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Coventry Transport Museum - the rise and fall of the British car empire

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Created on January 7, 2019

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

100

Bruno von Rotz

100

Alvis 12/60 (1932) - with a body from Carbodies - Coventry Transport Museum

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View of the permanent exhibition - Coventry Transport Museum

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19th century wheels brought Coventry factories their first orders - Coventry Transport Museum

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Penny-farthings already had a pedal drive, but were not entirely safe to use - Coventry Transport Museum

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Success came with the Rover Safety Bicycle (left) at the end of the 19th century, Humber offered a bicycle with cardan drive (right) - Coventry Transport Museum

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Royal Triumph bicycle from 1912 - intended for racers, hence the special handlebars - Coventry Transport Museum

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Daimler Phaeton (1898) - manufactured in the UK's first car factory in Dapers Field in Coventry - Coventry Transport Museum

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Coventry Motette (1896) - built by the Humber Company based on the Leon Bollée Tricar - Coventry Transport Museum

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Standard Motorcar (1906) - brought larger numbers for the first time thanks to lower prices, this is the oldest standard that still exists - Coventry Transport Museum

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Swift Tourer De Luxe (1910) - single-cylinder two-seater produced by the Swift factory in the Cheylesmore area of Coventry - Coventry Transport Museum

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Swift Cyclecar (1913) - lightweight and cheap because it was made from both car and motorcycle parts - Coventry Transport Museum

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Hillman Coatalen Motorcar (1908) - cost £298, which was about three times the annual earnings of a worker - Coventry Transport Museum

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Siddeley Deasy Althorpe Special Cabriolet (1912) - five-seater, the radiator was mounted behind the engine (left), on the right a Daimler Tourer from 1911 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Maudslay 32 HP Tourer (1910) - with patented camshaft drive - Coventry Transport Museum

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Rover Tourer (1906) - comparatively cheap thanks to only 800 cm3 engine, but also only 24 MPH fast - a teacher could buy one from his annual salary (£ 120) - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Tourer (1914) - with four-cylinder engine, £ 350 as new price - unrestored, but conserved - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Olympia Forecar (1904) - combination of motorcycle and bicycle parts - Humber made both at the time - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Tourer (1910) - with removable wheels, £285 expensive, 45 MPH fast - Coventry Transport Museum

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A look inside a typical garage from back then - Coventry Transport Museum

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Alvis 10/30 Tourer (1920) - the oldest surviving Alvis, unusually built with a steel frame and aluminum panels (car in the middle) - Coventry Transport Museum

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Calcott Cabriolet (1921) - 2500 examples of this car with four-cylinder engine were built for £200 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Ford Model T (1923) - was also produced in large series in Great Britain - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Chummy (1923) - 2+2-seater with four-cylinder engine, costing £250 at the time - Coventry Transport Museum

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Swift Tourer (1923) - cost £595 and was therefore quite expensive - Coventry Transport Museum

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Lea-Francis J-Type (1925) - already had front brakes and cost £ 285 (4 cylinders, 1493 cm3) - Coventry Transport Museum

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View into an adjoining room separated by a window - Coventry Transport Museum

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View of the collection with cars from the decade - Coventry Transport Museum

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Austin Seven Swallow (1929) - a forerunner of Jaguar, so to speak, because the Swallow Coachbuilding Company, which had put the body on the Austin Seven chassis, later became Jaguar - Coventry Transport Museum

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The old cars are embedded in impressive scenery - Coventry Transport Museum

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Comfortable Singer touring car - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Super Snipe (1930) - with six-cylinder engine around 75 MPH fast - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Super Snipe (1930) - around 2000 of these cars were produced in the 1930s - Coventry Transport Museum

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Singer Nine Coupe (1934) - much rarer as a coupé than the open-top tourer - Coventry Transport Museum

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Riley Kestrel (1935) - elegant and quite fast - Coventry Transport Museum

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SS Jaguar (1935) - Art Deco-style bodywork - Coventry Transport Museum

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Daimler (1937) - luxury limousine that attended the coronation of George VI (8 cylinders, 4.5 liters, pre-select gearbox) - Coventry Transport Museum

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Daimler (1935) - used by Queen Mary and Royal Faimilie until 1953 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Hillman Aero Minx (1935) - an attempt to make the Hillman Minx more aerodynamic - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Super Snipe (1935) - with four-cylinder engine and De Normanville steering wheel gear - Coventry Transport Museum

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Armstrong-Siddeley 14 Saloon (1936) - with a 1.6 liter in-line six-cylinder engine and preselector gearshift - Coventry Transport Museum

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Standard 16 (1935) - with lamp cover and paintwork as used during the "blackout" periods of World War 2 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Working time control - time clock from the 1930s - Coventry Transport Museum

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Standard Eight (1948) - with four-cylinder engine and 1003 cm3 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Standard Eight (1948) - probably built in the pre-war period, but sold after the war because no new models were in stock - Coventry Transport Museum

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Standard Vanguard (1948) - the first new post-war model from Standard - Coventry Transport Museum

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Standard Atlast van (1959) - as a camping vehicle - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph TR2 Sports Car (1954) - introduced in 1952, designed by Walter Belgrove, intended for the American market - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar XK150 (1957) - one of the first cars with disc brakes - Coventry Transport Museum

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Sunbeam Mk3 DHC (1953) - ready for shipment to the USA - Coventry Transport Museum

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Sunbeam Rapier Series III (1960) - next to Hillman Minx Easidrive from 1960 and Singer Gazelle from 1964 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Singer Gazelle (1964) - basically a Hillman Minx with modified body and engine - Coventry Transport Museum

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Armstrong Siddeley Star Sapphire (1960) - 980 of these luxury limousines were built between 1958 and 1960 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Sceptre Saloon (1963) - Mk I model, variants were built until 1976 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Workplace like in the 1940s - Coventry Transport Museum

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Austin Mini (1960) - British car industry success with 4.6 million units produced in 41 years - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph 2000 Estate (1969) - Carbodies estate version of the Triumph 2000 by Michelotti - Coventry Transport Museum

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Daimler Majestic (1965) - hearse for the Startins company of Birmingham - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph Dolomite Sprint (1973) - ahead of the competition with a sixteen-valve engine - Coventry Transport Museum

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Rover 2200 P6 Saloon (1974) - built in Rover's Solihull factory - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph Stag (1976) - the body was manufactured in Liverpool and assembled in Coventry - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph Spitfire (1968) - Mk-III version, covered over 100'000 miles without restoration - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph 2000 Estate (1969) - particularly rare version, next to Triumph Vitesse Saloon from 1970 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph Bonneville T140 (1977) - Special edition for the Queen's Silver Jubilee - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph Trident motorcycle in the entrance area - Coventry Transport Museum

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When British workers went on strike in the seventies ... - Coventry Transport Museum

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Hillman Avenger (1972) - the last car developed by the Rootes Group before the takeover by Chrysler - Coventry Transport Museum

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Hillman Imp (1975) - built in Scotland between 1963 and 1976 to compete with the Mini - next to it a 1980 Paykaan Hillman Saloon assembled in Iraq - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph TR7 (1976) - the sports car of the late seventies from Triumph - Coventry Transport Museum

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Signs of the decline of the British car industry - licensed production and contract manufacturing in the 1990s - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph Acclaim (1983) - cooperation between Honda and Triumph, next to it a Peugeot 405 SRi from 1988, which was assembled in Ryton near Coventry - Coventry Transport Museum

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Peugeot 206 (1998) - built in the Ryton factory outside Coventry - Coventry Transport Museum

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Peugeot 406 Radio Car (1997) - in the service of BBC, sent its reports directly to the main studio in Coventry - Coventry Transport Museum

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Daimler XJ40 (1986) - originally owned by Jaguar to promote the car in Europe, then sold to the museum - Coventry Transport Museum

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Paykaan Hillman Saloon (1980) - assembled in Iraq - Coventry Transport Museum

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Peugeot 206 SW (2006) - one of the last 500 passenger cars built at Ryton after 1.3 million 206s - Coventry Transport Museum

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TX4 Taxi (2014) - manufactured by the London Taxi Company in the factory in Coventry - Coventry Transport Museum

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Triumph 2500 TC Police Car (1977) - fast and reliable police car - Coventry Transport Museum

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Humber Imperial (1966) - Taylor hire car for weddings and special occasions - Coventry Transport Museum

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Ferguson R4 Prototype (1952) - Four-wheel drive passenger car - Coventry Transport Museum

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City Wheels Limited Electric Car (1987) - designed as a short-distance vehicle that could be hired by credit card - Coventry Transport Museum

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Sinclair C5 (1985) - electric one-person vehicle - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar XJ220 (1996) - the Jaguar super sports car in race trim - Coventry Transport Museum

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Badge of the Royal Automobile Club - Coventry Transport Museum

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Coventry Climax racing engines - Coventry Transport Museum

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Coventry racing successes - Coventry Transport Museum

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Lea Francis Hyper (1928) - this car won the Tourist Trophy in Ulster, driven by Kaye Don - Coventry Transport Museum

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Techcraft BRM (1970) - with four-wheel drive from Ferguson - Coventry Transport Museum

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Techcraft BRM (1970) - with four-wheel drive from Ferguson - Coventry Transport Museum

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Sunbeam Lotus (1980) - built in the Talbot racing department in Coventry, winning car of the 1980 Lombard RAC Rally - Coventry Transport Museum

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Peugeot 205 T16 (1985) - developed in Coventry, winner of the 1986 Scottish Rally - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar exhibition - the Formula 1 years - Coventry Transport Museum

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Model cars from Matchbox - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar exhibition at a glance - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar exhibition - the beginnings with SS and Swallow Sidecar bodies - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar exhibition - Success in the post-war years with the Jaguar XK120 - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar exhibition - the sixties and seventies - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar E-Type V12 (1975) - in the entrance area - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar exhibition - the eighties and nineties - Coventry Transport Museum

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Jaguar exhibition - the Jaguar future? C-X75 Hybrid mid-engined sports car from 2010/2013 - Coventry Transport Museum

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The Thrust 2 is powered by a Rolls-Royce turbine with 35,000 hp - Coventry Transport Museum

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Summary

Jaguar, Rover, Daimler - well-known car brands that ensured the success of the British car industry far beyond the UK. They were all built around the city of Coventry, along with many other brands. It is therefore no surprise that there is a large museum celebrating the rise and fall of the British "Motor City". This museum report provides a virtual tour of the museum, illustrated with 100 pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

The time of the pioneers
From the bicycle to the automobile
Outbreak of war
Growth in the interwar years
Much destruction during the Second World War
The British Motor City
Disappeared brands and inventions
Jaguar with its own exhibition
For the whole family

Estimated reading time: 5min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Jaguar, Rover, Daimler - well-known car brands that ensured the success of the British car industry far beyond the UK. They were all built around the city of Coventry, along with many other brands. It is therefore no surprise that there is a large museum celebrating the rise and fall of the British "Motor City". A tour of the multi-storey museum, whose collection includes 300 bicycles, 120 motorcycles and 250 cars and commercial vehicles, therefore feels like a journey through around 150 years of automotive history. The city of Coventry entered the industrial production of vehicles as early as 1868. At that time, the Coventry Sewing Machine Company received an order from Paris to manufacture a large number of wheels, the predecessors of later bicycles.

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