Chambers Motors
Chambers Motors was the first automobile manufacturer in Ireland.[1] The company built vehicles by hand featuring high-quality components designed and fabricated in-house. Passenger cars were made to suit doctors and wealthy businessmen, and commercial vehicles were produced for duty as delivery vans, ambulances, and hearses. A key feature of the vehicles was a unique design of epicyclic gearbox in the rear axle. Chambers Motors employed around 75 people and built approximately 500 vehicles in 25 years of operation.
Origin
The founder, Jack Chambers, had earlier designed and constructed the first Vauxhall car in 1902-3 while Managing Director of the Vauxhall Iron Works, London.[2] After resigning in January 1904, he filed a master patent in May 1904 for a Chambers car featuring coil springs and a twin cylinder transverse engine with chain drive.[3]
Production
Production was undertaken in Cuba Street, Belfast,[4] in association with Jack's brothers Robert and Charlie who had been operating as millwrights from 1897. Their main product was an automatic bottle-wiring machine to fasten the corks of mineral-water bottles at the rate of 1200 per hour. During the First World War the company produced ambulances (for the Ulster division), munitions (such as shell cases and percussion caps for hand grenades),[4] and aircraft components (for Avro 504 biplanes).
Closure
Business became less profitable in the face of competition from mass-produced cars. The operation was voluntarily wound up in 1929. Only four Chambers cars are known to exist today, including an 8 hp model from 1908 which is displayed in the Ulster Museum in Belfast.[5]
Specifications of Chambers cars
Chambers cars competed in many hill-climb, reliability, and time trials. In the Irish Reliability Trial of 1906 during non-stop runs an average petrol consumption of 43 mpg‑imp (6.6 L/100 km; 36 mpg‑US) was achieved.
Model | Years | Cylinders | Engine orientation | Bore | Stroke | Wheelbase | Track | Feature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 hp | 1904–1905 | Two | Horizontal | 3⅛ in | 4¼ in | 6 ft 6 in | 4 ft | |
8 hp | 1905–1909 | Two | Horizontal | 3⅛ in | 4¼ in | 6 ft 6 in | 4 ft | |
10 hp | 1906–1909 | Two | Horizontal | 3¾ in | 4½ in | 7 ft | 4 ft | |
10-12 hp | 1908–1909 | Two | Horizontal | 4 in | 4½ in | 7 ft | 4 ft | |
12-16 hp | 1907–1909 | Two | Horizontal | 3⅜ in | 4¼ in | 8 ft 6 in | 4 ft | |
12-14 hp | 1909 | Four | Vertical | 85 mm | 4 in | 8 ft | 4 ft | |
12-16 hp | 1910–1924 | Four | Vertical | 3⅜ in | 4 in | 9 ft 6 in | 4 ft 3 in | |
11-15 hp | 1912–1924 | Four | Vertical | 3⅛ in | 4 in | 8 ft 3 in | 4 ft | |
11-15 hp | 1919–1924 | Four | Vertical | 3⅓ in | 4 in | 8 ft 6 in | 4 ft | Sliding gear gearbox |
14/34 | 1925 | Four | Vertical | 2 15/16 in | 4 in | 9 ft 6 in | 4 ft 3 in | Sliding gear gearbox |
18/48 | 1925–1929 | Six | Vertical | 2 11/16 in | 4 in | 10 ft 6 in | 4 ft 8 in |
Further reading
- Moore, John S (2000). Chambers Motors 1904–1929. Ireland: Dreoilin Specialist Publications Limited. ISBN 1-902773-09-8.
References
- Moore, John S (2000). Chambers Motors 1904–1929. Ireland: Dreoilin Specialist Publications Limited. ISBN 1-902773-09-8.
- Engineering Ireland. Collins Press. 2006. p. 309. ISBN 9781905172061.
- "Past Imperfect - Chambers Motors". Irish Times. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
Jack [Chambers] resigned as managing director of the Vauxhall Iron Works. He stayed in London designing a light van for Newington, but in May 1904 applied for a patent for the first Chambers car
- "The Industrial Heritage of South Belfast". CultureNorthernIreland. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009.
- "Chambers Car Returns to Ulster Museum". CultureNorthernIreland. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2009.