BSA cars

Scout 1203 cc 1938 example

BSA cars were manufactured between 1907 and 1912 in Birmingham then until 1939 in Coventry as well as Birmingham, England. BSA had established a motor-car department in an unsuccessful effort to make use of the Sparkbrook Birmingham factory. An independent part of the same site was occupied by The Lanchester Motor Company Limited. Sales were handled by BSA Cycles Limited. After 1912, manufacture was carried out by group subsidiary Daimler in Coventry or BSA Cycles in Birmingham.

History

All-steel components of the 13.9 body 1912, upholstery above

The first prototype car was produced in 1907. The following year, marketed under BSA Cycles Ltd, the company sold 150 automobiles and again began producing complete bicycles on its own account. By 1909, it was clear that the new motorcar department was unsuccessful, an investigation committee reporting to the BSA Board on the many failures of its management and their poor organization of production.

Daimler

Dudley Docker had joined the board in 1906 and was appointed deputy chairman of BSA in 1909. He had made a spectacular financial success of a merger of five large rolling-stock companies in 1902 and become the leader of the period's merger movement. Believing he could buy the missing management skills that could not be found within BSA, he started merger talks with The Daimler Company Limited of Coventry. Daimler and Rover were then the largest British car producers. Daimler was immensely profitable. After its capital reconstruction in 1904, Daimler's profits were 57% and 150% returns on invested capital in 1905 and 1906. The attraction for Daimler shareholders, was the apparent stability of BSA. So, in 1910, BSA purchased Daimler with BSA shares, but Docker, who negotiated the arrangements, either ignored or failed in his assessment of their consequences for the new combine. The combine was never adequately balanced or co-ordinated.[1]

Docker retired as a BSA director in 1912 and installed Lincoln Chandler on the BSA board as his replacement. Docker liked to draw a comparison between the BSA~Daimler merger he engineered and that of his 1902 merger of Metropolitan Carriage Wagon & Finance Company and Patent Shaft. However, there was not the integration of facilities in the BSA~Daimler case, nor was there a reorganisation of either BSA or Daimler. In view of the earlier criticism contained in the 1909 report of the investigation committee, BSA continued to produce cars of their own, using Daimler engines. In 1913, Daimler employed 5,000 workers to manufacture 1,000 vehicles, an indication that things were not well.[2]

1935 magazine advert for the BSA range of motorcycles and 3-wheeler cars

Inter-war years

As well as the Daimler car range, BSA Cycles Ltd re-entered the car market under the BSA name in 1921, with a V-twin engined ten h.p. light car, followed by four-cylinder eleven h.p. and fourteen h.p. and six-cylinder twelve h.p. and sixteen h.p. models up to 1926, when the name was temporarily dropped. In 1929, a new range of 3- and 4-wheel cars appeared and production of these continued until 1936.

By 1930, the BSA Group's primary activities were BSA motorcycles and Daimler vehicles.[3]

Car production under the BSA name ceased in 1940, with the advent of the war.

China's BSA brand ownership

BSA brand ownership eventually passed to China after Tata Motors purchased Jaguar Cars and Daimler Company. A legal challenge halted the creation of a Chinese BSA-badged car but the case only applied to cars, not other products, such as bikes.

Timeline

Itala 25/35
TB2 Ten V-twin
3-wheeler 1930 example
Ten 1185 cc 1933 example

second attempt

third attempt

fourth attempt

(please note some detail may not be reliable)

Models

13.9 hp all-steel open 2-seater 1912
TW-33-10 1933 example
Model Manf'd Cyls Capacity Wheels Driven Wheelbase
14/18 hp 1907–1910 4-cyl 2596 cm³ 4 Rear (8'6") 102.0 in (2,591 mm)
18/23 hp 1908–1910 4-cyl 3622 cm³ 4 Rear (9'6") 114 in (2,896 mm)
25/33 hp 1908–1911 4-cyl 5401 cm³ 4 Rear (10'4") 124 in (3,150 mm)
15/20 hp 1910–1911 4-cyl 3053 cm³ 4 Rear (8'9") 105.0 in (2,667 mm)
20/25 hp 1910–1911 4-cyl 4156 cm³ 4 Rear (9'6") 114.0 in (2,896 mm)
13.9 hp 1912–1915 4-cyl 2015 cm³ 4 Rear (9'0½") 108.5 in (2,756 mm) or
(9'4") 112.0 in (2,845 mm)
-
10 hp 1921–1924 V-twin 1080 cm³ 4 Rear (8'0") 96 in (2,438 mm)
11 hp 1923 4-cyl 1468 cm³ 4 Rear (8'10") 106.0 in (2,692 mm)
12 hp 1923 4-cyl 1028 cm³ 4 Rear (9'3") 111.0 in (2,819 mm)
14 hp 1924 4-cyl 1765 cm³ 4 Rear (8'0") 96 in (2,438 mm) or
(8'10") 106.0 in (2,692 mm)
16 hp 1924–1926 6-cyl 1872 cm³ 4 Rear (9'9") 117.0 in (2,972 mm)
-
2-str 9 hp 1929–1932 V-twin 1021 cm³ 3 Front (7'6½") 90.5 in (2,299 mm)
2-str 9 hp 1932–1935 4-cyl 1075 cm³ 3 Front (7'6½") 90.5 in (2,299 mm)
Scout de luxe series 6 1938-39
4-str 9 hp 1932–1936 4-cyl 1075 cm³ 4 Front (8'1½") 97.5 in (2,476 mm)
Ten saloon 1932–1936 4-cyl 1185 cm³ 4 Rear (8'1½") 97.5 in (2,476 mm)
Light 6 saloon 1934–1936 6-cyl 1378 cm³ 4 Rear (8'3") 99 in (2,515 mm)
Scout 9 hp 1935–1936 4-cyl 1075 cm³ 4 Front (7'6") 90.0 in (2,286 mm) or
(7'9") 93 in (2,362 mm)
Ten saloon 1936 4-cyl 1330 cm³ 4 Rear (8'3") 99 in (2,515 mm)
Scout 10 hp 1937–1939 4-cyl 1203 cm³ 4 Front (7'6") 90 in (2,286 mm) or
7'11½" 95.5 in (2,426 mm)

References

  1. Davenport-Hines R.P.T., 2002, Dudley Docker – The Life and Times of Trade Warrior , pages 49–50, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-89400-X
  2. Davenport-Hines R.P.T., 2002 Dudley Docker – The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior , page 52, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-89400-X
  3. The Birmingham Small Arms Company The Times, Saturday, 1 November 1930; pg. 20; Issue 45659
  4. 1 2 3 4 Lord Montagu and David Burgess-Wise Daimler Century ; Stephens 1995 ISBN 1-85260-494-8
  5. Cars Of 1933. The Times, Saturday, Sep 24, 1932; pg. 15; Issue 46247
  6. Marshall, Tony (1999). Microcars. Sutton's Photographic History of Transport. Gloucester: Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7509-2082-3.

External links

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