Wilson-Pilcher
| Private | |
| Industry | Engineering, Automobile |
| Fate | Demergers Take over |
| Successor | Armstrong Whitworth |
| Founded | 1901 |
| Defunct | 1904 |
| Headquarters | Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
|
Key people
|
Walter Gordon Wilson and co-designer Percy Pilcher |
| Products | Automobiles |
Wilson-Pilcher is a historic British car brand.
The company Wilson-Pilcher was founded in 1901 by Walter Gordon Wilson in London to produce automobiles. In 1904 it was acquired by Sir WG Taken Armstrong Whitworth & Co., Limited and production moved to Newcastle upon Tyne. Percy Pilcher had died in a gliding accident in 1899, and Wilson had been working with him on the engine for an attempt at powered flight. According to Bonhams there is photographic evidence of a wooden mock-up of the car in 1899, and a photo of a working car taken at Stanhope Hall in 1900.
Production stopped in 1907.
The first model had a 9 hp four cylinder flat engine of 2400 cc displacement. In 1903 this was replaced by the 12/16 hp engine of 2694 cc capacity. In 1904 a six-cylinder 18/24 HP engine of 4041 cc capacity was added to the range. In April 1904 The Automotor Journal gave a detailed report on the Wilson-Pilcher car, which was by then being built by Armstrong Whitworth in Newcastle. This report states that the cylinders of both models were of 3.75inch bore and stroke. This gives capacities of 2715cc for the four-cylinder engine and 4072cc for the six-cylinder engine.
A 4-cylinder example of this car survives, registration number "BB96", and has been displayed in various museums, and was sold at auction in 2012 for £203,100, having previously been on display in the Coventry Transport Museum. The auctioneers description of the car state that photographs exist showing a wooden mock-up in 1899, and a complete car at Stanhope Hall in 1900.
The details of the Wilson-Pilcher car were considered sufficiently advanced and novel that the make was the subject of a detailed article spanning three editions of the Automotor Journal of 1904, from which the information and images below are extracted.
The engine was suspended in the conventional location at the front of the car at a slight angle to allow straight drive to the rear axle, and with the cylinders lying between the frames of the chassis. The mountings above the engine allowed it to rock sideways to some extent, this being limited by a pair of helical springs at the front and by diagonal radius rods connecting the rear of the gearbox to the ends of the rear axle. In this way the mechanical vibration of the engine and transmission was largely isolated from the chassis and occupants. Images below are for the 1904 six-cylinder version of the car.
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Wikipedia