Automotive Products, commonly abbreviated to AP, was an

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % ...

components company set up in 1920 by Edward Boughton, Willie Emmott and Denis Brock, to

import An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...

and sell

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-made components to service the fleet of ex-

military trucks A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

left behind in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1928, they obtained a

licence A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

for the manufacture and sale of the Lockheed Hydraulic Braking System for the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

and

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, and in the following year they acquired a controlling interest in Zephyr Carburetors Limited which had premises in Clemens Street,

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

. A subsidiary company named the Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Company Ltd was formed and

brake A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Backgroun ...

component manufacture began. In 1931, the Borg & Beck Company Limited was set up to manufacture

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

es under American patents from Borg & Beck in the USA. This allowed the company to sell British made Borg & Beck clutches in Great Britain, overseas British possessions and the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

(except Canada). The same year, the first block of a new purpose-built factory in Tachbrook Road was opened, extending by 1970 to some 70 acres. The company became the UK's leading manufacturer and supplier of clutches and braking, and was dominant in the market until the end of the 1970s. AP also developed a close technical partnership with the

British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named. ''The Times'', Friday, 29 February ...

(BMC), in the development of

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...

s. One of the most notable products of this collaboration was the unique AP automatic transmission used in the

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

and later BMC/BL compact models. The two companies jointly owned a plant in Kings Norton to produce the transmissions, and the matching variants of the A-series engines to go with them. The business was bought by BBA (British Belting and Asbestos) in 1986, and sold on to a management consortium in 1995. With the decline of the British Motor Industry, and increased competition from manufacturers in Europe, AP saw its sales shrink. The Leamington Spa site was gradually reduced, until the business was broken up, and its mainstream automotive division was sold in 2000 to

Delphi Automotive Systems Aptiv PLC is an Irish-American automotive technology supplier with headquarters in Dublin. Aptiv grew out of the now-defunct American company, Delphi Automotive Systems, which itself was formerly a component of General Motors. History The com ...

. The braking division,

The Lockheed Hydraulic Braking Company ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, was sold to an Indian multi-national, who supplies brake systems under the name Caparo AP Braking. The brake division was bought by Raicam Industrie of Italy and moved to

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

. The Caparo company is unconnected with AP Racing, a competitor who specialised is high performance brake and clutch systems for

motorsports Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

applications. This company has since been purchased by Brembo S.p.A., but is still run as a separate entity.

Manumatic and Newtowndrive automated clutch systems

The ''Manumatic'' and ''Newtondrive'' systems are also known as "two-pedal transmissions". They relieve the driver of the need for skill in operating clutch and engine speed in conjunction with the gear change. At one time, ''Manumatic'' solely referred to an older type of

semi-automatic transmission A semi-automatic transmission is a "theoretical" multiple-speed transmission where part of its operation is automated (typically the actuation of the clutch), but the driver's input would be required to launch the vehicle from a standstill and t ...

with an automatic clutch system, but today, the term "manumatic" generally just refers to standard

torque converter A torque converter is a type of fluid coupling that transfers rotating power from a prime mover, like an internal combustion engine, to a rotating driven load. In a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the torque converter connects the p ...

s, with the ability to override the transmission computer, and select gears "manually," via the electronics. ;Manumatic A clutch servo powered by the vacuum at the induction manifold operated the automatic clutch - a conventional clutch incorporating centrifugal operation. A switch in the gear lever operated a solenoid valve so that when the gear lever moved, the clutch was disengaged. A control unit made throttle adjustments to keep the engine speed matched to the driven clutch plate and also varied the speed of clutch operation appropriate to road speed.Staton Abbey (ed) ''Practical Automobile Engineering'' Clutch Systems p 193-194 ;Newtondrive The Newtondrive system differed in making a provision for choke control and a cable linkage from the clutch operating mechanism to the throttle. The systems could be fitted to smaller cars such as the

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Anglias ...

References

{{reflist Auto parts suppliers of the United Kingdom Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1920 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1920 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2000 1920 establishments in the United Kingdom 2000 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Privately held companies of the United Kingdom