The Lanchester - 1895-1956

HE ANCHESTER

(1) Lanchester Engine Co Ltd, Birmingham 1895-1904 (2) Lanchester Motor Co, Birmingham 1904-1931 ; Coventry 1931-1956

The first Lanchester was remarkable in that like the first Benz, it was designed from the ground up as a motor car, not as an adaptation of the horse carriage, and in that it was a homogenous mechanical entity, owing nothing to the practice of the stationary engine and its power transmission. In the latter respect, the Lanchester was unique: the power unit and belt transmission of the Benz were

1895 Lanchester

derived from stationary practise. Frederick Lanchester’s prototype was built in 1895 and improved upon two years later. Production models followed in 1900. The engine, centrally mounted, was horizontallyopposed air-cooled, 10hp twin; each piston and cylinder had its own crankshaft and flywheel assembly, which rotated in opposite directions. Smoothness unparalleled in other contemporary cars resulted. By the standards of the day the engine was quiet. Epicyclic gears provided three forward speeds, with pre-selector control of the first and second. The engine and gearbox had automatic 1901 12hp Lanchester lubrication. There was a worm final drive in accordance with the best modern practise, the suspension cantilever springs at front and rear were soft while the unit construction of the chassis and body provided great stiffness. The steering was by a side lever which, like the wick carburettor was apparently old-fashioned but was in practice extremely efficient. Water-cooled engines were offered as an option from 1902, and bigger faster models were made in 1904. However, in that year the first model with a vertical 4-cylinder engine was introduced, the 20hp, and the twins tailed off. The engine was moved forward to a position between the front-seat passengers, and it was given horizontal overhead valves and pressure lubrication. A 28hp six arrived in 1906. This and the 20hp four were replaced respectively by the 38hp for 1911 and the 25 horsepower for 1912. On the original Lanchesters, gear changing and braking were effected by two levers, the only pedal being for the accelerator. By now, however, convention had demanded the substitution not only of a steering wheel, but of the usual three pedals and gear lever, except that, of course the epicyclic gears still enabled changes to be made without fuss or 1910 28hp Landaulette

trouble. By 1912, Frederick’s brother George was in charge. Although Frederick's design had gained a large and devoted following for the make, the public trend was increasingly towards convention, and George Lanchester’s cars were to follow it. George Lanchester was responsible for the Sporting Forty of 1914. Although only a

1913 38hp Lanchester Above and below: 1914 40hp Lanchester

handful were made, this car was a landmark because it was the first Lanchester to have its engine in the conventional position, covered by a bonnet. (It was the only Lanchester to be called a sports car, and have a side valve engine). From it was developed the Forty, which was at first the sole model offered. Its six-cylinder, 6.2-litre engine was made in unit with its 3-speed epicyclic gearbox, and had an overhead cam. The springs, half-elliptic at the front and cantilever at the rear, were underslung. Worm drive was retained. This was a very fast, very expensive car in the Rolls-Royce class, it's makers felt bound to widen their net. Late in 1923 there appeared the Twenty-One, which was a scaleddown, simplified, modernised Forty. Its 6-cylinder engine was of 3.1 litres, it had a 4speed sliding-pinion gearbox, and front wheel brakes were standard. In 1926 the bore was enlarged, to provide 3.3 litres. In this form the car was sometimes known as the Twenty-Three. Alongside it, the Forty (with front wheel brakes from 1925) continued until 1929. It was replaced in that year by the Thirty, which was an up-to-date design with a straight-8 engine of 4½ litres, still with overhead cam and a normal 4-speed gearbox. Like the Forty, it was a massive and magnificent car ideal for high speed cruising. The Twenty-Three was dropped in 1931, when the B.S.A. group of companies, in which Daimler already provided a line of luxury cars, took over, although the Thirty was still catalogued in 1932. From now on, the name of Lanchester applied to a line of much cheaper, smaller cars, beginning with the 15/18 hp. This had a 2½ litre, pushrod overhead valve, 6-cylinder engine designed by George Lanchester, hydraulic brakes, and the Daimler fluid flywheel. It was a good car in its class, but like

most Lanchester's to come, lost its character as the Eighteen, with fixed cylinder head and mechanical brakes and became a cut-price Daimler. The group complicated matters further by introducing a 4-cylinder 10 hp Lanchester as a more expensive version of the contemporary side valve B.S.A. It had a 1.2 litre and then a 1.4 litre overhead valve engine. Probably the best of the Lanchester at this period was the Roadrider de Luxe of 1938, a small six with a detachable cylinder head. A few straight-8 Lanchesters were made from 1936 to 1939, but these were in fact 4½ litre Daimlers with Lanchester radiators. Four were supplied to King George VI. The first post-war Lanchester was a 4-cylinder ten of 1.3 litres on pre-1939 lines, but like all Lanchesters to come it was replaced for 1952 by a new Fourteen, with a 2 litre, 4- cylinder engine and 1933-1936 Lanchester - only ten were ever made fluid flywheel. This car was basically a Daimler Conquest with two fewer cylinders and was the last Lanchester to qualify as a serious production car. In 1953-1954, at least one Dauphin was made. This was a true luxury car, consisting of a 6-cylinder Daimler engine in a Fourteen chassis, surrounded by a luxurious coachbuilt body by Hooper; price was an unrealistic £4,010. Finally, later 1954, Lanchester provided a 1951 Ten Sports body saloon completely new and original design, which was also their last - the Sprite. The engine was an overhead valve 4-cylinder unit of 1.6 litres, the brakes were hydraulic, but the Sprite incorporated unitary construction of body and chassis and fully automatic Hobbs transmission instead of the fluid flywheel. The Sprite was never put into production, and the once great and always respected name of Lanchester died.

1953 Lanchester Fourteen

FROM:THECOMPLETEENCYCLOPEDIA OFMOTORCARS1885TO THEPRESENT. (THIRDEDITION PUBLISHED1985)