Grace's Guide

Lea-Francis

From GracesGuide

Lea-Francis was a motor manufacturing company that began life building bicycles.

Contents 1 General 2 Cars 3 Motorcycles 4 See Also 5 Sources of Information

[edit] General

• 1895 Richard Henry Lea and Graham Ingoldsby Francis started the business in Coventry as Lea and Francis.

• 1896/7 Directory: Listed under cycles as Lea and Francis, Lower Ford Street, Coventry. ^[1]

• 1903 They branched out into car manufacture. Lea-Francis built cars, under licence, for the Singer company.

• 1911 Started to produce motorcycles.

• 1912 Listed in Spennell's directory of Coventry as Cycle Manufacturers. ^[2]

• 1914 Motor cycle and cycle manufacturers. ^[3]

• 1925 Motorcycle production ceased.

• 1937 The company had a chequered history with some notable motorcycles and cars, but financial difficulties regularly arose. The Hillfields site was abandoned in 1937 when it was sold by the receiver and a new company, under a slightly different name moved to Much Park Street in Coventry. It survived there until 1963, when the company was finally wound up.

• 1963 The motor manufacturing parts of the company passed into the hands of the Receiver in 1963 leaving Lea-Francis to continue with their engineering business.

[edit] Cars

• See Lea-Francis: Cars

[edit] Motorcycles

• See Lea-Francis: Motorcycles

[edit] See Also

[edit] Sources of Information

1. ↑ Peck's Trades Directory of Birmingham, 1896-97: Cycles
2. ↑ Spennell's Annual Directory of Coventry and District, 1912-13
3. ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book

• [1] Wikipedia
• British Motor Cars 1950/51