Arthur Mulliner

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Arthur Mulliner
legal form Limited Company
founding 1760
resolution 1976
Seat Northampton and London , UK
Number of employees 350 (1907)
Branch Body shop

Arthur Mulliner (at times also: Mulliners of Northampton ) was a British cartwright that began manufacturing and maintaining carriages in the 18th century and became an exclusive manufacturer of automobile bodies in the first half of the 20th century. Arthur Mulliner designed and built numerous custom bodies for Bentley and Rolls-Royce chassis until the outbreak of World War II ; Most recently, cheaper chassis were also built.

Family relationships

At times, four different bodybuilders in the UK used the Mulliner name. There were family ties on the part of the owner or founder; However, business connections did not result from this. All Mulliner operations were formally and organizationally independent.

  • Common origins were the Northampton-based Arthur Mulliner company, which dates back to 1760.
  • At the beginning of the 19th century, a descendant of the founder established an independent business in Leamington Spa aimed at the affluent clientele of this health resort, which was relocated to Birmingham in 1896 and renamed Mulliners or Mulliners of Birmingham.
  • The coach manufacturer AG Mulliner had also been based in Liverpool since 1854 .
  • In 1882 Arthur Mulliner from Northampton and AG Mulliner from Liverpool opened a joint showroom in the affluent London district of Mayfair , which they named Mulliner (London) Ltd. led. This London company was taken over by Henry Jervis Mulliner , which became HJ Mulliner & Co. in 1900.

Company history

Rolls-Royce Phantom II built by Arthur Mulliner (1933)
Rolls-Royce Phantom III limousine with body by Arthur Mulliner (1937)

Arthur Mulliner went back to the company Mulliners of Northampton , which F. Mulliner had founded in 1760 in the central English city of Northampton . The company had contractual relationships with the Royal Mail , for which it manufactured and maintained stagecoaches . Mulliner also produced carriages for private use. The company produced in Northampton, but had also had a showroom in the British capital since the early 19th century . In 1887 Arthur Felton Mulliner, a grandson of the company's founder and son of the owner of Mulliners of Birmingham, took over the business. A few years later he expanded it to include the construction of automobile bodies. In 1899 Mulliner had already manufactured 150 bodies, which were primarily intended for chassis for the Daimler Motor Company .

In 1907, in addition to the enlarged facilities in Northampton, a new factory and sales office was opened in Long Acre in the City of Westminster in London .

During the First World War , Arthur Mulliner produced military vehicles, but also cartridge cases. After the end of the war, the company resumed the manufacture of superstructures for civil automobiles. In the 1920s it became the bodybuilder of choice for Armstrong-Siddeley , Daimler and Vauxhall . There were also bodies for Rolls-Royce. Arthur Mulliner's superstructures were generally considered to be clear and reserved. On the other hand, some Rolls-Royce bodies that had been ordered by Indian customers were extraordinarily lavishly decorated .

In the 1930s, the company's economic situation became more difficult. The contract with Armstrong-Siddeley had already expired in 1927. Wealthy customers continued to place orders for individual Rolls-Royce and Bentley bodies; however, the size decreased significantly compared to the 1920s. During this time Arthur Mulliner offered standardized superstructures for comparatively inexpensive chassis from Lanchester and Rover . Most recently Arthur Mulliner also manufactured commercial vehicle and bus bodies.

In 1939 the company was sold to the car dealer Henlys , who ended the body shop, but continued to operate the sales department until 1976. In the 1940s, Henly sold some buses with bodies that were attributed to Arthur Mulliner but which were actually commissioned by Mulliners of Birmingham.

literature

  • Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 . Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 .
  • Jonathan Wood: Coachbuilding - The hand-crafted car body Shire Publications Ltd (2008); ISBN 978-0-7478-0688-2
  • David Culshaw and Peter Horrobin: The Complete Catalog of British Cars 1895-1975 , Veloce Publishing PLC, Dorchester (1997), ISBN 1-874105-93-6
  • Jonathan Wood: The British Motor Industry Shire Publications Ltd (2010); ISBN 0-7478-0768-X , ISBN 978-0-7478-0768-1
  • RM Clarke (Editor): Armstrong-Siddeley Gold Portfolio 1945-1960 ; Brooklands Book Distribution Ltd., Cobham, Surrey (UK), ISBN 1-85520-069-4
  • Lawrence Dalton: Those Elegant Rolls Royce ; Revised edition (1978), Dalton-Watson Ltd., Publishers, London, England
  • Lawrence Dalton: Rolls Royce - The Elegance Continues ; Dalton-Watson Ltd., Publishers, London, England, ISBN 0-901564-05-2

Web links

Commons : Arthur Mulliner coachwork  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 . Herridge & Sons, Shebbear 2007, ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 , p. 150.
  2. ↑ Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 . Herridge & Sons, Shebbear 2007, ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 , p. 147.
  3. ↑ Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 . Herridge & Sons, Shebbear 2007, ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 , p. 148.
  4. ↑ Illustration and description of the Rolls-Royce Phantom I (chassis number 71RF) car body for the Maharajah of Baroda on the website www.conceptcarz.com (accessed on May 23, 2017).
  5. ↑ a b James Taylor: AZ of British Bus Bodies , Crowood, 2013, ISBN 978-1-84797-639-0 .