Duncan Industries

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Duncan Industries
legal form Limited Company
founding 1946
resolution 1948
Reason for dissolution insolvency
Seat North Walsham , UK
management Ian Duncan
Number of employees 120
Branch Body shop

Duncan Industries was a British vehicle designer and manufacturer of automobile bodies , who briefly produced some sensational bodies for chassis from Alvis and Healey after the Second World War .

Company history

Duncan Industries was based in the east English community of North Walsham . The founder was the engineer Ian Gair Duncan.

Ian Duncan graduated from Loughborough College of Technology in 1939 with an engineering degree. During the Second World War he worked in the design department of the aircraft manufacturer Bristol Airplane , which was headed by Roy Fedden. With a view to the post-war period, Fedden began early on to develop concepts for future automobile production in Bristol. The Type 2EX and F-Type models , which were created with Duncan's participation, did not get beyond the stage of detailed sketches. When it became clear that Bristol Airplanes would be producing replicas of pre-war BMWs in its newly founded automobile division Bristol Cars , Fedden and Duncan left the company. Fedden founded his own design office Roy Fedden Ltd. in 1943, which Duncan ran. After three years, Fedden's company was insolvent and was dissolved. Duncan then returned to his hometown of North Walsham, where his family ran the Duncan Canning company, which built machines for making canned goods. In 1946 he started his own business. He founded Duncan Industries with the aim of developing and manufacturing automobiles. The company initially used an empty chapel as a location, but in 1947 it moved to Nissenhütten on the airfield in the neighboring parish of Swannington . The staff also included Alan Lamburn and Frank Hamblin, who were already with Roy Fedden Ltd. had worked with Duncan.

The first construction by Duncan Industries was the Dragonfly , a miniature car with an extraordinary body, which had been developed by Alan Lamburn and Frank Hamblin. Duncan constructed a prototype and tried to start serial production. This did not happen for financial reasons. In late 1947, to pay off his company's debts, Duncan expanded the business to include body manufacturing. This provided temporary income, but was insufficient to cover liabilities. In the summer of 1948, Duncan sold the rights to the Dragonfly for £ 10,000 to mass-produced manufacturer Austin , which was one sixth of the existing tax liability. In the late summer of 1948, Duncan finally gave up the business. The company was dissolved due to insolvency. Ian Duncan moved to Austin after the collapse of his company, where he helped develop the A30 . In 1951 he left Austin and worked as a photographer.

Duncan Dragonfly

The Duncan Dragonfly was a small car that was designed with the aim of meeting the transport needs of the immediate post-war period in the most economical way possible. An air-cooled, 0.6 liter motor installed above the front axle, which was directly connected to the transmission and drove the front wheels, was planned . However, this engine only existed in the prototype stage; for test drives, Duncan used a mass-produced motorcycle engine and transmission unit from the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). The body of the Dragonfly was designed by Frank Hamblin. In the front area the structure followed the pontoon style , in the rear molded fenders were provided. The front section was steeply sloping and had integrated headlights. A special feature was the curved beltline sloping towards the rear wheels. This body design was the model for all later Duncan bodies. Duncan only made a ready-to-drive prototype of the Dragonfly, which was thoroughly tested in 1947 and 1948. It is considered the conceptual forerunner of the BMC Mini ; It is certain that its designer Alec Issigonis examined the prototype of the Dragonfly in the 1950s.

Body shop

From 1947 Duncan turned to the body shop parallel to the development of the Dragonfly. In the course of 1948 this division was at times very successful. Duncan produced up to five bodies a week and had 120 employees at the best of times. For all models, Duncan used aluminum sheets that rested on a frame made of ash wood . The construction of the wooden scaffolding was carried out by various boat builders who were based on the British North Sea coast; the aluminum sheets were manufactured at Motor Panels in Coventry and connected to the wooden frame. Finally, Duncan did the final assembly.

Alvis

Alvis TA14 with Duncan structure

The trigger for the expansion of the field of activity was the request from an independent workshop in Norwich, which needed a coupé body for an already existing Alvis TA14 chassis. Duncan's designer Frank Hamblin transferred the Dragonfly design to the larger proportions of the Alvis and retained their stylistic features. The coupe had rear-hinged doors. As with the Dragonfly, the roof section was rounded. The waistline also fell backwards. The Alvis structure, however, also had its own characteristics. This included the lack of a continuous center post (" B-pillar "); the door and rear side windows overlapped in a manner similar to pre-war Gurney Nutting bodies . In contrast to the Dragonfly, the front and rear fenders were strongly shaped and curved. The headlights stood free and framed a tall, upright radiator grille.

In a few months, depending on the source, Duncan produced 20, 30 or 40 such bodies, some of them as convertibles. The retail price for an Alvis Duncan was £ 2,205.

Healey-Duncan and Drone

Duncan Drone

Parallel to his work for Alvis, Ian Duncan also came into contact with the sports car designer Donald Healey . In a first phase, Duncan installed the body of a Hillman Minx and two Ford Anglia bodies on contemporary Healey chassis. The company then received the order to provide Healey chassis with independent bodies. Duncan's designer Frank Hamblin adapted the body, which had already been developed for Alvis, to the Healey chassis. The Healey version was basically very similar to the Alvis structure; however, the design of the front end differed greatly. It largely corresponded to that of the Duncan Dragonfly, so that the Healey looked like its enlarged version. The front fenders were elongated compared to the Alvis superstructure; they reached into the doors. The front section was rounded; she fell off to the bumper. The front headlights were integrated into the front mask. The vehicles were called Healey Duncan Sports and were equipped with a 2.4 liter Riley engine. Mostly they were closed two-door cars; one source cites a production volume of a total of 23 saloons. At least one convertible was also built. The closed versions were fast vehicles. They reached a top speed of 105  mph .

A few more Healey chassis received an open, angular sports car body. They were called the Duncan Drone . The development of the Drone resulted from a tightening of British tax law, which came into force in 1947, which imposed a 66 percent sales tax on vehicles with a purchase price of more than £ 1,000. With its very simply designed open body, the Drone - unlike the regular Duncan models - stayed below the price limit. About 15 copies of this roadster were made. Some vehicles were retrofitted with a regular Duncan body by way of a non-taxable conversion process.

More bodies

Bentley Mark VI with Duncan body

In addition to the Alvis and Healey versions, Duncan bodyworked individual chassis from other manufacturers in the course of 1948, including two Daimler DB 18s , which received a body similar to the Alvis-Duncan, a Bentley Mark VI and an Allard .

literature

  • Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 . Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 .
  • NN: Mystery Bristol: Storey reports on an interesting and innovative Bristol car that might have been . In: Thoroughbred & Classic Cars, issue March 1984, p. 48 ff.

Web links

Commons : Duncan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NN: Mystery Bristol: Storey reports on an interesting and innovative Bristol car that might have been . In: Thoroughbred & Classic Cars, issue March 1984, p. 48 ff.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f History of Duncan Industries on www.marqueart.com (accessed April 21, 2017).
  3. ↑ History of the Duncan Industries company on northwalshamarchive.co.uk (accessed April 21, 2017).
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h History of Duncan Industries on the website www.clan-duncan.co.uk (accessed April 21, 2017)
  5. ↑ Sales advertisement for an Alvis Duncan  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on April 21, 2017).@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.orchardclassics.co.uk  
  6. ^ A b Nick Walker: AZ of British Coachbuilders 1919-1960 . Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 , p. 200.
  7. ↑ Illustration of a Dragonfly next to a Healey Duncan (accessed April 21, 2017).
  8. ^ History and illustrations of the Healey Duncan on the website www.mossmotoring.com (accessed April 21, 2017).
  9. ↑ One of the Daimler vehicles with a Duncan body was offered as a restoration item in 2016; s. Sales advertisement (accessed April 21, 2017).