Rover Company: Difference between revisions

|founder = [[John Kemp Starley]] &<br />William Sutton

|key_people = [[Spencer Wilks|Spencer]] & [[Maurice Wilks]]<br />(Management & Engineering,<br />1929–63)<br />[[John Towers (businessman)|John Towers]]

|industry = [[Automotive industry]]<br />Motorcycle industry (until 1925)<br />[[Bicycle industry]] (until 1925)

|products = Rover [[Automobile]]s<br />Motorcycles (until 1925)<br />Bicycles (until 1925)<br />[[Land Rover]] All terrain vehicles

|subsid = [[Alvis Cars]] (1965–67)

}}

 

 

 

==History==

 

[[File:1885 Rover bicycle advertisement.jpg|thumb|1885 Rover safety bicycle]]

 

 

 

 

 

=== Rover motorcycles ===

 

{{Main|Rover (motorcycles)}}

[[File:Rover 1912 3-speed 1.jpg|thumb|left|1912 Rover 3-speed]]

The company developed and produced the ''Rover Imperial'' motorcycle in November 1902. This was a 3.5&nbsp;hp diamond-framed motorcycle with the engine in the centre and 'springer' front forks which was ahead of its time.<ref name="Mirco" >{{cite book|last=De Cet|first=Mirco|title=The Complete Encyclopedia of Classic Motorcycles|editor=Quentin Daniel|publisher=Rebo International|year=2005|isbn=978-90-366-1497-9}}</ref> This first Rover motorcycle had innovative features such as a spray carburettor, bottom-bracket engine and mechanically operated valves. With a strong frame with double front down tubes and a good quality finish, over a thousand Rover motorcycles were sold in 1904. The following year, however, Rover stopped motorcycle production to concentrate on their 'safety bicycle' but in 1910 designer John Greenwood was commissioned to develop a new 3.5&nbsp;hp 500&nbsp;cc engine with spring-loaded tappets, a Bosch magneto and an innovative inverted tooth drive chain. It had a Brown and Barlow carburettor and Druid spring forks. This new model was launched at the 1910 Olympia show and over 500 were sold.

 

[[File:Rover 500 cc 1920.jpg|thumb|right|1920 Rover 500&nbsp;cc]]

 

Poor sales of their motorcycles caused Rover to end motorcycle production and concentrate solely on the production of motor cars. Between 1903 and 1924 Rover had produced more than 10,000 motorcycles.<ref name="cybermotorcycle"/>

===Early Rover cars===

[[File:Rover 1329cc 1906.jpg|thumb|1906 Six open two-seater]]

 

Three years after Starley's death in 1901, and H. J. Lawson's subsequent takeover, the Rover company began producing automobiles with the two-seater [[Rover 8|Rover Eight]] to the designs of Edmund Lewis, who came from Lawson's [[Daimler Company|Daimler]]. Lewis left the company to join [[Siddeley-Deasy|Deasy]] in late 1905.

On his recommendation [[Spencer Wilks]] was brought in from [[Hillman]] as general manager and appointed to the board in 1929. That year, Searle split Midland Light Car Bodies from Rover in an effort to save money<ref name=NMM/> and instructed Robert Boyle and [[Maurice Wilks]] to design a new small car.

 

 

Frank Searle and Spencer Wilks set about reorganising the company and moving it upmarket to cater for people who wanted something "superior" to [[Ford Motor Company|Fords]] and [[Austin Motor Company|Austins]]. In 1930 Spencer Wilks was joined by his brother, Maurice, who had also been at Hillman as chief engineer. Spencer Wilks was to stay with the company until 1962, and his brother until 1963.

 

===Second World War and gas turbines===

In the late 1930s, in anticipation of the potential hostilities that would become the [[Second World War]], the British government started a rearmament programme, and as part of this, "[[British shadow factories|shadow factories]]" were built. These were paid for by the government but staffed and run by private companies. Three were run by Rover: one, at [[Acocks Green]], Birmingham, started operation in 1937, a second, larger one, at [[Solihull]], started in 1940 and the third, at Drakelow Tunnels, Kidderminster, started in 1943. All three were employed making aero engines and airframes. The original main works at Helen Street, Coventry, was severely damaged by [[Coventry Blitz|bombing in 1940]] and 1941 and never regained full production.

[[File:Land Rover Celebrates 65 Years Of Technology & Innovation (8837420139).jpg|thumb|left|150px|Maurice Wilks]]

In March 1950, Rover showed the [[Rover JET1|JET1]] prototype, the first car powered with a [[gas turbine]] engine, to the public.{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2007|p=82}} JET1, an open two-seat [[tourer]], had the engine positioned behind the seats, air intake grilles on either side of the car,{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2007|p=76}} and exhaust outlets on the top of the tail.{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2007|p=81}} During tests, the car reached a top speed of {{Convert|88|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}.{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}} After being shown in the United Kingdom and the United States in 1950,{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2007|p=84}} JET1 was further developed,{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2007|pp=84–85}} and was subjected to speed trials on the [[Jabbeke]] highway in Belgium in June 1952,{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2007|p=86}} where it exceeded {{Convert|150|mph|km/h}}.{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2007|p=87}} JET1 is currently on display at the [[Science Museum, London|London Science Museum]].

 

 

Rover and the BRM Formula One team joined forces to produce the [[Rover-BRM]], a gas turbine-powered sports prototype that entered the 1963 [[24 hours of Le Mans]], driven by [[Graham Hill]] and [[Richie Ginther]].{{Sfn|Bobbitt|2007|pp=100–101}} It averaged 107.8&nbsp;mph (173&nbsp;km/h) and had a top speed of 142&nbsp;mph (229&nbsp;km/h).

===Golden years===

[[File:Land Rover Series I 1948 (HUE 166).jpg|thumb|The first production Land Rover (HUE 166) 1948]]

The 1950s and '60s were fruitful years for the company. The [[Land Rover]] became a runaway success (despite Rover's reputation for making upmarket saloons, the utilitarian Land Rover was actually the company's biggest seller throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s), as well as the P5 and P6 saloons equipped with a [[Rover V8 engine|3.5L (215ci) aluminium V8]] (the design and tooling of which was purchased from [[Buick]]) and pioneering research into gas turbine-powered vehicles.

 

 

Rover continued to develop its '100-inch Station Wagon', which became the ground-breaking [[Range Rover Classic|Range Rover]], launched in 1970. This also used the ex-Buick V8 engine as well as the P6's innovative safety-frame body structure design and features such as permanent [[four-wheel drive]] and all-round [[disc brake]]s. The Range Rover was initially designed as a utility vehicle which could offer the off-road capability of the Land Rover, but in a more refined and car-like package.

 

===Mergers to LMC and BL===

{{Main|British Leyland}}

 

 

 

==Models==

 

===Launched under the independent Rover Company pre-merger (1904–1967)===

* [https://mrc.epexio.com/records/ROV Catalogue of the Rover archives], held at the [[Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick]]

* [https://mrc.epexio.com/records/WOR Catalogue of the Paul Worm Automotive Industrial Relations Collection of papers concerning Rover], held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick

 

{{Rover}}

{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom}}

{{BMW}}

{{Authority control}}

 

[[Category:Companies disestablished in 1967]]

[[Category:1967 mergers and acquisitions]]