Panelcraft sheet metal

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Panelcraft sheet metal
legal form Limited Company
founding 1941
resolution ?
Seat Birmingham , UK
Branch Body shop

The Panelcraft Sheet Metal Company was a metalworking company from Birmingham , which manufactured utensils, boats and, at times, automobile bodies . One focus in the automotive sector was working for the Healey Motor Company . There was no connection to the London company FLM Panelcraft founded in 1960 .

Company history

Panelcraft Sheet Metal was based in Birmingham. The factory facilities were initially located in Woodgate , later in Kings Heath . The company specialized in the processing of aluminum sheets by rolling and advertised that it could produce "everything from paper knives to aircraft". During the Second World War , Panelcraft built handcarts for the transport of milk cans, among other things . Boat hulls made of aluminum were also produced on a larger scale . Individual sources report that Panelcraft also manufactured parts of automobile bodies early on as a subcontractor for Jensen Motors and produced the sheet metal for a Morris Minor prototype. In the early 1950s, Panelcraft began building small series of automobile bodies. From 1950 to 1954 Panelcraft produced the superstructures for two Healey models and for the Swallow Doretti . After that, no more body shop is occupied.

Automobile bodies

Healey

For the USA: Nash-Healey
For Great Britain: Alvis-Healey

Panelcraft succeeded in entering the series production of automobile bodies with the Healey Motor Company.

Donald Healey's Warwick factory launched a series of sports cars from 1946 onwards, based on a chassis designed by Achille "Sammy" Sampietro and with engines from Riley , Nash , Alvis and Austin in the early years . The bodies of the first Healey models were very different. Healey did not have its own body production. Before Jensen Motors became a permanent body supplier in West Bromwich , Healey obtained the bodies for its early models from various small factories, most of which only existed for a few years. These included Abbey Panels , Abbott , Duncan , Elliott , Rawson, and Westland .

In the fall of 1950, the Nash-Healey appeared , which combines Healey's chassis with the drive technology of the US automobile manufacturer Nash. Unlike the previous models, the Nash-Healey was primarily intended for export to the USA. Healey employee Benjamin Bowden designed the roadster . Panelcraft produced the body parts for all cars in the first series by hand. The bodies were produced continuously in one run from the end of 1950 to March 1951, so Healey only had to call them up. The superstructures were designed as bodies in white ; Healey took care of the completion with technology and interior fittings as well as the painting. In total, Panelcraft produced 104 bodies for the Nash-Healey. Sales fell short of Donald Healey's expectations. One reason for this was the car's high price, which was $ 3,767 in 1951. It was almost 50 percent more expensive than the most expensive American-made Nash and only about £ 200 cheaper than a Cadillac Series 62 Convertible ($ 3,987). In order to make the model more attractive, Nash and Healey had a new body designed by Pininfarina for the second series of the roadster, introduced in 1952 . The bodies in this series were no longer manufactured by Panelcraft, but by Pininfarina in Italy .

In addition to the 104 Nash-Healey bodies, Panelcraft manufactured 30 other, largely identical bodies by the spring of 1951, which were mainly used for the Healey 3 Liter Sports Convertible . Also known as the Alvis-Healey, the cars were the versions of the Nash-Healey intended for the domestic market. The only stylistic differences concern the design of the front section; it lacks the typical Nash radiator grille. 25 vehicles received the Panelcraft body; the sale lasted until 1953.

Swallow

Swallow Doretti

In 1954, Swallow from Walsall presented the two-seater Doretti sports car , which was conceptually based on the Nash-Healey. Swallow had the same origins as the sports car manufacturer Jaguar ; Both companies ultimately competed with one another. The Doretti Roadster was primarily intended for sale in the United States. It is technically based on the chassis of the Triumph TR2 and has an aluminum body designed by Frank Rainbow and manufactured by Panelcraft. Like the Healey bodies, the Doretti bodies were rolled by hand. From 1954 to 1955, 274 series vehicles with Panelcraft bodies were built. A second series with a slightly modified body, which Panelcraft was supposed to build, never came about. After an intervention by William Lyons , owner of Jaguar, Swallow stopped automobile production in the summer of 1955.

literature

Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 . Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 .

Web links

Commons : Panelcraft Sheet Metal  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Summary of Panelcraft's history on the National Marine Museum Cornwall website (accessed April 23, 2020).
  2. ↑ Forum entry on Panelcraft on birminghamhistory.co.uk (accessed April 24, 2020).
  3. ^ A b Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 , Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 , p. 203.
  4. ↑ a b Matthew Vale: Alvis: The Complete Story , The Crowood Press, 2019, ISBN 9781785005886 .
  5. ^ Rob de la Rive Box: Encyclopaedia of Classic Cars: Sports Cars 1945-1975 , Taylor & Francis, 1998, ISBN 9781579581183 , p. 201.
  6. ↑ Bob Segui: Nash Healey Guide. www.healeyclub.org, 2018, accessed April 23, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Nick Walker: A – Z of British Coachbuilders 1919–1960 , Shebbear 2007 (Herridge & Sons Ltd.) ISBN 978-0-9549981-6-5 , p. 202.
  8. ↑ Don Narus: Independent Sports Cars , Lulu.com, 2017, ISBN 9781387156016 , p. 78.
  9. ↑ Richard M. Langworth: Encyclopedia of American Cars 1930–1980 . New York (Beekman House) 1984. ISBN 0-517-42462-2 , pp. 478, 107.
  10. ^ Roger Gloor: All cars of the 50s 1945-1960 , Motorbuch Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-613-02808-1 , p. 257.
  11. ^ Rainer W. Schlegelmilch, Hartmut Lehbrink: English sports car . Könemann, Cologne 2001. ISBN 3-8290-7449-2 , p. 348 f.