This history article is about another successful microcar manufacturer of the 1950s and 1960s – Bond Cars or Sharps Commercials as they were originally called. Lawrence Bond formed the company in 1948 in the north of England – a hotbed of microcars with Reliant and Peel amongst other manufacturers up in the same part of the world. Bond formed the company because he wanted to … [Read more...]
Crossley
In this article we will describe one of the true pioneers of the motor industry: Crossley. The company was founded in 1867 when Francis Crossley bought an engineering business in the UK that made pumps and other mechanical devices including small steam engines. Francis had undertaken an apprenticeship at the Robert Stephenson Company and soon after the company started, Francis … [Read more...]
Gilbern
Gilbern was one of my favourite cars when I was younger - mainly because I was born and raised in Wales and this company was for a time, a local success. Gilbern was one of a handful of cars manufactured at a time when many low volume manufacturers used glass fibre for the body shells. In the 1960s and 1970s there were many kit car builders in the UK and many moved to volume … [Read more...]
DeLorean
For this marque article, I have chosen a manufacturer that was in business for only seven years and produced just one model. The company is DeLorean, founded in Northern Ireland by John DeLorean, an American industry veteran who had worked for Chrysler, Packard and General Motors before founding his own company in 1975. DeLorean’s parents had immigrated to the US from … [Read more...]
Star Motor Company
There were at least two manufacturers or brands called Star. One was made by the Durant Company in the US and one was based in Britain and is the subject of this article. The Star Motor Company was started in 1898 and lasted for about thirty years into the Great Depression. Like many compatriot companies, Star started out making bicycles in 1893 as Sharratt and Lisle, the … [Read more...]