The Airedale is an English automobile made in

Esholt Esholt is a village between Shipley and Guiseley, in the metropolitan district of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated east of Shipley town centre , south-west of Guiseley Main Street , north of Bradford City ...

, near Shipley,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exis ...

. It was the successor to the Tiny made by Nanson, Barker & Co in the same town from 1911 until the outbreak of war in 1914.

History

After the war in 1919 a larger car was developed and the company name changed to Airedale. This new model was rated at 12 hp and had a 1795 cc four-cylinder overhead-valve Dorman KNO engine with Zenith carburettor producing at 1500 rpm. Drive to the rear wheels was through a four-speed gearbox and plate clutch. The car had a wheelbase of and overall length of with conventional half elliptic leaf springs all round. It seems to have also been known as the 12/24 and 11.9 hp. In 1922 they had sufficient confidence to take a stand at the

London Motor Show London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, is a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O ...

and the name of the company was changed from Nanson, Barker and Company to Airedale Cars. The cars at the show were priced at £575 for a special

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

, £435 for a 4-seat

tourer Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

, £425 for a 2-seater with dickey and £375 for a bare chassis. A larger

Meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

engine of 2120 cc was offered in the similar 14 hp model from 1922. This car was slightly larger with a wheelbase and total length. A bare chassis was £360, an open two-seater cost £425 and a

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pro ...

£625. Apart from the engines nearly all parts including gearboxes were made on site by Airedale themselves. The cars were very well finished and equipped, which made them expensive. Approximately 90 cars were made, about 55 of the 12 hp and 35 of the 14 hp models. The company went into liquidation in September 1924, a revival was attempted in 1927 but also failed. No cars are known to survive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Airedale (Automobile) Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Defunct companies based in Leeds Vintage vehicles Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1919

History

See also

References