Calthorpe Minor
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 18 August 2008 |
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Car : Calthorpe Minor
Year : 1914
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke :62×90 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1087 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power : 25
Maximum speed : 50 mph
Wheelbase : 7 ft 3 ins (2.20 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi- elliptic leaf- springs
The Morris Minor, a triumph of the rising star Alec Issigonis ( the first English car of which over a million were made), had an illustrious predecessor in the Calthorpe , which shared the same name. Introduced in 1913, the Minor was very well received: the (for the times) very modest cylinder capacity was backed up by easy handling and a respectable maximum speed of around 50 mph.
At the same time it was in line with the general policy of the newly-founded firm (Birmingham, 1904), which considered racing in the ‘voiturette’ or , as these vehicles were known in England, ‘cyclecar’ category an excellent form of publicity. A special version of this same model averaged 68 mph in the 1914 Cyclecar Grand Prix. Calthorpes also ran successfully in many tough rallies in the 1920s. After the war the Minor was called the Sporting Four, and its cylinder capacity increased to 1261 cc.
In 1921 the founder of Calthorpe G.W. Hands, left the company to found another under his own name, but in 1924 he returned with some of his new models, which he inserted into the old firm’s line, causing a certain degree of confusion. The name Calthorpe remained alive until 1932, though very few were made in the company’s last years.
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