Abbey Coachworks Limited was a British coachbuilding business based in
Merton, South West London and later
Acton, North West London. It was active between 1930 and 1938.
Arthur P Compton set up several coachbuilding businesses, including Compton, Sons and Terry which was founded in 1929 in Merton, South West London. He left this in 1930 to set up on his own, and the other partner D.H. Terry with D.H.B. Power renamed the company Abbey Coachworks. In 1933, the company moved to larger premises in Acton, North West London. In 1936, they took over the Wingham brand from
Martin Walter and changed their name to Wingham Martin Walter. They exhibited at the 1937 London Motor Show under the new name. By the late 1930s, the practice of custom coachbuilding on a car maker's chassis was in decline leading to the business' eventual collapse by the end of the decade.
Abbey seem to have concentrated on short production runs rather than bespoke bodywork. Cars they equipped included the
Wolseley Hornet Special,
Rover 20
The Rover 20 was a new medium sized car announced by Rover in June 1907. It was a production version of the car which won the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race in 1906. However artillery wood wheels were fitted instead of the (still recommended) ...
and various
MGs particularly their
MG Magna
The MG F-type Magna is a six-cylinder-engined car that was produced by MG (car), MG from October 1931 to 1932. It was also known as the 12/70.
Looking for a car to fill the gap between the MG M-type, M-Type Midget and the MG 18/80, 18/80, MG t ...
,
Fords,
Hillman
Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had ...
s and
Vauxhalls. Some of their production was for other coachbuilders such as
Jarvis of Wimbledon
Jarvis & Sons Limited were South London-based motor dealers for Morris and MG, and latterly coachworks providing special bodies for various car chassis until after World War II.
Operations
Like many similar UK motor dealers and coachworks, th ...
and was sold under names other than Abbey.
Around 1937 they also produced bodywork for the French
automobile manufacturer Delahaye.
[Proof of that is on page 240 of the book "Delahaye - La belle carrosserie française", written by Jean-Paul Tissot ().] The car pictured on that page with numberplate DXE-66 has undergone a thorough restoration in France during the years 2018 - 2019 and now resides in Belgium.
Martin Walter themselves remained in business after the demise of Abbey, and after the Second World War made a range of
motor caravan
A motorhome (or coach) is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle (RV) which is as the name suggests, like a home on wheels.
Features
Motorhomes usually have sleeping spaces for two to eight people. Each sleeping space is either fixed o ...
s under the
Dormobile
The Dormobile is a 1950s-era onwards campervan (motorcaravan, motorhome) conversion manufactured by the coachbuilder Martin Walter of Folkestone in Kent.
Initially based on the Bedford CA van, the name is associated more with those and subseq ...
name, and ambulance and minibus bodies on Bedford Austin and Ford chassis.
References
* A-Z of British Coachbuilders. Nick Walker. Bay View Books. 1997.
* Delahaye - La belle carrosserie française. Jean-Paul Tissot. 2006.
External links
1935 Bentley 3½ litre Sports Two Seater Tourer by Abbey for Jarvis��
Capt George Eyston
Delahaye - La belle carrosserie française
{{Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom
Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom
Companies based in the London Borough of Merton
Vehicle manufacture in London