Maudslay Motor Company

The Maudslay Motor Company was a British vehicle maker based in Coventry. It was founded in 1902 and continued until 1948 when it was taken over by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and along with Crossley Motors the new group was renamed Associated Commercial Vehicles (ACV) Ltd.

The company was founded by Cyril Charles Maudslay, great grandson of the eminent engineer Henry Maudslay to make marine internal combustion engines. He was joined by his cousin Reginald Walter Maudslay who soon left to found the Standard Motor Company.

The engines did not sell very well, and in 1902 they made their first engine intended for a car which was fitted to chain-drive chassis. The three-cylinder engine, designed by Alexander Craig was an advanced unit with a single overhead camshaft and pressure lubrication. In 1902, Maudslay Motors made a petrol railway locomotive for City of London Corporation to draw trucks from the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway to the Corporation meat market at Deptford, this requiring 50 tons to be drawn up a gradient of 1 in 36. It was fitted with a three-cylinder engine developing 85 bhp at 450rpm, with cylinders of 9inch bore and stroke. Transmission was via a 2-speed change gear. The locomotive weighed 12 tons, and was provided with a 8 hp auxiliary engine which was used to start the main engine. This was the first commercially successful petrol locomotive in the world.

The three-cylinder engine was followed in 1903 by a six-cylinder version, possibly the first overhead-camshaft six to go into production. For 1904 a range of cars was on offer, including one with a 9.6-litre version of the six-cylinder engine. The cars were among the most expensive on the British market.

As well as cars the company made commercial vehicles with the first double decker bus produced in 1905 and a range of trucks varying from small two-cylinder models to six ton models. In 1912 Maudslay supplied a 40 hp (30 kW) engine to power an early petrol-electric railcar.

A side-valve engine was introduced in 1914.

Private car production stopped with the outbreak of war. Five- and six-ton lorries had been supplied to the British War Office in 1913, and these, along with a three-ton model, became the main product during hostilities. In addition, aircraft undercarriages were made, as well as reconditioning work carried out on radial engines. Production of complete engines was started in 1918.

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