Interesting little film

[Colin Morgan]

An old book I have says - two speed and reverse, 11 bhp, speed 25 mph, no differential, solid tyres, length 10'6" - and originally designed in 1910.

In the film, deprecation cost is given as a few shillings - as the car cost about £200, this is presumably over the 10 day period being discussed at the time?

Edit: Just to add - given the 2-stroke engine revved to about 1500 rpm, there is no way this vehicle could be described as 'refined' or compete with the Seven in so many ways - but the survivors must be lots of fun to own and run?

[Tony Press]

Sorry to hear that Tony - try the link below, I think the basic film is the same though it's a somewhat inferior copy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXa-7Kh6WN0

Or was it this one you wanted?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsbIiZ4lCo8

Excellent- thank you 

[David Stepney]

Many years ago, I owned a Trojan. Often described as slow, noisy and smelly, it was all of these but like Sevens, had a charm of its own. I still have a factory workshop manual for one on the bookshelf. It was a very interesting and curious car. A split twin two stroke engine married to a two speed and reverse epicyclic gearbox, it had surprising torque. Final drive was by chain to the offside rear wheel. About 40 mph top speed, so was not all that much slower than many light cars of the twenties. The braking system was interesting. The footbrake worked on an enormous drum on the near side rear wheel (the offside rear wheel being the driving wheel). The handbrake worked on a pulley on the transmission cross shaft. I didn’t keep it that long as it was so temperamental to start. The starter was a lever in the cab that engaged with the crankshaft via a four legged dog. One could pull and pull on the lever with nothing more than the occasional pop and sigh. It always went with a push, though.

If I had the money, I’d have another just for the fun of it.

[Chris KC]

One rear wheel brake? And those tyres...

[Howard Wright]

One rear wheel brake? And those tyres...

Solid rear axle, Chris.  The lack of a differential makes it ideal for trials.  The tyres seem to work OK on trials so can’t be that bad.

Cheers

Howard

[Colin Morgan]

Yes, at 2 1/2" wide, the solid tyres apparently had a tendency to slip sideways in the wet. 

What David says about the design makes me think '"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Sir Herbert and Stanley didn't adopted many of these ideas for the Seven, then?  But does sound a fun car to own - if you have someone around who will help push.  40mph sounds brave - the car is short and very tall, on high wheels.

[David Stepney]

If memory serves me correctly, the rear axle was solid, so the axle was braked from one side and driven from the other. Leslie Houndsfield tried hard to make the design as simple as is could possibly be to make a car simple reliable and practical.

It also had enormous cantilever springs front and rear. Mine had pneumatic tyres, so I don't know what one would have been like on solids, but the suspension was certainly on the soft side.

The other thing I remember was that the forked con rods were not articulated, thus they flexed om each revolution of the engine. They didn't seem to mind, though. The engine was bomb proof.

[Mick Hobday]

Here's one for sale, showing engine etc.
https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1594590#&gid=1&pid=2

[Chris KC]

One rear wheel brake? And those tyres...

Solid rear axle, Chris.  The lack of a differential makes it ideal for trials.  The tyres seem to work OK on trials so can’t be that bad.

Cheers

Howard

Ah OK, not quite so bad. Even so 40 mph in the wet sounds like more than enough...

[David Stepney]

Here's one for sale, showing engine etc.
https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1594590#&gid=1&pid=2

Appears to be sensibly priced. I wish I had £7500 to spend on one! And a dynastart! Whatever next?

The late vans ( as supplied to Brooke Bond tea) had three speeds and electric start.