Carlton Carriage Company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bentley 4 1/4 liter (1938) with Carlton body
Rolls-Royce Phantom II with Carlton body

The Carlton Carriage Company (initially: Kelvin Carriage ) was a British manufacturer of automobile bodies who designed and manufactured special bodies for the chassis of British and American automobile brands in the period between the World Wars. Some of them were produced in small series, while others were unique.

Company history

Carlton Carriage goes back to the body manufacturer Motor Car Industries based in the London borough of Kilburn . In 1924 the owners of Motor Car Industries separated. One of them took over the Motor Car Industries factory and continued operations after the company was renamed Progressive Coach & Motor Body ; In 1929 it was finally named Mayfair Carriage . The other owner founded a new company in a neighboring district, which initially operated as Kelvin Carriage, without achieving national awareness. When a new majority owner entered the company in 1925, it was named Carlton Carriage. In 1931 and 1937 the company was sold again; the last owner, DCG Trench, ran it until the 1960s.

In the 1920s, Carlton was closely associated with Waverley Cars ; Carlton's workshops were then on the Waverley site. A little later, Carlton began to offer its own bodies for chassis from high-volume manufacturers such as Buick , Chrysler , Essex , Hudson , Oldsmobile and Pontiac . In addition, bodies for upscale brands such as Humber and Talbot were created in small series , each of which was sold by the brands' authorized dealers. Due to fierce competition in Carlton's market segment, the company's revenues declined in the early 1930s. Carlton then concentrated on working as a subcontractor. The company initially accepted orders from Offord & Sons , a renowned coachbuilder from the West End of London , which had a design department but did not maintain its own workshops; later there was a similar relationship with the Connaught Motor & Carriage Company . In addition to these subcontracting activities, Carlton continued to manufacture individual bodies on behalf of individual customers until 1939, with chassis from exclusive manufacturers such as Bentley , Delage , Hispano-Suiza and Rolls Royce being used in these cases . These vehicles remained unique.

During the Second World War , the body production at Carlton came to a standstill. After the end of the war it was not resumed. The company existed until 1965 as a repair shop for automobiles.

literature

  • Nick Walker: AZ of British Coachbuilders 1919-1960 . Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 .
  • GN Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present ; Dutton Press, New York, 2nd edition (hardcover) 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 (English)

Web links

Commons : Carlton Carriage Co Coachwork  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nick Walker: AZ of British Coachbuilders 1919-1960 . Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 , pp. 90 f, 139, 146.