Napier & Son
NAPIER Turbochargers Ltd. | |
---|---|
legal form | Limited |
founding | 1848 |
resolution | 1969 |
Reason for dissolution | Takeover by Rolls-Royce |
Seat | Lincoln |
management | Steven Hudson (Manager OEM) |
Number of employees | about 150 |
Branch | Automotive industry |
Website | www.napier-turbochargers.com |
D. Napier & Son Ltd. was a British engine and automobile manufacturer.
The company became known for its aircraft engines and automobiles in the first half of the 20th century. The automobile production was given up in 1924 and in the early 1960s Napier stopped the production of aircraft engines. Today (2008) NAPIER Turbochargers Ltd. is based in Lincoln and manufactures turbochargers . In mid-2008, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens Sector Energy, Oil & Gas Division (until the end of 2007: Siemens Power Generation ) was sold to the British investment company Primary Capital and in 2013 it was resold to Wabtec .
history
David Napier and his son James founded a company in Acton , west London in 1848 that manufactured a range of products, including steam-powered printing presses and centrifuges . After his father's death in 1873, James concentrated on the manufacture of minting machines .
His son Montague Napier took over the company in 1895 and switched to automobile production, especially luxury cars. The company produced the first six-cylinder vehicles and with the Napier 40 hp they were also able to achieve success in car races, the biggest being the victory of Selwyn Edge in the Gordon Bennett race in 1902 . The bodies of the automobiles were mainly produced by the subsidiary Cunard . In addition, marine engines were also manufactured, the boat Napier II set the world record for ships in 1905 with 56 km / h.
In the First World War began Napier & Son with the production of aircraft engines. The Napier Lion appeared in 1917 and was extremely successful. In 1925 the company stopped manufacturing automobiles and concentrated entirely on aircraft engines. The Napier Cub , a liquid-cooled X16 aircraft engine, followed in 1922 .
The Rapier and Dagger models produced in the 1930s were not very successful, so they started from scratch and in 1940 developed the Saber, the most powerful engine to date, with 24 cylinders delivering 3500 hp. Even before the Second World War , people had experimented with diesel- powered engines; the Nomad engine built after 1945 was a turbo-charged diesel engine .
English Electric bought the company in 1942 . The production of aircraft engines was transferred to Rolls-Royce in 1961 .
The Deltic engine , produced from 1950 onwards, was a very powerful, exotic design, quite a commercial success and was used to drive ships and locomotives.
British Napier Motor Company from the United States manufactured vehicles under license .
Web links
- Site of Napier Turbochargers (English)
- Website about Napier focusing aircraft engines (English)
- Early documents and newspaper articles on Napier & Son in the 20th Century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .