James Young coachbuilder

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James Young Coachbuilder was a British coachbuilder that produced exclusive custom bodies for high-quality Rolls-Royce and Bentley chassis . In 1967 James Young ended his career.

Company history

James Young's Bromley Factory Building (ca.1908)
Rolls-Royce Phantom V Sedanca de Ville with James Young body

James Young Coachbuilder was founded in Bromley in 1863 . The company initially dealt with the manufacture of carriage wagons. In 1908 James Young made the first body for an automobile. After the First World War , the focus of activity changed to the construction of automobile bodies. James Young dressed numerous chassis from Alfa Romeo , Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Sunbeam . These were individual pieces that were developed on behalf of customers. Since the mid-1920s, James Young has also supplied some standard superstructures for Sunbeam and Talbot .

In 1937 James Young was taken over by Jack Barclay , England's largest Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealer. James Young thus became the preferred body manufacturer for Jack Barclay customers. A phase of intense ties to Rolls-Royce began; In addition, bodies for other brands such as B. Bugatti .

After the end of World War II , James Young resumed the manufacture of special body bodies. In the 1950s, numerous superstructures were created for the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and its sister model Bentley S-Series , which mostly differed from the production models by a lighter roof structure and a lower line. James Young's superstructures for the Rolls-Royce Phantom V were completely independent .

With the advent of self-supporting bodies , it has become increasingly difficult for body manufacturers to design their own bodies. That was as true for James Young as it was for his competitors Hooper or Barker . While Hooper and Barker ceased operations in the early 1960s, James Young initially tried to survive by modifying the self-supporting Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T-Series . Shortly after the presentation of the four-door series models, the company developed a two-door version of the Silver Shadow. The lines of this model were straight and severe; they lacked the lightness of the factory Silver Shadow Coupés (from which the Rolls-Royce Corniche later emerged). In 1965 and 1966, James Young produced a total of 35 two-door saloons based on the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and 15 almost identical models based on the Bentley T1. When Rolls-Royce introduced its own two-door versions in 1967, the market for the James Young products disappeared. They were the last models to bear the James Young name.

James Young ceased production of automobile bodies in 1967.

gallery

  • Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 normal with convertible body by James Young (1928)

  • Talbot BA110 with convertible body by James Young (1935)

  • Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III with James Young body (1965)

  • Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III with James Young body (1965)

  • Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow James Young Coupe (1967)

literature

  • Nick Walker: AZ of British Coachbuilders . Bay View Books.
  • Jonathan Wood: Rolls-Royce & Bentley. The story of a legendary brand . 1st edition 2003 Königswinter (Heel Verlag GmbH) ISBN 3-89880-106-3 .

Web links

Commons : James Young Coachwork  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files