines. The Knight engines included: inline four; inline six; V8 (prototype); V12 – 7.2 liter, 1921 (prototype); Inline twelve and a Seven-cylinder radial (prototype).

After the Second World War

After the war the business was nationalised in the political turmoil and the Government installed directors who did not continue the original engineering traditions. The Voisin business was integrated into that of its principal creditor, engine supplier Gnome & Rhône which was in turn nationalised in 1945 to form the basis for what now became the state-directed SNECMA business.

Voisin presented a “Biscooter Voisin” at the 1950 Paris Motorcycle and Bicycle Show, a voiturette intended for the impoverished age, with a front mounted 125 cc engine from Gnome & Rhône. The aluminium-bodied vehicle had a three-speed transmission with a secondary gear and did not require a driver’s license. The company failed to proceed with the Biscooter and instead mandated a Mr. Moglia, previously employed by Hotchkiss to develop an alternative voiturette. Moglia’s design appeared at the 1952 Paris Motor Show fitted with the same Gnome & Rhône engine, but on Moglia’s design the engine was moved to the rear of the little vehicle. The braking and suspension systems were also quite different. The Moglia design was presented as the new “Biscooter Voisin”, a nomenclature which at least one commentator found “abusive”.

The vehicle, renamed Biscúter, was adapted for Spanish conditions and about 12,000 were produced in Catalonia between 1953 and 1960.

Modern life

• A 1934 C-15 Ets. Saliot Roadster won best of show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance for 2002
• A 1934 C-25 Aérodyne owned by Peter and Merle Mullin won best of show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance for 2011
• A 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne was auctioned in Pebble Beach, California on August 18, 2013 for a price tag of $1,925,000.

Popular culture

In the 1933 Universal Pictures film adaptation of H. G. Wells‘s The Invisible Man, Dr Kemp drives a Voisin C-3 touring car.

In the 2005 movie Sahara, the car stolen from the dictator is a 1936 Avions Voisin C-28. Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt recognizes the car and says “It’s a 1936 Avions Voisin. Six-cylinder sleeve valve engine, you know there was only six of these ever made.” In actuality, the movie car is a fiberglass replica of a 1936 C-28 Avions Voisin with a 4.2 Jaguar engine and Rover automatic gear box on a 4WD chassis built by D Tessier (a well known restorer of Avions Voisin automobiles) in Tours, France. Clive Cussler (author of the novel the movie was based on) has a genuine 1936 Avions Voisin, similar to the C-28 that inspired the replica, in his Colorado museum. It was designed by well-known British special effects expert and stunt vehicles coordinator, Steve Lamonby and completed in four months. To make the actors more visible, the roof was removed giving it the appearance of a mid-1930s four-door cabriolet. “GV” letters on the registration plate are an insider tribute to the original C-28’s legendary manufacturer, Gabriel Voisin. The Voisin C-28 Sahara, as it has become known, sold at auction for US$23,400 in 2008.

The 2011 video game L.A. Noire features a driveable 1938 Voisin C30 (not C7) hidden at the corner of La Brea and Sunset Boulevard, in an Alaco gas station.

References

1. Jump up^ G.N. Georgano, G.N. (Editor) (1982). Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars. London: Ebury Press. ISBN 0-85223-234-9.
2. Jump up^ Artcurial Motorcars à Rétromobile (Vente n^o 1957), Paris, France: Artcurial-Briest-Poulain-F.Tajan, 2011-02-04, p. 113
3. Jump up^ “Automobilia”. Toutes les voitures françaises 1953 (salon Paris oct 1952) (Paris: Histoire & collections). Nr. 14: Page 77. 2000.
4. Jump up^ Vaughn, Mark (September 5, 2011). “French Elegance”. AutoWeek 61 (18): 7.
5. Jump up^ Jerry Garrett (July 26, 2013). “A Deco Confection, Flamboyant and French”. The New York Times. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
6. Jump up^ http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1935-avions-voisin-c25-aerodyne/
7. Jump up^ http://www.imcdb.org/movie_24184-The-Invisible-Man.html
8. Jump up^ http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles.php?make=Voisin&model=C28&modelMatch=1&modelInclModel=on
9. Jump up^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318649/trivia
10. Jump up^ “Lot 327: Avions Voisin C28 Sahara Convertible Recreation” (Auction catalogue). Bonhams. 2008-08-15.

• Website (english/french) about the Avions Voisin automobiles
• “Driving a 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne”

More pictures I collected:

1934-Voisin C27 Figoni Cabriolet

That’s what I could find about Avions Voisin.

A.C.F. American+ C.C.F Canadian Car and Foundry Company — ACF BRILL

American Car and Foundry Company

 A 1907 postcard depicting the ACF plant at St. Charles, Missouri

A refrigerator car built by ACF in 1911.

American Car and Foundry (often abbreviated as ACF) is a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of motor coaches and trolley coaches under the brand names of (first) ACF and (later) ACF-Brill. Today ACF is known as ACF Industries LLC and is based in St. Charles, Missouri. It is owned by investor Carl Icahn.

History

American Car and Foundry was formed and incorporated in New Jersey in 1899 as the result of the merger of 13 smaller railroad car manufacturers. The company was made up of:

Company	Founded	Location
Buffalo Car Manufacturing Company	1872	Buffalo, New York
Ensign Manufacturing Company	1872	Huntington, West Virginia
Jackson and Woodin Manufacturing Company	1861	Berwick, Pennsylvania
Michigan-Peninsular Car Company	1892	Detroit, Michigan
Minerva Car Works	1882	Minerva, Ohio
Missouri Car and Foundry Company	1865	St. Louis, Missouri
Murray, Dougal and Company	1864	Milton, Pennsylvania
Niagara Car Wheel Company		Buffalo, New York
Ohio Falls Car Manufacturing Company	1876	Jeffersonville, Indiana
St. Charles Car Company	1873	St. Charles, Missouri
Terre Haute Car and Manufacturing Company		Terre Haute, Indiana
Union Car Company		Depew, New York
Wells and French Company	1869	Chicago, Illinois

Later in 1899, ACF acquired Bloomsburg Car Manufacturing Company (of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania). Two years later, ACF acquired Jackson and Sharp Company (founded 1863 inWilmington, Delaware), and the Common Sense Bolster Company (of Chicago, Illinois). The unified company made a great investment in the former Jackson & Woodin plant in Pennsylvania, spending about $3 million. It was at this plant that ACF built the first all-steel passenger car in the world in 1904. The car was built for the Interborough Rapid Transit system of New York City, the first of 300 such cars ordered by the railroad.

1904 and 1905 saw ACF build several motor cars and trailers for the London Underground. In these two years, ACF also acquired Southern Car and Foundry (founded 1899 in Memphis, Tennessee), Indianapolis Car and Foundry and Indianapolis Car Company.

ACF produced artillery gun mounts and ammunition, submarine chasers and other boats, railway cars and other equipment during World War I to support the Allies. ACF ranked 36th among United States corporations in the value of World War II production contracts.

Timeline

• 1899: American Car & Foundry is formed from the merger of 13 smaller companies.
• 1899: ACF acquires Bloomsburg Car Manufacturing Company
• 1901: ACF acquires Jackson and Sharp Company and Common Sense Bolster Company
• 1904: ACF builds the first all-steel passenger car in the world for the Interborough Rapid Transit
• 1904: ACF acquires Southern Car and Foundry
• 1905: ACF acquires Indianapolis Car and Foundry and Indianapolis Car Company
• 1922: ACF diversifies into the automotive industry with the acquisition of Carter Carburetor Corporation
• March 31, 1924: ACF acquires Pacific Car and Foundry
• 1925: ACF acquires Fageol Motors Company of Ohio and Hall-Scott Motor Car Company
• 1926: ACF acquires J. G. Brill Company
• 1927: ACF acquires Shippers Car Line
• 1935: ACF builds lightweight Rebel streamline trains for the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad
• 1939: ACF’s Berwick plant switches to construction of military tanks.
• August 2, 1941: ACF’s 1,000th military tank is completed for the United States military effort of World War II
• 1954: The company officially changes its name to ACF Industries, Inc.
• 1954: ACF purchases Engineering and Research Corporation.
• 1954–1955: ACF delivers 35 “Astra Dome” dome cars to the Union Pacific Railroad
• 1960: ACF completes the last passenger car that it is to build (New York City Transit R28 IRT car).
• 1977: Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) came up with the idea of the first double-stack intermodal car in 1977. SP then designed the first car with ACF Industries that same year.
• 1984: ACF is purchased by Carl Icahn
• 1997: ACF reaches leasing agreement with GE Capital Railcar for 35000 of its 46000 railcars, mostly on 16 year leases with optional purchase agreements.
• 2003: ACF Industries LLC became a successor to ACF Industries, Incorporated on May 1, 2003.

Products

External-braced wooden boxcar built for sugar service in Cuba by ACF. ca. 1922

Historically, ACF built passenger and freight cars and covered hopper cars for hauling items like corn or other grains. . One of the largest customers was Union Pacific, whose armour-yellow carbon steel lightweight passenger rolling stock was mostly built by ACF. The famous dome–observation car, Native Son, was an ACF product. Today, the American passenger car market is erratic in production, and is mostly handled by specialty manufacturers. Competitors Budd, Pullman-Standard, and St. Louis Car have all either exited the market or gone out of business.

The manufacturing facility located in Milton, Pennsylvania is serviced by the Norfolk Southern railroad and is capable of manufacturing railcars and all related railcar components. The plant is capable of producing pressure vessels in sizes ranging from 18,000 – 61,000 gwc, to include propane tanks, compressed gas storage, LPG storage, and all related components including heads. The plant covers 48 acres providing 500,000 square feet of covered work area and 7 miles of railroad storage track. The Huntington, WV production site was closed in late 2009.

See also

American Car Company

 A Birney car made by the American Car Company, built in 1919, shown here in operation in 1987

The American Car Company was a streetcar manufacturing company based in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It was one of the country’s leading streetcar builders during the heyday of streetcar operation. The company was founded in 1891 by William Sutton and Emil Alexander, who had previously founded the Laclede Car Company in 1883 also in St. Louis, and had both got their start working in the streetcar business at St. Louis’ horsecar manufacturer, the Brownell Car Company.

The American Car Company was a builder of electric powered streetcars. ACC was bought out by the J. G. Brill Company of Philadelphia in 1902. However, Brill continued to operate the American Car Co. under its own name until 1931, when it was reorganized as J. G. Brill of Missouri.

In 1915, American Car built the very first Birney-type trolley, the prototype of a new design then known as the “Safety Car”, and went on to build more Birney cars than any other manufacturer. The Fort Collins Municipal Railway, in Colorado, and the Fort Smith Trolley Museum, in Arkansas, are examples of operations where preserved Birney cars built by the American Car Company can still be seen running today.

In 1931, only four months after parent company J. G. Brill discontinued use of the American Car Company name, the ex-ACC factory in St. Louis closed permanently.

See also

• American Car and Foundry Company
• List of tram builders

• American Car Company
• Canadian Car and Foundry
• Jan Rogers Kniffen – former company treasurer
• List of rolling stock manufacturers

Canadian Car and Foundry

A preserved 1954 CCF-Brill trolley bus on the Edmonton trolley bus system.

Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F) also variously known as “Canadian Car & Foundry,” or more familiarly as “Can Car,” manufactured buses,railroad rolling stock and later aircraft for the Canadian market. CC&F history goes back to 1897, but the main company was established in 1909 from an amalgamation of several companies and later became part of Hawker Siddeley Canada through the purchase by A.V. Roe Canada in 1957. Today the remaining factories are part of Bombardier Transportation Canada.

History

Portable power plant built by Canadian Car and Foundry

Canadian Car & Foundry (CC&F) was established in 1909 in Montreal as the result of an amalgamation of three companies:

• Rhodes Curry Company of Amherst, NS – founded 1891
• Canada Car Company of Turcot, QC – founded 1905
• Dominion Car and Foundry of Montreal, QC

In 1911 the CC&F Board of Directors recognized that the company could improve its efficiency if they were able to produce their own steel castings, a component that was becoming common to all their products. They purchased Montreal Steel Works Limited at Longue Pointe, QC, the largest producer of steel castings in Canada, and the Ontario Iron & Steel Company, Ltd. at Welland, ON, which included both a steel foundry and a rolling mill.

Buses were produced at Fort William, Ontario and railcars in Montreal and Amherst. Streetcars were manufactured between 1897 to 1913, however the company focused exclusively on rebuilding existing streetcars after 1913.

A few years later, CC&F acquired the assets of Pratt & Letchworth, a Brantford, ON, rail car manufacturer. In the latter part of World War I, the expanding company opened a new plant in Fort William (now Thunder Bay) to manufacture rail cars and ships which included the French minesweepers Inkerman and Cerisoles which were both lost in Lake Superior; the Amherst plant started by Rhodes & Curry in Amherst was closed in 1931. In an attempt to enter the aviation market, CC&F produced a small series of Grumman fighter aircraft under licence and developed an unsuccessful, indigenous-designed fighter aircraft, the Gregor FDB-1.

The Second World War

CC&F Hawker Hurricane X on a test flight over Fort William, Ontario

CC&F-built T-6J Harvard

By 1939, with war on the horizon, Canadian Car & Foundry and its Chief Engineer, Elsie MacGill, were contracted by the Royal Air Force to produce the Hawker Hurricane.Refinements introduced by MacGill on the Hurricane included skis and de-icing gear. When the production of the Hurricane was complete in 1943, CC&F’s workforce of 4,500 (half of them women) had built over 1,400 aircraft, about 10% of all Hurricanes built.

Following the success of the Hurricane contract, CC&F sought out and received a production order for the troublesome Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. Eventually, 834 Helldivers were produced by CC&F in various versions from SBW-1, SBW-1B, SBW-3,SBW-4E and SBW-5. Some of the Curtiss divebombers were sent directly to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease arrangements. CC&F also built the North American AT-6 Texan/Harvard under licence, many of the aircraft being supplied to European air forces to train post war military pilots.

In 1944, the Canadian Car & Foundry built a revolutionary new aircraft in its Montreal shops – the Burnelli CBY-3, also called the Loadmaster. There were two examples built of an aerofoil-fuselage design originally developed by Vincent J. Burnelli. The CBY-3 was never to enter full-scale production and was cancelled less than one year later.

The work of Canadian women building fighter and bomber aircraft at the plant during the Second World War is documented in the 1999 National Film Board of Canada documentary film Rosies of the North.

Postwar developments

After the Second World War, the CC&F returned to its roots as a rail car manufacturer. They also made a successful leap into the streetcar business, supplying Montreal, Toronto, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo with various types of streetcars. The company concluded a licencing agreement with ACF-Brill (the successor to J. G. Brill) in 1944 to manufacture and sell throughout Canada buses and trolley coaches of ACF-Brill design as Canadian Car-Brill, in later years often written “CCF-Brill”, for short. CC&F built 1,114 trolley buses^[5] and a few thousand buses under the name. Trolleybus production ended in 1954; Edmonton Transit System‘s No. 202, a 1954 CCF-Brill T48A, was the very last Brill trolleybus built for any city.

In 1957, wishing to diversify, the British Hawker Siddeley Group acquired CC&F through its Canadian subsidiary, A.V. Roe Canada Ltd.. In 1962, A.V. Roe Canada was dissolved and its assets became part of Hawker Siddeley Canada. During the 1970s they introduced the BiLevel Coach heavy railway passenger car, which would go on to great success.

CCF re-emerged as Can-Car Rail in 1983 as a joint division between Hawker Siddeley Canada and UTDC. The Can-Car Rail operations were based in Thunder Bay. Sold to SNC-Lavalin in 1986, a financial shakeup led to the firm being returned to the Government of Ontario, and then quickly re-sold to Bombardier Transportation. Through a series of further acquisitions, mergers and rationalisations, CC&F faded from the annals of significant Canadian manufacturers, although the company still exists today as the Bombardier Transportation Canada Inc.railcar facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Products

Transit

• CCF-Brill 44S motor bus (under license)
• CCF-Brill T44/T44A trolley bus (under license), 1946–54
• CCF-Brill T48/T48A/T48SP trolley bus (under license), 1949-54
• Presidents’ Conference Committee Car A6 SE DT
• Presidents’ Conference Committee Car A7 SE DT
• Presidents’ Conference Committee Car A8 SE DT
• Small Peter Witt cars with Ottawa Car Company
• Large Peter Witt car and trailers with J. G. Brill and Company

Other

• Tanks for World War II
• cars for the Intercolonial Railway
• cars for the Grand Trunk Railway
• cars for the Grand Trunk Pacific
• cars for the Canadian Northern Railways
• cars for the Canadian Pacific Railway
• cars for the Canadian National Railways (some later operated by Via Rail or Rocky Mountaineer)
• bi-level cars for GO Transit – with Hawker Siddeley Canada and SNC Lavalin

Aircraft

• Grumman G23 Goblin/SF built under license)
• Gregor FDB-1
• Canadian Car and Foundry Maple Leaf Trainer II
• Hawker Hurricane (under license)
• SBW Helldiver (under license)
• CC&F CBY-3 Loadmaster
• Canadian Car and Foundry Harvard Mk 4 (production rights to the North American T-6 family were sold to CC&F post war)
• Beechcraft T-34 Mentor (under license)

Customers

• British Columbia Electric Railway
• Canadian Northern Railways
• Canadian Pacific Railway
• Canadian National Railways
• Edmonton Transit System
• Grand Trunk Railway
• Hamilton Street Railway
• Intercolonial Railway
• Ottawa Transportation Commission
• Nova Scotia Light and Power Company, Limited
• Quebec Railway, Light and Power Company (later Québec Autobus, post–1959)
• Société de transport de Montréal
• Toronto Transportation Commission

Preservation

This section requires expansion.(April 2010)

Many CC&F-built buses have been preserved as historic vehicles, some in operating condition. For example, the Transit Museum Society, in Vancouver, has at least seven CC&F buses in its collection, including two CC&F-Brill trolleybuses.

See also

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	Canada portal

• J. G. Brill and Company
• Preston Car Company
• Ottawa Car Company
• Niles Car and Manufacturing Company
• American Car and Foundry

J. G. Brill Company

J. G. Brill Company

Type	Private
Industry	rail transport
Founded	1868
Founder	John George Brill
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,United States
Products	streetcars, motor buses, andtrolleybuses

A 1903 Brill-built streetcar on a heritage streetcar line in Sintra, Portugal in 2010.

The J. G. Brill Company manufactured streetcars and buses in the United States. The company was founded by John George Brill in 1868 as ahorsecar manufacturing firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, merged with the American Car and Foundry Company (ACF) in 1944 to become ACF-Brill and ceased production in 1954. Brill manufactured over 45,000 streetcars (also known as trolleys or trolley cars in the U.S.), motor buses, trolleybuses and railroad cars. At its height, it was the largest manufacturer of streetcars and interurbans in the U.S. It produced more streetcars and interurbans and gas electrics than any other manufacturer.

History

Brill-21E

J. G. Brill began operations in 1868 and operated with the Brill name until 1956.

In 1926, ACF Motors Company obtained a controlling interest in J. G. Brill. In 1944 the two companies merged, resulting in the ACF-Brill Motors Company. On January 31, 1946, controlling interest in ACF-Brill was acquired by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation for $7.5 million. Consolidated Vultee was sold on November 6, 1947, to the Nashville Corporation, which sold its share to investment firm Allen & Co headed by Charles Allen, Jr. on June 11, 1951. In early 1954, ACF-Brill ceased production and subcontracted remaining orders. The properties were sold, and on December 30, 1955, the company was merged with supermarket companies into ACF-Wrigley Stores Inc.

ACF-Brill announced in 1944 that Canadian Car and Foundry of Montreal, Quebec were licensed to manufacture and sell throughout Canada motor buses and trolley coaches of their design as Canadian Car-Brill. The firm built about 1,100 trolley buses and a few thousand buses under the name.

Products

• Fageol/Brill Twin Coach 44S.
• Birney safety car – by subsidiary, the American Car Company.
• Traditional arch-windowed, all-wood interurban cars. 1890-1920s.

 Model 55 and Model 75 Brill Railcars stand at Adelaide, South Australia, in 1962

• Steel heavy interurban cars built 1920-1930s. The Brill “Center Door” car was typical of suburban trolleys and interurbans built around 1920. These tended to be large, heavy, double-ended cars, with passengers entering and exiting via doors located at the center of the car. Many rebuilt into one man cars.[Springirth,p86-100]
• Brill “Master Unit,” built 1930s. All-steel; had standard controller stand, capable of 70 mph.[p86-100]
• Brilliner – Brill’s competitor to the PCC (Presidents’ Conference Car) looked somewhat like the first PCCs. The Brilliner was not successful when compared to the PCC. Underpowered. Few were sold, whereas PCCs were well sold worldwide. Twenty-four built for Atlantic City’s Miss America Fleet.[Springirth p86-100]
• Brill “Bullet” car. 1929-1932. For suburban/interurban use.[Springirth, p86-100]

A 1947 ACF-Brill trolley bus

• Peter Witt streetcar
  • Large cars with trailers
  • Small cars
• Numerous models of trolleybuses, including T30, T40, 40SMT, 44SMT and, as ACF-Brill, TC44 and T46/TC46
• C-36 city bus
• IC-41 intercity bus

The unique Bullet cars

 Later-model train from the P&W line, “Bullet” No. 206 on display at Steamtown in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The lines that operated interurban passenger cars recognized in the mid-1920s that they needed faster and more efficient equipment. Up to that time, both the wood and the steel interurban cars were large, sat high, and were heavy. Car manufacturers such as Cincinnati Car Co., St. Louis Car Co., and Pullman worked to design equipment for a better ride at speed, improved passenger comfort, and reduce power consumption. This included designing trucks able to handle rough track. Brill, in conjunction with Westinghouse and General Electric, worked on a new design. The result was the 1929 aluminum and steel wind tunnel developed slope roof Bullet MU cars, the first of which were purchased by the Philadelphia and Western Railroad, a third rail line running from 69th Street Upper Darby to Norristown in the Philadelphia region. This line still runs as SEPTA’s Norristown High Speed Line. These Bullets were successful and operated until the 1980s, but not many others were sold. Only the central New York state interurban Fonda, Johnstown, and Gloversville Railroad ordered Bullets, albeit a single-ended, single-unit “trolley-ized” version. Five were procured in mid-Depression 1932. In 1936 the FJ&G sold its Bullets to the Bamberger Railroad in Utah, which ran them in high-speed service between Salt Lake City and Ogden until the mid-1950s. Three of the SEPTA cars are now at the Seashore Trolley Museum.

Clients

• Philadelphia Rapid Transit Street car system.
• Philadelphia and Western Railway Suburban interurban line.
• Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (Red Arrow Lines) Suburban interurban line.
• Toronto Transportation Commission
• Hamilton Street Railway
• Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway Pigeon Mountain Scooters 1922-1951
• Erie Railroad
• South Australian Railways
• Invercargill Tramways (until 1950) The world’s southernmost light railway system.
• New Plymouth Electric Tramways, New Plymouth, New Zealand
• Wellington Corporation Tramways
• Dunedin City Tramways
• Tranvía Municipal de Bogotá-Colombia (first was called the Bogotá City Railway Co. and then Tranvía Municipal de Bogotá) The Tramway 1884-1947
• Numerous U.S. interurban and street railway systems
• Lisbon tramway system – Carris Company, Portugal

Companies

The American Car & Foundry Co. controlled, as of January 26, 1926:

• The Brill Corporation, which controlled:
  1. American Car & Foundry Motors Co: owned Hall-Scott Motor Car Co (owned 100%) and Fageol Motors (Ohio) (controlled 90%)
  2. The J. G Brill Company, 62nd and Woodland Streets, Philadelphia. Absorbed and owned American Car Co. (not American Car and Foundry), Kuhlman Car Co. of Cleveland, Wason Mfg. Co. of Springfield, MA., Stephenson Car Co. of Elizabeth, NJ, Hall-Scott of San Francisco. In Europe, Cie. J. G. Brill of Gallardon, France, which was sold to Electroforge in 1935.

Other companies that built licensed versions of Brill vehicles:

• Canadian Car and Foundry – Peter Witt streetcars, trolley buses and motor buses

Canadian railway car builder Preston Car Company was acquired in 1921 and operations were closed in 1923.

See also

• List of tram builders

References

• 1. Middleton. List of U.S. interurban car manufacturers, pp416–417. Bullet design, p68-70.
• 2. Volkmer. Photographs pf P&W Bullets and SEPTA Bullets. Brilliners, built 1932.
• 3. Hilton. Development of improved interurban car design. (eight pages)
• 4. Springirth. Development of Bullet design.
• 5. Bradford, Francis H. Hall-Scott: The Untold Story of a Great American Engine Maker

Bibliography

1. Jump up^ Young, Andrew D. (1997). Veteran & Vintage Transit, p. 101. St. Louis: Archway Publishing. ISBN 0-9647279-2-7.
2. Jump up^ Sebree, Mac; and Ward, Paul (1973). Transit’s Stepchild: The Trolley Coach, p. 127. Los Angeles: Interurbans. LCCN 73-84356.
3. Jump up^ Brill Railcars of the South Australian Railways Bird, K Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, October;November;December 1981 pp213-236;237-260;272-282 January 1982 pp1-8
4. Jump up^ Brill (2001), p 165.

• Brill, Debra (2001). History of the J. G. Brill Company. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-33949-9. The author of this book is a direct descendant of company founder John George Brill of the JG Brill Company of Philadelphia, manufacturer for many years of street cars, interurban cars, the famous “Bullet” cars, and buses. The largest (number produced) manufacturer of such equipment in the world. Over time, absorbed other manufacturers of interurban cars and street cars.
• Middleton, Wm. D (2000) [1962]. The Interurban Era. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-89024-003-8.
• Volkmer, Wm. D. Pennsylvania Trolleys in Color, Vol II, Philadelphia Region. 92pp. Morning Sun Books, Scotch Plains, NJ. 1998. ISBN 1-878887-99-8. Photographs of Brilliners and Bullets and other Brill designs on Philadelphia and Westernline and in shops.
• Hilton, George and Due, John The Interurban Electric Railway in America, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. Reissue 2000.
• Springirth, Kenneth. Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys 128pp. Arcadia Publishing, 2007. (ISBN 9780738550435)

External links

Brill vehicles. Brill motor buses Restored Montreal Transit comission 1952 Canadian Car Brill.JPG Brill interurban railcars Arden66 Brill railcar with people 1913 Brill 18 Brill 301 Brill Bullit Brill Bullit 1946 Brill streetcars 178 Brill Cars 1969 Brill Brill Astoria Brill Astoria 300 Lake Oswego 1940 Brill Brill/GE tram no. 76 on line 7 in Helsinki 1950’s Brill Brill tram No 178 on the Christchurch Tramway Brill tram No 178 on the Christchurch Tramway Portland Heights car 504 on a snowy day circa 1918. This route served Council Crest and was eventually renamed the Council Crest line. Car 504 was built in 1903 or 1904 by the J.G. Brill Company. Motorman Chester and Conductor Rudolph with car 507 near the end of the Portland Heights-Council Crest Line about 1910 Car 76, built in 1926 by Brill, at the Electric City Trolley Museum, in Scranton, PA. 「最近の10年」京浜急行電鉄1958年6月1日発行、P51 Fremantle Municipal Tramways tram No.11. 1932 Brill Gauge 1901 Horse drawn tramcars on King Street, Honolulu, with Aliiolani Hale in the back. Interior de un tranvía fabricado por la empresa Brill. 東京電燈スプレーグ式電車（青山車庫）first Japanese Tram Japan If you are in the Washington, PA area, make time for this great operating museum. If you are in the Washington, PA area, make time for this great operating museum. If you are in the Washington, PA area, make time for this great operating museum. Brill Car 78 was providing service on July 19, 2007 If you are in the Washington, PA area, make time for this great operating museum. Brill Car 78 was providing service on July 19, 2007 Ex-Portland Traction Company car 813, a 1932 Brill “Master Unit” streetcar, operating on the Willamette Shore Trolley heritage streetcar line, between Portland, Oregon and Lake Oswego, Oregon. It is pictured approaching Lake Oswego terminus, where the line is located farther away from the shore of the Willamette River. The ex-Southern Pacific Railway track does not have overhead trolley wires, so the electricity to power the streetcar comes from a generator it is towing on a trailer. Ex-Portland Traction Company car 813, a 1932 Brill “Master Unit” streetcar restored by the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society, in service on the Willamette Shore Trolley line in May 2010. It is waiting at the Portland terminus, at Bancroft Street, to start a trip to Lake Oswego. Car 813 first began serving the WST line in 1995, but 2010 was its final season on the line; it broke down in July 2010, and in 2012 it was moved to the Oregon Electric Railway Museum, for eventual repair. This was the WST’s Portland terminus after September 2003; previously, it had been farther north. Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, July 2006. Photo by Evan Jennings. Category:Images of Pennsylvania 1946 red arrow 2 media 1946 Former Red Arrow Brill Liner #3 is arriving in Upper Darby on Garrett Rd. In the distance, outbound Brill “Master Unit” #83 is heading out. May 1976 1946 SEPTA Brilliner #6, formerly Red Arrow, is outbound toward Sharon Hill on Springfield Rd at Woodlawn in May of 1976 SEPTA streetcar/trolley 86, a Brill “Master Unit”, in Sharon Hill in May 1976. Tranvía en el museo del STE-DF. El Tranvía es el llamado Tranvía Cerito, que operó en la línea Huipulco–Tlalpan junto con los Trenes Ligeros Moyada. Dejo de dar servicio en 1990 con el cierre de la línea. Tranvía Semi-Convertible con truck “Radiax 11ft wheelbase” fabricado por la empresa Brill para la compañía Lacroze en Buenos Aires. Tranvía dormitorio fabricado por la empresa Brill para al compañía Lacroze en Buenos Aires. Brill trolleybuses A trolley bus in Philadelphia, 1968 Former Denver trolleybus built in 1948 by ACF-Brill, brought to São Paulo in 1958 and restored in 1999, after 40 years of regular services in that city. It is followed by the modern Metra trolleybus built by Busscar in 2005. Photo: Samuel Tuzi Chicago trolley buses 9291 and 9232, built in 1948 by ACF-Brill (model T44), parked in the yard at CTA’s North Station (garage). Edmonton trolleybus 202 is a CCF–Brill T48A. Built in 1954, it was the very last trolleybus built by Brill for any city. Edmonton’s last Brill trolleys were withdrawn from service in 1978, but No. 202 was preserved and eventually restored. It is pictured westbound on Jasper Avenue at 93rd Street, on one of several special trips operated (between downtown and Stadium light rail station) as part of a program of events celebrating 100 years of public transit in Edmonton. On the next-to-last day of service for trolleybuses in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, No. 734 (a 1952 ACF-Brill TC46, ex-Covington 664) is laying over in Coopersdale Loop, the northern end of the Coopersdale route. On the next-to-last day of service for trolleybuses in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, No. 734 (a 1952 ACF-Brill TC46, ex-Covington 664) is laying over in Coopersdale Loop, the northern end of the Coopersdale route. On the next-to-last day of service for trolleybuses in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, No. 734 (a 1952 ACF-Brill TC46, ex-Covington 664) is laying over in Coopersdale Loop, the northern end of the Coopersdale route. 1940 Restored Brill trolley.

• History of J. G. Brill Company
• The J.G. Brill Company Records, including approximately 16,000 photographs, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
• Brill Bullet
• Photos of Red Arrow Trolleys, including Brill cars
• Brill history and photos
• The Tramways of Colombia