1895 Stanley Cycle Show
Note: This is a sub-section of the Stanley Show
1895 November 22nd. The 19th show and held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington.
The 1895 Stanley Cycle Show exhibits two automobiles (Evelyn Ellis and Leon L'Hollier), two motor tricycles (Charles Riley Garrard and De Dion-Bouton) and plans for an automobile by the Britannia Co.[1]
Report by Motor[2]
The 1895 Stanley Cycle Show, held at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, November, 1895, gave Londoners their first glimpse of motorcars, although this section only consisted of two actual cars, with plans for another, and two tricycles. One of the former was the hooded Panhard-Levassor vehicle owned by the Hon. Evelyn Ellis, which was shown at Tunbridge Wells, a two-cylinder 3.5 h.p. by 4.5 h.p., with a 3.3 h.p Daimler engine, tube ignition. This car travelled "by its own power" from Paris to Le Havre and front Southampton via Slough, Henley, Abingdon, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, to West Malvern.
During the return journey "the car ran 26 miles in two hours," in describing which a contemporary remarked "a speed sufficiently brisk for most folk." Anyhow, it was considered wonderful in those days, and thousands visited Islington to see it and the Roger horseless carriage. This was really a pony-chaise fitted with a Benby engine and solid-tyred cycle wheels, and was the first motorcar ever shown in this country fitted with electric ignition. It had four forward speeds, but no reverse.
As to the bicycles, C. R. Garrard (now works manager of the Clement Co) was in charge of the Gladiator. Naphtha was the spirit, spark ignition, with 5.7 to 1 gear. The second three-wheeler was a De Dion-Bouton, petrol-driven, spark ignition, and air-cooled. The drawings were from the Britannia Co., of Colchester, and were historically interesting as the first effort made by an English firm to tackle the motor industry, which, months before this, the present writer, in "Cycling," strongly urged the British cycle trade to get hold of.
A Pennington motor was promised, but did not materialise. Despite the smallness of the Show, it excited enormous interest, and cycles were comparatively neglected by the crowds which surged round the few cars and discussed their probabilities.
Report by Autocar [3]