Trojan
Trojan of Kingston Works and later of Purley Way, Croydon produced commercial vehicles.
See also:
- Trojan: Bubble Cars
- Trojan: Buses
- Trojan: Cars
- Trojan: Commercial Vehicles
- Trojan: Mini-Motors
- Trojan: Motorcycles
1904 Leslie Haywood Hounsfield founded Polygon Engineering.
Hounsfield envisaged making a simple, economical car that would be easy to drive. He started design work in 1910.
1913 Prototype built with a two-stroke engine with four cylinders arranged in pairs, and each pair shared a common combustion chamber – a doubled-up version of what would later be called the "split-single" engine. The pistons in each pair drove the crankshaft together as they were coupled to it by a V-shaped connecting rod. For this arrangement to work, it is necessary for the connecting rod to flex slightly. The claim was that each engine had only seven moving parts, four pistons, two connecting rods and a crankshaft. This was connected to a two-speed epicyclic gearbox, to simplify gear changing, and a chain to the rear wheels.
1914 Leslie Hounsfield moved his business to Vicarage Road, Croydon where a second prototype car was built. The business was formed as a private company and renamed Trojan Ltd, but war broke out before car production could start.
WWI. Made production tools and gauges.
In April 1920 Trojan advertised that they were prepared to enter a licensing arrangement and by June were talking to Leyland Motors. A deal was made in 1921 for Leyland to make the Trojan car, paying a royalty of £5 for each car. Production was slow during 1922 but picked up in 1923 and around 17,000 were built altogether.
1924 Originally designed by L. H. Hounsfield and built by Leyland Motors at its Kingston Works.
1928 Manufacture moved to the Purley works.
1930 Four-cylinder two-stroke marine engine exhibited at Olympia [1]
1934 The Trojan Tractor: This was a small tractor with a four-cylinder 1488 cc engine, with a compression ratio of
3.67 to 1.
'Owing to the
form of construction of the cylinder heads, it is a simple
matter to vary the compression ratio by screwing in
plugs of various depths, and this enables the makers
to offer three alternative compression ratios on the
tractor, making it suitable for practically any grade of
fuel. Should the purchaser decide to change the fuel
employed, he can himself alter the ratio to suit the new fuel without difficulty. .... One of the most interesting features of the tractor as a whole is the exceptional provision made for varying the track width ; a point of importance when working among crops.[2]
1937 New 15cwt model introduced with Bendix-Cowdray brakes.
1937 Manufacturers of aircraft components. [3]
1947 A completely new Senior 12/15cwt van produced with either a two-stroke or Perkins P3V engine. This model continued in production until the company ceased business.
1954 Albert Williams, the general manager of Trojan. The M.D. is Basil Monk [4]
1959 The company was bought by Peter Agg and from 1960 to 1965 built Heinkel bubble cars under licence, selling them as the Trojan 200, the last vehicle to bear the Trojan name. The company acquired the rights to build the Elva Courier sports car in 1962, producing 210 cars between 1962 and 1965 when production switched from road cars to the McLaren-Elva racing car.
1961 Employed 500 persons. Makers of Trojan motor vehicles and Trokart racing Karts. Manufacturers of Trojan motor vehicles, including small cars, commercial vehicles, aircraft components, agricultural equipment and Trokart racing karts. [5]
1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Showed Elva Courier sports models. [6]
See also Trojan Museum Trust
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Engineering 1930/10/31
- ↑ Engineering 1934/12/21
- ↑ 1937 The Aeroplane Directory of the Aviation and Allied Industries
- ↑ Croydon Times - Friday 30 April 1954
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ 1963 Motor Show
- British Lorries 1900-1992 by S. W. Stevens-Stratten. Pub. Ian Allen Publishing
- 1961 Guide to Key British Enterprises: Motor, Motor-Cycle and Commercial Vehicle Manufacturers
- The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 674 X
- [1] Motorbase web site - 1961 Trojan Trobike
- [2] Vintage Bike web site
- Wikipedia
- Trojan by Eric Rance and Don Williams. 1999. ISBN 1-870519-45-0