1.
Sports car
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A sports car is a small, usually two seater, two door automobile designed for spirited performance and nimble handling. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first known use of the term was in 1928, Sports cars may be spartan or luxurious, but high maneuverability and minimum weight are requisite. The basis for the car is traced to the early 20th century touring cars and roadsters. These raced in rallies, such as the Herkomer Cup, Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt. These would shortly be joined by the French DFP and the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. In 1921, Ballot premiered its 2LS, with a remarkable 75 hp DOHC two liter, designed by Ernest Henry, capable of 150 km/h, at most, one hundred were built in four years and this was followed by the SOHC 2LT and 2LTS. The same year, Benz built a supercharged 28/95PS four for the Coppa Florio, duerkopps Zoller-blown two liter in 1924, as well. There was a clear cleavage by 1925, by the end of the 1920s, AC produced a 2-liter six, the 3. Benz introduced the powerful SS and SSK, and Alfa Romeo, hispano-Suizas Alfonso XIII is considered the first sportcar developed between 1911 and 1914. Two companies would offer really reliable sports cars, Austin with the Seven, the drive train and engine layout significantly influences the handling characteristics of an automobile, and is crucially important in the design of a sports car. The front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout is common to cars of any era and has survived longer in sports cars than in mainstream automobiles. Examples include the Caterham 7, Mazda MX-5, and the Chevrolet Corvette, more specifically, many such sports cars have a FMR layout, with the centre of mass of the engine between the front axle and the firewall. In search of improved handling and weight distribution, other layouts are sometimes used, the RMR layout is commonly found only in sports cars—the motor is centre-mounted in the chassis, and powers only the rear wheels. Some high-performance sports car manufacturers, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini have preferred this layout, Porsche is one of the few remaining manufacturers using the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. The motors distributed weight across the wheels, in a Porsche 911, provides excellent traction, Porsche has continuously refined the design and in recent years added electronic driving aids to counteract these inherent design shortcomings. The front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout layout which is the most common in sport compacts and hot hatches, however, its conservative handling effect, particularly understeer, and the fact that many drivers believe rear wheel drive is a more desirable layout for a sports car count against it. The Fiat Barchetta, Saab Sonett, and Berkeley cars are cars with this layout. Before the 1980s few sports cars used four-wheel drive, which had added a lot of weight
2.
Wymondham
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Wymondham /ˈwɪndəm/ is a historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It lies 9.5 miles to the south west of the city of Norwich, the parish includes large rural areas to the north and south of the town itself. It is the fourth largest civil parish in Norfolk, moot Hill The earthworks of what was probably a large, medieval ringwork survive to some considerable height, they have been subject to ground survey and are partially visible on aerial photographs. The ringwork, which is located in a part of the Stanfield estate, is thought by some to have been built by the DAlbinis between 1088 and 1139. The feature measures approximately 150m by 130m, with a bank and water-filled ditch. It is thought that a ring of Katherine Bigot, wife of Roger Fitz-Ortet who held Stanfield Manor in AD1306, was also recovered from this area. Wymondhams most famous inhabitant was Robert Kett, who led a rebellion in 1549 of peasants and he took a force of almost unarmed men and fought for and held the City of Norwich for six weeks until defeated by the Kings forces. He was hanged from Norwich Castle, ketts Oak, said to be the rallying point for the rebellion, can still be seen today on the B1172 road between Wymondham and Hethersett, part of the former main road to London. The Great Fire of Wymondham broke out on Sunday 11 June 1615, two areas of the town were affected, implying there were two separate fires. One area was in Vicar Street and Middleton Street and the other in the Market Place, including Bridewell Street, about 300 properties were destroyed in the fire. Important buildings destroyed included, the Market Cross, dating from 1286, the vicarage in Vicar Street, the Town Hall on the corner of Middleton Street and Vicar Street, and the schoolhouse. However, many such as the Green Dragon pub did survive and many of the houses in Damgate Street date back to 1400. The fire was started by three Gypsies – William Flodder, John Flodder and Ellen Pendleton – and a local person, the register of St Andrews Church in Norwich records that John Flodder and others were executed on 2 December 1615 for the burning of Wymondham. Rebuilding of the buildings was quick in some cases and slower in others. A new Market Cross, extant 2016, was started and completed in 1617, however, by 1621 there were still about 15 properties not yet rebuilt. Economic conditions in the 1620s could have been a factor to the delay in rebuilding. Ketts Rebellion was evidence of an undercurrent of ferment in 16th-century Wymondham, in 1785, a prison was built using the ideas of John Howard, the prison reformer. It was the first prison to be built in England with separate cells for the prisoners and was widely copied both in the United Kingdom and the United States, the collapse of the woollen industry in the mid-19th century led to great poverty in Wymondham
3.
Norfolk
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Norfolk /ˈnɔːrfək/ is a county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the west and north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea and, to the north-west, The Wash. With an area of 2,074 square miles and a population of 859,400, of the countys population, 40% live in four major built up areas, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and Thetford. The Broads is a network of rivers and lakes in the east of the county, the area is not a National Park although it is marketed as such. It has similar status to a park, and is protected by the Broads Authority. Norfolk was settled in times, with camps along the higher land in the west. A Brythonic tribe, the Iceni, inhabited the county from the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st century AD, the Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in AD47, and again in 60 led by Boudica. The crushing of the second opened the county to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the county, situated on the east coast, Norfolk was vulnerable to invasions from Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and forts were built to defend against the Angles and Saxons. Norfolk, Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia, the influence of the Early English settlers can be seen in the many place names ending in -ton and -ham. Endings such as -by and -thorpe are also common, indicating Danish place names, in the 9th century the region came under attack. In the centuries before the Norman Conquest the wetlands of the east of the county began to be converted to farmland, and settlements grew in these areas. Migration into East Anglia must have high, by the time of the Domesday Book survey it was one of the most densely populated parts of the British Isles. During the high and late Middle Ages the county developed arable agriculture, the economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which dramatically reduced the population in 1349. During the English Civil War Norfolk was largely Parliamentarian, the economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat. During the Industrial Revolution Norfolk developed little industry except in Norwich which was an addition to the railway network. In the 20th century the county developed a role in aviation, during the Second World War agriculture rapidly intensified, and it has remained very intensive since, with the establishment of large fields for growing cereals and oilseed rape. Norfolks low-lying land and easily eroded cliffs, many of which are chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to the sea, the low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk is currently managed by the Environment Agency to protect the Broads from sea flooding
4.
Lotus Cars
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Lotus Cars is an English company that manufactures sports cars and racing cars with its headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk, England, and is a subsidiary of Malaysian automotive company Proton. Notable Lotus cars include the Esprit, Elan, Europa and Elise sports cars, Lotus Cars is based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and it also owns the engineering consultancy Lotus Engineering, which has facilities in the United Kingdom, United States, China, and Malaysia. Lotus is owned by DRB-HICOM through its subsidiary Proton, which acquired it following the bankruptcy of former owner Romano Artioli in 1996, the company was formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd. by engineers Colin Chapman and Colin Dare, both graduates of University College, London, in 1952. The four letters in the middle of the stand for the initials of company founder. When the logo was created, Colin Chapmans original partners Michael and Nigel Allen were led to believe that the letters stood for Colin Chapman, the first factory was situated in old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey, North London. Team Lotus, which was split off from Lotus Engineering in 1954, was active and competitive in Formula One racing from 1958 to 1994, the Lotus Group of Companies was formed in 1959. This was made up of Lotus Cars Limited and Lotus Components Limited, Lotus Components Limited became Lotus Racing Limited in 1971 but the newly renamed entity ceased operation in the same year. The company moved to a purpose built factory at Cheshunt in 1959 and since 1966 the company has occupied a modern factory and road test facility at Hethel and this site is the former RAF Hethel base and the test track uses sections of the old runway. In its early days Lotus sold cars aimed at privateer racers and its early road cars could be bought as kits, in order to save on purchase tax. After the elegant but delicate Lotus Elite of the 1950s, Lotus found critical, Lotus was notable for its use of fibreglass bodies, backbone chassis, and twin cam engines, initially supplied by Coventry Climax but later replaced by Lotus-Ford units. Lotus worked with Ford on the Lotus Cortina, a sports saloon. The Lotus Seven, originating in the 1950s as a simple, Lotus then sold the rights to produce the Seven to Caterham, which has continued to produce the car since then. The mid engined line continued with the Lotus Esprit, which was to one of the companys longest lived. Lotus developed its own series of four cylinder DOHC engines, the Lotus 900 series, and later a V8, variants of the 900 series engine were supplied for the Jensen Healey sports car and the Sunbeam Lotus hot hatchback. In the 1980s, Lotus collaborated with Vauxhall Motors to produce the Lotus Carlton, by 1980, Group Lotus was in serious financial trouble. Production had dropped from 1,200 units per year to a mere 383, in early 1982, Chapman came to an agreement with Toyota to exchange intellectual property and applied expertise. This initially resulted in Lotus Engineering helping to develop the Mk2 Toyota Supra, secondly it allowed Lotus to launch the new Lotus Excel to replace the ageing Lotus Eclat
5.
Caterham Cars
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Caterham Cars is a British manufacturer of specialist lightweight sports cars established in Caterham, Surrey, with their headquarters in Crawley, Sussex. Their current model, the Caterham 7, originally launched in 1973, is an evolution of the Series 3 Lotus Seven designed by Colin Chapman. In the 1990s the company made the Caterham 21, a soft top alternative to the MGF. A track-only car, the SP/300. R, a joint project with Lola was released for testing in 2010 and was scheduled for release in 2013. On 27 April 2011, Team Lotus owner Tony Fernandes announced that he had purchased Caterham, Colin Chapmans Lotus Cars launched the Series 1 Lotus Seven in 1957. The car was immediately embraced by enthusiasts as a low-cost, lightweight sports car, revised Series 2, Series 3 and Series 4 versions were subsequently launched in 1960,1968 and 1970 respectively. Caterham initially restarted manufacture of the Lotus Seven Series 4, however, in 1974, under the name of Seven Cars Limited, Caterham built 20 production cars with chassis numbers 1-20 and one prototype, with chassis number 0. The Lotus/Caterham 7 is widely regarded by car enthusiasts and the media as one of the sports cars of the 20th century. With 2007 marking the 50th year of production, the Seven still enjoys strong support. Since 2006 Caterham Cars has been run by a management team led by Ansar Ali. In June 2012 Ansar Ali announced he was to leave Caterham Cars, as with its Lotus Seven precursors, Caterhams are constructed of aluminium sheet attached to a tubular steel chassis. Nosecone and wings are either GRP or carbon fibre depending on specification, all Sevens are front engined with rear-wheel drive and two seats. Their extremely high performance is achieved through light weight rather than particularly powerful engines, Chapman and Lotus helped to pioneer the British kit car industry. The Lotus Seven was offered in kit form to allow buyers to avoid new car tax in the UK, subsequently Caterham continued offering cars in complete knock down kit form as the tradition of hand building your own Seven was well established amongst enthusiasts. Today, all Caterham Sevens are still offered in kit form in the UK except the CSR model, modern Caterham kits differ from the majority of kit cars as all parts are supplied ready to assemble, not requiring a donor car, fabrication or any special skills. As a result, the combinations, specifications, pricing. In the past in the United States Caterhams were sold as only, lacking some modern safety features required of manufacturers. Buyers could either choose to construct the cars themselves or pay their regional dealers or local builders to assemble them, typically the engine and transmission are sourced separately as a unit - often from Caterham - but all other components were provided in kit form
6.
AC Cars
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AC Cars Ltd. formerly known as Auto Carriers Ltd. is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. The first car from what eventually became AC was presented at the Crystal Palace motor show in 1903, the Weller Brothers of West Norwood, London, planned to produce an advanced 20 hp car. Weller did so, called it the Auto-Carrier, and a new company was founded and named Autocars and Accessories, the vehicle caught on quickly and was a financial success. In 1907, a version appeared, called the A. C. Sociable. It had a seat in place of the cargo box, the single rear wheel contained a two-speed hub, and the single-cylinder engine was mounted just in front of it, with rear chain drive. The company became Auto Carriers Ltd. in 1911 and moved to Ferry Works, Thames Ditton and their first four-wheeled car was produced in 1913, it was a sporty little two-seater with a gearbox on the rear axle. Only a few were built before production was interrupted by the First World War, during the Great War, the Ferry Works factory produced shells and fuses for the war effort, although at least one vehicle was designed and built for the War Office. After the war, John Weller started on the design of a new overhead-cam 6-cylinder engine, the first versions of this design were running by 1919. The Weller engine would be produced until 1963, in 1921, Selwyn Edge bought shares in the company and was appointed governing director. He did not get along with Weller or Portwine, who resigned less than a year later, in 1922, the name changed again to AC Cars Ltd. In customary fashion Edge sought publicity for the company through motoring competition, in 1921 Sammy Davis joined A. C. as a driver, competing in the Junior Car Club 200-mile race, for cars up to 1,500 c. c. at Brooklands. Joyce won the Brighton Speed Trials driving an A. C. In May 1924, at Montlhéry, near Paris, T. G. Gillett broke the continuous 24-hour record in a 2-litre A. C. fitted with streamlined bodywork. In 1926 the Honourable Victor Bruce, an AC employee, won the Monte Carlo Rally in his 2-litre AC, in 1927, Victor Bruce, with his wife Mildred, assisted by J. A. Joyce, set a 10-day endurance record at Montlhéry, driving an AC Six, Selwyn Edge bought the company outright for £135,000 in 1927 and re-registered it as AC Ltd but sales, which had been falling, continued to decline. The company was caught by the crash of 1929 and went into voluntary liquidation, production ceased for a time, and the company was sold to the Hurlock family who ran a successful haulage business. They wanted the High Street factory only as a warehouse, a single car was made for William Hurlock in 1930. He liked it and agreed to very limited production, mainly using components left over from previous models
7.
Automotive industry in the United Kingdom
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Volume car manufacturers with a major presence in the UK include Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Vauxhall Motors. Commercial vehicle manufacturers active in the UK include Alexander Dennis, Ford, GMM Luton, Leyland Trucks and London Taxis International. In 2008 the UK automotive manufacturing sector had a turnover of £52.5 billion, generated £26.6 billion of exports and produced around 1.45 million passenger vehicles and 203,000 commercial vehicles. In that year around 180,000 people were employed in automotive manufacturing in the UK, with a further 640,000 people employed in automotive supply, retail. This declined to 147,000 including supply industry in 2014 The UK is a centre for engine manufacturing. The origins of the UK automotive industry date back to the years of the 19th century. By the 1950s the UK was the second-largest manufacturer of cars in the world, since the early 1990s many British car marques have been acquired by foreign companies including BMW, SAIC, TATA and Volkswagen Group. Rights to many dormant marques, including Austin, Riley, Rover. Notable British car designers include David Bache, Laurence Pomeroy, John Polwhele Blatchley, Ian Callum, Colin Chapman, Alec Issigonis, Charles Spencer King and Gordon Murray. Simms acquired the British rights to Daimlers engine and associated patents, in 1893 he formed The Daimler Motor Syndicate Limited for his various Daimler-related enterprises. Simms documented plans to manufacture Daimler motors and Daimler Motor Carriages were taken over, together with his company and its Daimler licences, by London company-promoter H J Lawson. Lawson contracted to buy The Daimler Motor Syndicate Limited and all its rights and on 14 January 1896 formed and in February successfully floated in London The Daimler Motor Company Limited. It then purchased from a friend of Lawson a disused mill in Coventry for car engine and chassis manufacture where, it is claimed. The claim for the first all-British motor car is contested, but George Lanchesters first cars of 1895 and 1896 did include French, in 1891 Richard Stephens, a mining engineer from South Wales, returned from a commission in Michigan to establish a bicycle works in Clevedon, Somerset. Whilst in America he had seen the developments in motive power and this was entirely of his own design and manufacture, including the two-cylinder engine, apart from the wheels which he bought from Starley in Coventry. This was probably the first all-British car and Stephens set up a line, manufacturing in all, twelve vehicles, including four- and six-seater cars and hackneys. Following intense advocacy by motor vehicle enthusiasts, including Harry J. Lawson of Daimler, under this regulation, light locomotives were exempt from the previous restrictions, and a higher speed limit –14 mph was set for them. To celebrate the new freedoms Lawson organised the Emancipation Run held on 14 November 1896 and this occasion has been commemorated since 1927 by the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
8.
Manufacturing in the United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom, where the Industrial Revolution began in the late 18th century, has a long history of manufacturing, which contributed to Britains early economic growth. During the second half of the 20th century, there was a decline in the importance of manufacturing. Manufacturing, however, remains important for trade and accounted for 44% of goods exports in 2014. In June 2010, manufacturing in the United Kingdom accounted for 8. 2% of the workforce, the East Midlands and West Midlands were the regions with the highest proportion of employees in manufacturing. London had the lowest at 2. 8%, Manufacturing in the United Kingdom expanded on an unprecedented scale in the 19th century. Innovation in Britain led to changes in manufacturing, the development of factory systems. The main sectors were textiles, iron and steel making, engineering, in many industrial sectors, Britain was the largest manufacturer in the world and the most technologically advanced. In the later part of the 19th century, a second phase developed which is known as the Second Industrial Revolution. Germany and later the United States, which developed the American system of manufacturing, caught up, nonetheless, Britain remained one of the largest industrial producers. By the middle of the century, in 1948, manufacturing made up 48% of the UK economy, in the post-war decades, manufacturing began to lose its competitive advantage and heavy industry experienced a relative decline. By 2013, the percentage of manufacturing in the economy had fallen to 13% and this trend is common in all mature Western economies. Manufacturing employment fell faster in the UK since 1998 and this started with manufacturing productivity flatlining from 1993 to 1997 and a rise in pound sterling. PricewaterhouseCoopers presumed that British manufacturing was less able to adapt to new production immune from Asian competition, since 1993, the UK also invested less in R&D and adaptation than its OECD competitors. However, manufacturing remains an important sector of the modern British economy, the Blue Book 2006 reports that this sector added a gross value of £147,469 million to the UK economy in 2004. Engineering and allied industries comprise the single largest sector, contributing 30. 8% of total Gross Value Added in manufacturing in 2003, within this sector, transport equipment was the largest contributor, with 8 global car manufacturers being present in the UK. The British motor industry also comprises numerous components for the sector, such as Fords diesel engine plant in Dagenham, triumph Motorcycles Ltd is the only wholly British owned major transport manufacturer. A range of companies like Brush Traction and Hunslet manufacture railway locomotives, associated with this sector are the aerospace and defence equipment industries. Commercial shipbuilders include Harland and Wolff, Cammell Laird, Abels, Barclay Curle, companies such as Princess, Sealine, Fairline Boats and Sunseeker are major builders of private motor yachts
9.
Brand
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A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes one seller’s product from those of others. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising, however, the term has been extended to mean a strategic personality for a product or company, so that ‘brand’ now suggests the values and promises that a consumer may perceive and buy into. Branding is a set of marketing and communication methods that help to distinguish a company from competitors, the key components that form a brands toolbox include a brand’s identity, brand communication, brand awareness, brand loyalty, and various branding strategies. Brand equity is the totality of a brands worth and is validated by assessing the effectiveness of these branding components. To reach such an invaluable brand prestige requires a commitment to a way of doing business. A corporation who exhibits a strong brand culture is dedicated on producing intangible outputs such as customer satisfaction, reduced price sensitivity and customer loyalty. A brand is in essence a promise to its customers that they can expect long-term security, when a customer is familiar with a brand or favours it incomparably to its competitors, this is when a corporation has reached a high level of brand equity. Many companies are beginning to understand there is often little to differentiate between products in the 21st century. Branding remains the last bastion for differentiation, in accounting, a brand defined as an intangible asset is often the most valuable asset on a corporation’s balance sheet. The word ‘brand’ is often used as a referring to the company that is strongly identified with a brand. Marque or make are often used to denote a brand of motor vehicle, a concept brand is a brand that is associated with an abstract concept, like breast cancer awareness or environmentalism, rather than a specific product, service, or business. A commodity brand is a associated with a commodity. The word, brand, derives from Dutch brand meaning to burn and this product was developed at Dhosi Hill, an extinct volcano in northern India. Roman glassmakers branded their works, with Ennion being the most prominent, the Italians used brands in the form of watermarks on paper in the 13th century. Blind Stamps, hallmarks, and silver-makers marks are all types of brand, industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap, from local communities to centralized factories. When shipping their items, the factories would literally brand their logo or insignia on the barrels used, Bass & Company, the British brewery, claims their red-triangle brand as the worlds first trademark. Another example comes from Antiche Fornaci Giorgi in Italy, which has stamped or carved its bricks with the same proto-logo since 1731, cattle-branding has been used since Ancient Egypt. The term, maverick, originally meaning an un-branded calf, came from a Texas pioneer rancher, Sam Maverick, use of the word maverick spread among cowboys and came to apply to unbranded calves found wandering alone
10.
Alexander Dennis
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Alexander Dennis is a British bus building company based in Scotland. In early 2016, Alexander Dennis had a 44% market share in the United Kingdom, as at April 2014, Brian Souter and Ann Gloag collectively held a 55% shareholding. Alexander Dennis was formed as TransBus International on 1 January 2001, TransBus International produced a range of both bus and coach chassis and bodies as well as fire engines. Included among its range of chassis were the Dennis Dart, one of the all-time best-selling buses in the UK, TransBus also produced export variants for service in Hong Kong, New York City and other locations. The Dennis Trident is the most common bus model in service in London, on 31 March 2004, TransBus International was put into administration. On 17 May 2004, the Plaxton coach business was sold in a management buyout, TransBus had been in the process of eradicating the traditional company names from the vehicles. On 21 May 2004, the part of TransBus was bought by a consortium of merchant bank Noble Grossart and businessmen David Murray. The new company was named Alexander Dennis, the sale did not include the former Alexander Belfast plant, which closed. On 26 January 2005, Alexander Dennis Wigan plant closed, after completing outstanding orders of its President body, Alexander Dennis secured a number of major orders from UK operators. In 2006 the company unveiled two new models, the Enviro400 double-decker and Enviro200 Dart midibus, in May 2007, Alexander Dennis purchased Plaxton, thus reuniting the two former TransBus businesses. In May 2012, New Flyer Industries and Alexander Dennis announced a new joint-venture to design, New Flyer will handle production and marketing, and Alexander Dennis will handle the engineering and testing. On 7 June 2012, Alexander Dennis acquired Australian bodybuilder Custom Coaches, however, in May 2014, Custom Coaches was placed into administration. In August 2014, Custom Coaches was sold to its former management, the bodywork on a majority of the chassis are built by a neighbouring company, John Dennis Coachbuilders Limited
11.
Plaxton
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Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. The Plaxton of today is the successor to a business founded in Scarborough in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton and it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. The business was founded as a workshop, and expanded into building contracting. As a building contractor, Plaxtons built a number of buildings in Scarborough. Soon after World War I Plaxtons diversified and began to build charabanc bodies on Ford Model T chassis, of more importance at the time was the construction of automobile bodywork. This included bodywork for Rolls-Royce, Sunbeam and Daimler, but principally for Crossley car chassis and this activity continued through the 1920s, but the depression of 1929-1933 created difficulties for manufacture of luxury automobiles. As a result, the manufacture of charabanc, and later coach bodies became more important through the late 1920s, customers during this time tended to be local to the Scarborough area, Scarborough being a popular seaside resort. By 1936 the company felt justified in construction of a new manufacturing facility in Seamer Road. This allowed increased production, and Plaxtons became popular with independent operators throughout Northern England. Many of these operators purchased their vehicles through independent dealers, rather than directly from the factory, in this regard, Plaxtons sales were through Lancashire Motor Traders Ltd of Manchester and Arlington Motor Co Ltd of London. The company became known as FW Plaxton & Son by 1937, as the founders son, FW Plaxton junior was to be known as Eric to avoid confusion with his father. Plaxtons built a number of different coach designs through the 1930s, the style typically consisted of a very rounded front profile at the windscreen area with side windows that sloped backwards at the front, were upright at the centre, and sloped forward at the back. Bodywork for the Bedford WTB chassis was particularly distinctive, sloping severally from the bottom of the front wheel arch to the roofline, the WTB chassis was very popular choice for operators at that time, together with the Dodge RBF and SBF. Leyland and AEC chassis were popular for larger coaches, notably the Leyland Tiger. On the outbreak of World War II in 1939, coach production halted, many records from the early years were lost when an incendiary bomb set fire to the Seamer Road factory in 1943 causing much damage. As the factory was under control of the Ministry of Works, some adjacent land was loaned by a market gardener who subsequently joined the board years later. Production restarted at the end of 1945, and in 1951 the business was registered for the first time as a private company, two new models were exhibited at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show, with names instead of model codes for the first time. On front-engined chassis the Crusader employed the Envoys front trim, both Envoy and Crusader were produced to the new maximum dimensions of 30 ft by 8 ft, and many examples were originally fitted with rear wheel spats
12.
JCB (company)
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It is the worlds third-largest construction equipment manufacturer. It produces over 300 types of machine, including diggers, excavators, tractors and it has 22 factories across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, its products are sold in over 150 countries. JCB was founded in 1945 by Joseph Cyril Bamford, after whom it is named, JCB was founded by Joseph Cyril Bamford in October 1945 in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. He rented a lock-up garage 3.7 by 4.6 m, in it, using a welding set which he bought second-hand for £1 from English Electric, he made his first vehicle, a tipping trailer from war-surplus materials. The trailers sides and floor were made from steel sheet that had part of air-raid shelters. On the same day as his son Anthony was born, he sold the trailer at a market for £45. At one time he made vehicles in Eckersleys coal yard in Uttoxeter, the first trailer and the welding set have been preserved. In 1948, six people were working for the company, in 1950, it moved to an old cheese factory in Rocester, still employing six. A year later, he began painting his products yellow, in 1953, his first backhoe loader was launched, and the JCB logo appeared for the first time. It was designed by Derby Media and advertising designer Leslie Smith, in 1957, the firm launched the hydra-digga, incorporating the excavator and the major loader as a single all-purpose tool useful for the agricultural and construction industries. In 1960, JCBs hydraulic tractors entered the North American market, JCB became, and still is, the brand leader in the world. By 1964, JCB had sold over 3,000 3C backhoe loaders, the next year, the first 360-degree excavator was introduced, the JCB7. In 1978, the Loadall machine was introduced, the next year, JCB started its operation in India. In 1991, the firm entered a joint venture with Sumitomo of Japan to produce excavators, two years later, a JCB factory was completed in Pooler near Savannah, Georgia in the USA, and the next year a factory was opened in Brazil. Production of the first engine designed and manufactured by JCB, the JCB444 diesel engine, in 2005, for the first time in nearly forty years, JCB bought a company, purchasing the German equipment firm Vibromax. In the same year, the opened a new factory in Pudong. By 2006, the firm had 4000 employees, twice what it had in 1975, during that year, JCB announced plans to make India its largest manufacturing hub. Its factory at Ballabgarh in Haryana, was to become the world’s largest backhoe loader manufacturing facility, JCB shed 2,000 jobs during the recession, but in 2010 it announced it was recruiting up to 200 new workers
