The Adams Manufacturing Co was an English automobile manufacturer in Bedford between 1905 and 1914.
American-born Edward Ringwood Hewitt had helped Hiram Maxim to build a large steam plane in 1894.
Hewitt returned to the United States to manufacture similar cars under his own name
c.1900 Arthur Henry Adams, an American electrical engineer, went into business on his own account
Hewitt designed a "gas buggy" along the lines of an Oldsmobile; this machine was built by the Adams Manufacturing Company.
1904 James Marshall Strachan was appointed works manager
1905 Managing Director is Arthur Henry Adams.[1]
1906 Produced a single-cylinder 9-10 h.p. car with single chain-drive branded as Adams-Hewitt. [2]
More conventional shaft-driven cars with vertical engines were produced as Adams.
1906 April. Details of the sixteen-cylinder petrol engine.[3]
1906 May. Details of the Adams-Hewitt 10-hp car.[4][5]
The Adams had a supposedly foolproof epicyclic transmission with a 10 hp single-cylinder engine
1906 June. Details of their car.[6][7][8]
1907 October. Details of the 10-hp car.[9]
Models offered included two- and four-cylinder cars and one of the first British V-8s; this had a 35/40 hp engine based on the French Antoinette model (an aero engine for which Adams were agents). But the V-8 was plagued by crankshaft breakages.
1908 November. Details of the 14-16-hp car shown at Olympia.[10]
1909 March. Description and images of the 14-16hp model.[11]
1909 November. Details of the 16-hp car.[12]
In 1910, the company produced an advanced 16 hp model with front-wheel brakes; it came with compressed-air starting, tyre-inflating and jacking equipment. The "pedals-to-push" gear was still offered, as was a conventional four-speed transmission and an unusual planetary gear change (three-speed), which was operated by a pedal that moved in a gate.
1910 November. Details of the three-speed planetary gear.[13]
1911 May. Details of the 16-20hp car.[14]
1911 Electrical Exhibition. Motor starting switches and dimmers of stage lighting. [15]
1912 October. Details of the only model; 16-20hp.[16]
1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices see the 1917 Red Book. Indicates Lester and Folwell may be involved.
1913 October. Details of the 10hp single-cylinder light car.[17]
1914 The company closed.
1920 Cars still distributed by Lester and Folwell
Igranic Electric Co took over the business[18]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Luton Times and Advertiser - Friday 13 October 1905
- ↑ The Automobile Vol. III. Edited by Paul N. Hasluck and published by Cassell in 1906.
- ↑ The Autocar 1906/04/28
- ↑ The Autocar 1906/05/26
- ↑ The Autocar 1906/06/02
- ↑ Automotor Journal 1906/06/30
- ↑ Automotor Journal 1906/07/07
- ↑ Automotor Journal 1906/07/14
- ↑ Automotor Journal 1907/10/26
- ↑ Automotor Journal 1908/11/21
- ↑ Automotor Journal 1909/03/27 p355
- ↑ The Autocar 1909/11/13
- ↑ The Autocar 1910/11/26
- ↑ The Autocar 1911/06/03
- ↑ The Engineer 1911/09/29 p328
- ↑ The Autocar 1912/10/26
- ↑ The Autocar 1913/10/25
- ↑ Obituary of Marcus Hunter
- Wikipedia
- British Car Factories from 1896. Paul Collins and Michael Stratton. Published 1993. ISBN 1 874105 04 9