Associated Equipment Company
 |
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| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Fate | Renamed AEC Ltd. upon the establishment of the holding company ACV Ltd. |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Defunct | 1979 |
| Headquarters | Southall, Greater London, England |
| Products | Lorries, buses, motorcoaches |
| Parent |
Leyland Motor Corporation (1962-1968) British Leyland Motor Corporation (1968-1975) British Leyland Ltd (1975-1979) |
AEC was a British vehicle manufacturer which built buses, motorcoaches and lorries from 1912 until 1979. The acronym stood for Associated Equipment Company, but this name was hardly ever used; instead it traded under the AEC and ACLO brands.
While famously associated with London's AEC Routemaster buses, AEC supplied commercial vehicles to many companies, both domestically and around the world.
The London General Omnibus Company, or LGOC, was founded in 1855 to amalgamate and regulate the horse-drawn omnibus services then operating in London. The company began producing motor omnibuses for its own use in 1909 with the X-type designed by its chief motor engineer, Frank Searle, at works in Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, London. The X-type was followed by Searle's B-type design, considered to be one of the first mass-produced commercial vehicles.
In 1912, LGOC was taken over by the Underground Group of companies, which at that time owned most of the London Underground, and extensive tram operations. As part of the reorganisation following the takeover, a separate concern was set up for the bus manufacturing elements, and was named Associated Equipment Company, better-known as AEC.
AEC's first commercial vehicle was a lorry based on the X-type bus chassis. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, AEC's ability to produce large numbers of vehicles using assembly line methods became important in supplying the increasing need for army lorries. AEC began large-scale production of the 3-ton Y-type lorry, commenced in 1916, and continued beyond the end of the war. From then on, AEC became associated with both lorries and buses.
In 1926, AEC and Daimler formed the Associated Daimler Company (ADC), which was dissolved two years later. In 1927, AEC moved its manufacturing from Walthamstow to a new plant at Southall in Middlesex.
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