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Location: The Scottish Border
E C Gordon England had a series of patents in his name.
Much of it concerned with plywood body construction
Carried over from his earlier work on aircraft and also
about the rubber mounting of bodies on chassis frames.
Ruairidh has published some of these patents on the Gordon England
Register webpages.
I’m not sure but many GE cars were primarily sold via the
Austin Dealer Network, as they the featured in main line
Austin sales catalogues.
However racing models like the Brooklands were probably
Built to order? And sold directly? To owner/Drivers?
I’ve often wondered if coachbuilders had to pay up front for rolling chassis from the Austin works
But it’s interesting that such chassis carried plate that stated they” were the property of the Austin
Motor Company”. Implying that they were supplied on credit?
Regards
Bill G
Based near the Scottish Border,
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Location: Sherwood Forest
Car type: 1938 Talbot Ten Airline
15-02-2018, 11:57 AM
(This post was last modified: 15-02-2018, 11:58 AM by Mike Costigan.)
My understanding is that the Austin Motor Co commissioned Gordon England and Mulliner bodies (hence their appearance in the Austin brochures), which were then sold through the Austin Dealer network with a full Austin warranty. Presumably these chassis were not invoiced out to the respective coachbuilders, and were therefore fitted with the 'ownership' plates to ensure that they were identified as Austin property in case the coachbuilder went out of business. The G E Brooklands was rather different, since they also received chassis modifications by Gordon England, and these were probably sold independently of the Austin sales network.
Most small scale coachbuilders would buy their chassis at trade price - cash with order/delivery probably - and therefore became the coachbuilder's property and did not have the 'ownership' plates fitted.
William Lyons seems to have been unique in ordering in bulk and building up his own dealership network - no doubt he already had big ambitions!
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 691 Threads: 37
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Location: The Scottish Border
Dear Mike
Thanks for the useful information.
Bill G
Based near the Scottish Border,
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 3,004 Threads: 168
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Location: Sherwood Forest
Car type: 1938 Talbot Ten Airline
Bill,
Don't quote me as gospel! That's just my interpretation from the information to hand - I could be quite wrong!
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 691 Threads: 37
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Hi Mike
But you tell a good story and I’m a believer!
Bill G
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Are there meant to be 1 per side which means £200+/car which sounds very expensive. The price and pure vanity (do not include Scotland and they don't really go with green fabric !) put me off purchasing them a year ago from the same source but if they were cheaper with say, bulk purchase, I might contemplate them. Look very nicely made though...might just take a photo of one, weatherproof it and stick it on ! Such things do tend to get nicked.
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Location: Scotchland
Only one to fit James.
There may be other/alternative suppliers you could look into.
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Location: Ripon
Fattorini in Birmingham for example...
