Lanchester 1895-1956 - Pioneering work
Summary
There were around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of them have disappeared. One of these vanished brands is Lanchester. Founder Frederick Lanchester was a technical genius with pioneering ideas. The highlight was the 6.2-liter OHC six-cylinder engine, which made the company a Rolls-Royce competitor. However, impressive production figures did not save the brand from disappearing.
Estimated reading time: 3min
Preview (beginning of the article)
Frederick Lanchester was a technical genius with pioneering ideas. In 1895, he created England's first non-coach-shaped four-wheeled car. This had an air-cooled single-cylinder engine with a counter-rotating flywheel on a separate shaft (vibration compensation shafts were initially available again from Mitsubishi from 1974). This was followed in 1897 by a drive unit with two opposing cylinders and two crankshafts. In 1899, F. W. Lanchester founded a car factory in Birmingham with his brothers George and Frank. From 1901, it built models with a low-noise worm drive for the rear axle, direct third gear (initially), external lever steering, planetary gearbox with pre-selector, cantilever suspension and an accelerator pedal and, from 1903, also with transmission disc brakes. In the same year, the company added its own bodywork department. A choice of air- or water-cooled 4- and 4.8-liter two-cylinder cars was followed in 1904 by a water-cooled 2.5-liter four-cylinder model, which was joined by two- and six-cylinder models with a displacement of 4 to 8.1 liters. Instead of in the middle of the vehicle or in the rear, the drive unit was later located between the front seats, which resulted in a short hood.
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