CROSSLEY VEHICLES TODAY

1909 40hp

(photos - Malcolm Asquith)

This car is a 1909 40hp shaft drive model of the type introduced in 1906 to replace the earlier chain drive 40hp and is fitted with open drive limousine body by an unknown coachbuilder. It is the only example left of one of the cars by Crossley's first designer J S Critchley who left the company to set up his own business after completing the design.

It is rumoured to have been bought originally by music hall star Marie Lloyd. It is known to have been bought second hand in 1912 by Sir Thomas Tacon, then the High Sheriff of Suffolk, and remained in the family until 1952 when it was bought by Mr Bill Westwood who kept it until 1995 when the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester acquired it.

The construction of the car is massive with the engine having twin two cylinder engine blocks with T head valves operated by twin camshafts. A high tension Bosch magneto is fitted and Crossley's own carburettor. The colossal gearbox is separate from the engine with transmission brakes both behind and in front of it.

The interior is upholstered in fawn Bedford cord and there are two folding occasional seats. The roof is fixed but it appears that the sides could be folded down or removed. In the front the drivers side "door" is fixed but the left side one can be opened but there is evidence that they are not original. The original colour scheme is not known, the yellow paint is thought to date from the 1960s and is definitely non-original.

The car is missing its headlights and the wheels have been rebuilt to take 815x105 (front) and 895x135 (rear) tyres as the original 910x90 (front) and 920x120 (rear) have not been available for many years.

There is no chassis number to be found but the engine is numbered 258 which gives some idea of production levels in the early days.