The Albany was an English

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

, manufactured by the Albany Motor Carriage Company in

Christchurch, Dorset Christchurch () is a town and civil parish on the south coast of Dorset, England. The parish had a population of 31,372 in 2021. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Part of the Historic counties of England, hist ...

from 1971 - 1997.

History

The company was run by two brothers, Bryan and David Shepherd. The car was designed as a

veteran car Crude ideas and designs of automobiles can be traced back to ancient and medieval times. In 1649, Hans Hautsch of Nuremberg built a clockwork-driven carriage. In 1672, a small-scale steam-powered vehicle was created by Ferdinand Verbiest; the ...

, in the

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

style, but is not a replica of any particular marque although it bears some resemblance to a 1908 Buick. Early models used the

BMC A-series engine The Austin Motor Company A-series is a British small straight-4 car, automobile engine. Launched in 1951 with the Austin A30, production lasted until 2000 in the Mini. It used a cast-iron block and cylinder head, and a steel crankshaft with thre ...

and suspension from the

Morris Minor The Morris Minor is an economy car produced by British marque Morris Motors between 1948 and 1971. It made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 ...

in a specially built tubular steel chassis. The engine was governed to allow a maximum speed of . The car was hand built and quite expensive at £1987 before a long list of extras was added. Purchasers requiring a hood or a screen found themselves invited to pay an extra £70 or £50 for these luxuries. From 1974 a 1300 cc

Standard SC engine The Standard SC engine is a cast-iron overhead valve straight-four engine designed and initially produced by Standard Triumph. Over its production life displacement grew from an initial size of just over 800 cc to nearly 1500 cc. Int ...

from the

Triumph Spitfire The Triumph Spitfire is a British sports car manufactured over five production iterations between 1962 and 1980. Styled for Standard- Triumph in 1957 by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti, the Spitfire was introduced at the London Motor Show i ...

was used and a longer wheelbase five-seat option came in 1976. Albany also made a replica 1910 AEC open air bus, based on a

Ford D Series The Ford D series is a range of middle-weight trucks that were introduced by Ford UK in 1965. It replaced the Thames Trader and appears to have been envisaged as a more modern competitor to the Bedford TK produced by General Motors' UK truck ...

lorry chassis, that now provides very brief quasi-vintage bus rides at the Beaulieu motor museum in Hampshire. It appeared in the 1970s remake of the film 'The 39 Steps' starring Robert Powell. In 1973 about a car every two weeks was being produced and exports to the United States started. However, after about 12 cars were shipped the importing company failed. The price in 1974, now with a 1500cc Triumph engine had risen to £2487. By 1977 110 cars had been built. As of 1992, the open-top Albany featuring a 1500 cc SC engine was being built for export only. The company closed in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albany (Automobile) Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1971 History of Christchurch, Dorset Companies based in Dorset

History

See also

References