The Carden was a British 4 wheeled

cyclecar A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the c ...

made from 1914 by Carden Engineering originally based in

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

, Surrey but moving in 1914 to

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

, Middlesex and in 1919 to

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

, Berkshire.

Sir John Carden Sir John Valentine Carden, 6th Baronet MBE (6 February 1892 – 10 December 1935) was an English tank and vehicle designer. He was the sixth baronet of Templemore, County Tipperary, from 1931. Work Born in London, Carden ran a company from 1 ...

was a prolific designer who went on to work on tanks but started his career with cyclecars. His first design was a wooden bodied single seater powered by a 481 cc single cylinder

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word " Japanese". In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term offensive because of the internment they suffered during World War II. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Jap ...

engine driving the back axle by belt. There was no gearbox. At first he had built the cars at his home but demand was sufficient to warrant moving to larger premises in Teddington in February 1914. Carden cyclecar

In October 1914 ''

The Motor Cycle ''The Motor Cycle'' was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles. Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication ''Motor Cycling (mag ...

''Motor Cycle Magazine, 8 October 1914, p407 reported on a Carden Monocar they had on trial. This vehicle (registration MXY1) was powered by an air-cooled 5HP V-twin JAP engine, and had only a single gear, though gears were available on 'other models'. The engine was mounted behind the rear axle and drove it via chain, there being no differential. The optional gear change was a mechanism whereby one chain sprocket was disengaged and another moved to drive the chai

In 1916 the design and factory was sold to Ward and Avey Ltd who renamed the car the AV (cyclecar), AV and continued manufacture until about 1924. Production, including those made by AV, may have reached 1000. Carden went on to design a new cyclecar in 1919 which he sold later the same year to Tamplin and then a further model which he sold to Arnott and Harrison in 1922 who sold it as the

New Carden New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

and made the car until 1925.

References

{{Reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Cyclecars Companies based in Surrey Companies based in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Companies based in Ascot, Berkshire

See also

References