Automotive Products Co
See also -
- Brakes Division - Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Co
- Clutch Division - Borg and Beck Co
The Automotive Products Company of Leamington Spa and 3 Berners Street, London.
1920 Company founded in London by Edward Boughton, Willie Emmott and Denis Brock, to import and sell American-made components to service the fleet of ex-military trucks left behind in Europe after World War I.[1]
1920 November. Exhibited at the Motor Car Show at Olympia and the White City with a belt for light power drives using hard fibre tension links.
1925 Agents for US products: Continental Engines, Timken Axles and bearings, Borg and Beck Clutches and Oakes Fans and Lavine steering gear (see advert)
1928 Bought manufacturing rights for Lockheed hydraulic brakes; acquired Zephyr Carburettors in Leamington where they manufactured the Lockheed components.
1931 Borg and Beck Co incorporated in the UK to make clutches.
1932 Became private company, to sell the products of the group, except Borg and Beck products.
1934 Name of Zephyr Carburettors changed to Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Co.
1937 Manufacturers of hydraulic controls and shock-absorbers struts for aircraft. "Aerodraulic" Shock Absorber Struts. [2]
1939 See Aircraft Industry Suppliers.
WWII Made components for armaments and aircraft. The Aircraft Division at Leamington provided undercarriages and aircraft hydraulic equipment for a number of wartime British aircraft, including the first tricycle undercarriage for RAF service which was used on the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle. Manufactured parts for the De Havilland Mosquito
Post-WWII Supplied hydraulics and flying control equipment for many aircraft. Also made Avery-Hardoll high-pressure self-sealing hydraulic couplings.
1947 Introduced Purolator oil filters, made at Tachbrook Road, Leamington
1949 Automotive Products Associated Limited was incorporated to acquire the whole of the share capital of Automotive Products Co ltd, Borg and Beck Co Ltd, Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Co Ltd and subsequently converted into a public company. Also manufactured Thompson steering track rods, Purolator filters, and various aircraft components.[3]
1959 was a subsidiary of Automotive Products Associated Ltd.
c.1959 the Aircraft Division was moved from Leamington to Speke airport, Liverpool, and was renamed Lockheed Precision Products.
1961 Manufacturers of oil fuel and air filters, "Thompson" steering and suspension joints and spare parts for Lockheed brakes and Borg and Beck clutches. 100 employees. [4]
1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Lockheed and other components. Listed at Banbury. [5]
1963 Purolator Filters Division was relocated to a former mill building at Bolton - see Automotive Products Co (Bolton).
The operating companies were known collectively as Automotive Products Group
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Wikipedia
- ↑ 1937 The Aeroplane Directory of the Aviation and Allied Industries
- ↑ The Times, Mar 08, 1949
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ 1963 Motor Show
- Mosquito by C. Martin Sharp and Michael J. F. Bowyer. Published by Crecy Books in 1995. ISBN 0-947554-41-6
- The Engineer of 19th November 1920 p498
- [1] AP, Automotive Products and AP Lockheed