Charlesworth Motor Bodies

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Charlesworth Motor Bodies
Charlesworth Bodies
legal form Limited Company
founding 1907, re-established in 1931
resolution 1950
Seat Coventry , UK
Branch Body shop

Charlesworth Motor Bodies (from 1931: Charlesworth Bodies ) was a British manufacturer of automobile bodies . The company existed from 1907 to 1950 and primarily produced standard bodies for large-scale manufacturers.

Company history

Initial phase: Contract Bodies

Charlesworth Motor Bodies was founded in 1907 by A. Gray, R. Hill and T. Steane. The company was based in the city of Coventry . In the decade and a half of its existence, Charlesworth supplied standardized bodies for local automobile manufacturers such as Hillman and Singer (so-called contract bodies ). After the First World War , Charlesworth was commissioned by the Dawson Car Company , founded in 1918 , to exclusively supply the bodies for the newly developed chassis. The project failed early due to Dawson's economic difficulties; A total of only 65 Dawson vehicles with Charlesworth bodies were built. From 1921 superstructures were made for the Alvis 10/30 , the first model of the Alvis brand .

After the contract with Alvis had expired, Charlesworth initially received no follow-up contract. Instead, in the early 1920s, Charlesworth began building custom-made bodies based on chassis from Armstrong-Siddeley , Bentley , Calcott , Daimler , Minerva , Peugeot and Rolls-Royce .

In 1925 Charlesworth received another major contract for standard bodies intended for Morris . The connection was largely based on the fact that Morris' regular bodywork supplier Chalmer & Hoyer had temporary capacity problems. At that time Charlesworth was also a licensee for Weymann bodies .

In 1927 Charlesworth ran into economic difficulties. According to a newspaper advertisement, the company was up for sale in April that year. In 1931 Charlesworth was liquidated. The previous co-owner James Butlin then set up his own company, Butlin Coachworks , which was also based in Coventry.

Start-up after bankruptcy

In November 1931 it was re-established under the name Charlesworth Bodies . The new management again focused on contract work for large-scale manufacturers. Charlesworth delivered three different body styles to Rover in the 1931 and 1932 model years , each of which was offered by the factory. The quality of the bodies convinced the sports car manufacturer Alvis, which from 1933 had a large part of its bodies manufactured by Charlesworth. In 1937 and 1938 Charlesworth produced 500 bodies each, four fifths of which were bodies for Alvis. Other customers were Brough Superior , Daimler and MG . Charlesworth built the prototype of the Dolphin model for Daimler in 1940 . This was the last vehicle Charlesworth completed before World War II .

During the war, Charlesworth manufactured components for aircraft. After the end of the war, the company initially dealt with the restoration of vehicles, later it started again with the construction of special bodies. In the late 1940s, a Humber and several Daimler were dressed at Charlesworth's. In 1946 Invicta commissioned the company to build three prototypes of the Black Prince . Series production of the ambitious model did not materialize. The last vehicle to be built at Charlesworth was a Lea-Francis prototype . Here, too, the company was unable to secure a contract for series production of the bodies. Rather, Lea-Francis decided to manufacture the bodies of his cars himself in the future. In 1950 Charlesworth ceased operations.

gallery

  • Alvis Speed ​​Twenty with Charlesworth body

  • MG SA with Charlesworth body (1936)

  • MG VA-T Roadster by Charlesworth (1938)

  • Daimler ELS24 (1938)

  • Alvis Speed ​​25 Saloon

  • Prototype of the Daimler Dolphin (1940)

literature

  • Nick Walker: AZ of British Coachbuilders 1919-1960 . Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 .
  • Dalton, Lawrence: Those Elegant Rolls Royce ; Revised edition (1978), Dalton-Watson Ltd., Publishers, London, England, hardcover (English)
  • Dalton, Lawrence: Rolls Royce - The Elegance Continues ; Dalton-Watson Ltd., Publishers, London, England, ISBN 0 901 564 05 2 , hardcover (English)

Web links

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