WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

[Lancashire Fusilier]

For those interested in the ' Napier ' racing cars, here is a link to an excellent article on those racing cars.

http://www.dgrossmark.plus.com/Antony%20Heal%20pdf.pdf

LF

[MikeyH]

Mike,

Were those riding on ' the step ' there at the car's Mechanic, Co-driver, both or just as a general companion/assistant to the car's driver ?

Regards,

LF

Lancs,

Generally as a riding mechanic.

Mike.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Generally as a riding mechanic.

Thank you.

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

D. Napier & Son Ltd's York Road, Lambeth premises, from where in 1903, the Company moved to much larger premises at Acton, West London.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Napier's much larger premises at Acton, West London, shown here as in 1916.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

An excellent ' Napier ' 1904 40 hp 6-cylinder motorcar.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Napier's 1904 rear-wheel chain-drive motorcar chassis and 6-cylinder engine.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[MikeyH]

Lancs,

Great series of images, I have to confess that I have had a life long fascination for the four wheeled products of D.Napier & Son, this stems from an interest in the Brooklands Motor Circuit at Weybridge, where S.F.Edge and others set the 24 hour record in June 1907 in 60 h.p. Napiers, Edge covering 1581 miles at an average of 65.9 m.p.h., a tremendous achievement at the time.

Just to expand a little on the role of riding mechanic, the main problem in driving those heavy powerful machines at the high average racing speeds they were capable of was the tyres. Road conditions were not good, often unmade surfaces with flints, horseshoe nails and other debris, punctures were a regular occurence. Road wheels on the very early racing cars were fixed and not intended to be removed, tyres were of a very stiff beaded edge construction, needing the combined efforts of two to change them, outside assistance was forbidden. The mechanic would crouch on 'the step' to cut down wind resistance, sitting on the floorboards, or sometimes on a rudimentary seat, with his feet braced on a bracket attached to the chassis. Often the mechanic would carry inner tubes slung over his shoulder in the manner of a bandolier. Around 1903 the mechanic assumed the more normal and I am sure more comfortable position of sitting next to the driver, the advent of quick change centre lock wheels around 1905 making his job a lot easier.

Mike.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Great series of images, I have to confess that I have had a life long fascination for the four wheeled products of D.Napier & Son, this stems from an interest in the Brooklands Motor Circuit at Weybridge, where S.F.Edge and others set the 24 hour record in June 1907 in 60 h.p. Napiers, Edge covering 1581 miles at an average of 65.9 m.p.h., a tremendous achievement at the time.

Mike,

Thank you for the information on the riding mechanic, most interesting.

With regard to Selwyn Edge, who had been a long term close friend of Montague Napier since the very start of Napier's involvement with motorcars and had also been a very successful Napier race car driver, Edge and Napier had a major dispute in 1913, which resulted in Napier buying Edge's large motorcar sales and distribution company for the then very large sum of 120,000 pounds, subject to Edge not having any involvement with motor manufacturing for seven years.

Attached is a 1913 S.F. Edge Ltd., trade advertisement, which shows the then close link between Edge and Napier.

Regards,

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[MikeyH]

Lancs,

Selwyn Francis Edge was an amazingly successful self publicist, he would have absolutely thrived today.

In his years away from the motor trade, he set up a large commercial pig breeding operation at Ditchling. If you Google S.F.Edge pigs, you will find a short British Pathe film shot there in 1910. This features some very large and somewhat reluctant porkers!

Regards,

Mike.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

One of Napier's early customers, and certainly the only Napier customer to have ever taken their Napier motorcar on not just one round-the-world road trip but two ! was Charles Jasper Glidden, a very wealthy American businessman born in Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.A. in 1857.

In 1901, having travelled to London to purchase his first Napier 24 hp 4-cylinder Tourer painted in what was to become known as British Racing Green, Glidden decided to set out on a road tour of Britain and France accompanied by his wife Lucy and a British Napier trained motor mechanic named Charles Thomas from Rottingdean in Sussex.

Glidden was to write " In November last I placed an order with a motor power company of London for a four passenger, four cylinder autocar, twenty four horse power on the brake, but commonly known as a sixteen horse power "Napier". The car was finished about June 1.

As this letter is not to deal with the beautiful scenery, landscapes, cathedrals, etc., of England and France, a more detailed account of the autocar and incidents of the journey may be of interest to the readers of the Automobile column in the Transcript.

Important attachments on the autocar are two brakes of sufficient power to stop the car on the steepest grades, electrical igniting, the sparking being advanced from the driver's seat, an adequate governing gear to prevent the engine from racing, levers to control the speeds, of which there are four The gasoline tank carries a supply for 200 miles and tanks of lubricating oil carry two or three months' supply. This is applied to all parts automatically as it may be required.

Our party consists of three and our mechanician a man furnished by the Napier people to keep in repair the autocar, it being driven by the writer. Two spare tires, a box of machinist's tools, and extra parts of machinery, a few pieces of hand baggage, and we are ready for our journey.

We made an early start from the Hotel Metropole on Tuesday, July 9. Great care must be used in passing through the congested traffic sections of London, and a speed not more than five miles an hour was attained. Reaching the suburban districts, higher powers were used, and nightfall found us at Stratford on Avon, having covered one hundred miles our first day…. "

Again, commenting on the tour around Britain and France, Glidden writes " Our entire autocar tour is summarized as follows : Number of days on the road, twenty four. Distance travelled, 2,000 miles, 650 in England and 1,350 in France, average 83 1/3 miles per day. Running time, 110 hours. Average speed, under favourable conditions outside of city limits, 25 miles per hour. Inner tubes damaged by punctures, 3. Only 3 tyre troubles during the entire drive of 2,000 miles. Considered tyres good for at least 1,500 miles more drive. Delayed by break in engine, seven days, delayed by break of spring, one day. Delayed by rain, only one day. "

After touring Britain, Glidden crossed the Channel to France and then toured around France before returning to England, after which, Glidden shipped his Napier motorcar back to America.

Following his return to America, Glidden subsequently made two round-the-world road trips in his Napier, first travelling East, and then travelling West, covering some 46,528 miles and passing through 39 countries, the inhabitants of some of these countries never having seen a motorcar before.

Another first for Glidden's Napier, was it being the first motorcar to travel to the Arctic Circle.

For some of the trip, and where there were no good roads but there were railway lines, Glidden used special flanged iron wheels which were made in England, and could be fitted to his Napier allowing his Napier motorcar to run on railway lines.

A later coincidence being, that during WW1, there were instances, particularly in East Africa, where the British Army's Napier Lorries were fitted with flanged wheels so as they were able to run on railway lines.

C. J. Glidden continued to promote the use of the motorcar in America, eventually becoming the sponsor of the American Automobile Association's ( AAA ) American Tour, for which Glidden offered a magnificent and expensive sterling silver trophy, which the winner held until the next year's winner took the trophy.

In addition to his interest in motorcars, Charles Glidden was also interested in travel by balloon, becoming the 12th man in the United States to be licensed as a balloon pilot, he made over fifty ascensions, both in this country and in Europe.

During the First World War the government had the benefit of Charles Glidden's great knowledge of aeronautics. In spite of being well into middle age, he served as a 1st Lieutenant, and later as Captain, in
the Aviation Division of the Signal Corps. After his discharge from active service, he served as a Major in the Reserve Corps, later being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Thereafter being known to many as "Colonel Glidden."

On September 11, 1927, Colonel Charles Jasper Glidden died of cancer at his home in Boston at the age of seventy.

The first photograph shows C. J. Glidden and his wife Lucy in London, riding in their new Napier motorcar at the start of the road trip around Britain and France.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

During Glidden's round-the-world road trips in his ' Napier ' motorcar, and where there were no good roads but there were railway lines, Glidden used special flanged iron wheels. which were made in England, and could be fitted to his Napier allowing his Napier motorcar to run on railway lines.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Based on other photographs of Glidden's Napier tours, the man standing beside the back of the Napier in the photo in the previous post, wearing the buttoned overcoat and cap, is probably Glidden's English riding mechanic, Charles Thomas from Rottingdean in Sussex.

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Another example of C. J. Glidden's Napier motorcar ' riding the rails '.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[GRANVILLE]

During Glidden's round-the-world road trips in his ' Napier ' motorcar, and where there were no good roads but there were railway lines, Glidden used special flanged iron wheels. which were made in England, and could be fitted to his Napier allowing his Napier motorcar to run on railway lines.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Now that's what I call an adventure!

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Now that's what I call an adventure!

David,

To have driven the Napier motorcar around the world not just once, but twice, was both an amazing adventure for Glidden and his fellow passengers, and also a great advertisement for the durability and reliability of the Napier motorcar, particularly when remembering this was over 110 years ago.

Here are some additional photographs of C. J. Glidden's Napier on tour, the first being a great photograph of the Napier passing through the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem on one of the Glidden round-the-world road trips.

Regards,

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Glidden's Arctic Circle trip in the Napier.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Glidden's Napier in Albany, New York State, U.S.A., and you can see the fascination with the Napier motorcar in the eyes of the onlookers.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Gardenerbill]

The Napier car may not have been especially reliable but cars then were a lot simpler and therefore so long as good supply of useful parts was taken along the driver/mechanic would be able to make repairs as necessary. No engine management systems, powers steering, servo assisted breaks, fuel injection systems, catalytic converters etc.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The Napier car may not have been especially reliable but cars then were a lot simpler and therefore so long as good supply of useful parts was taken along the driver/mechanic would be able to make repairs as necessary. No engine management systems, powers steering, servo assisted breaks, fuel injection systems, catalytic converters etc.

And no dashboard GPS Navigation System.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Charles Jasper Glidden in uniform, during WW1 he served as a Captain in the Aviation Division of the U.S. Signal Corps. After his discharge from active service, he served as a Major in the Reserve Corps, later being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Thereafter being known to many as " Colonel Glidden " .

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The ' Glidden Tour ' sponsored by C. J. Glidden, ran from 1902 to 1913, with the tour winner receiving the coveted ' Glidden ' silver trophy.

The competition was revived in 1946, and is still held today with vintage vehicles taking part, and the winner is still awarded the silver ' Glidden ' Trophy ( photograph attached ).

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

By 1910, D. Napier & Son Ltd., were not only producing a range of quality motorcars, but had also established a reputation for reliable and durable ' Napier ' commercial vehicles ranging in size from 15 cwt. to 3.1/2 tons. It was from this range of ' Napier ' commercial vehicles that the War Office were to contract with Napier to supply some 2000 military vehicles during WW1, from the 15 cwt ' Napier ' ambulance to the Army's ' Napier ' 3 ton General Service Lorry.

Attached is a very interesting set of detailed specifications for Napier's 1910 range of Business Vehicles, ranging from their 15 cwt to 3.1/2 tons taken from their 1910 sales catalogue.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The ' Napier ' 15 cwt Van from Napier's 1910 sales catalogue, with this chassis being used for many ambulances during WW1.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Napier's 3.1/2 Ton Lorry as shown in their 1910 sales catalogue, which the Army subsequently downgraded to 3 Tons for their WW1 General Service Lorry.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.