Paramount Cars was a British company which produced the Paramount automobile between 1950 and 1956. Founded by WA Hudson and S Underwood from Derbyshire, the company initially manufactured cars in

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a historic mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, in the county of Derbyshire, England. It lies within The National Forest (England), The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire ...

with production moving shortly after to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

(again in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

) and then to

Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/ Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is nor ...

. Two models were produced, the Paramount Ten and the Paramount 1½-Litre.

History

The Paramount had an aluminium over wood frame body with

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

like grille and was mounted on a separate tubular steel chassis with front transverse and rear semi elliptical leaf springs. It was originally intended to have Alvis engine and suspension but to reduce cost the production versions used Ford 10 components including the 1172 cc side valve engines, but fitted with twin SU carburettors, which resulted in poor performance. The car was listed in both 2 and 4 seat versions. In 1953, the company was bought by Camden Motors and production moved to

and the

Ford Consul The Ford Consul is a car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1951 until 1962. The name was later revived for a model produced by Ford in both the UK and in Germany from 1972 until 1975. Between 1951 and 1962, the Consul was the four-c ...

1,508 cc engine was an option in a longer chassis as also was a Wade or

Shorrock supercharger The Shorrock supercharger was an eccentric sliding-vane type engine supercharger patented by James Haydock and Christopher Shorrock in 1933. Originally known as the Centric supercharger, it was widely used by engine tuners in the UK in the 1930s a ...

. The price was now an uncompetitive £1009 and production ceased in 1956 after about 70 cars had been made. After the end of car production the remaining chassis were sold off and several were fitted with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

glass fibre bodies. There was no connection with the two separate American Paramount Car companies of Azusa, California (1923-1924) and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

(1927-1931).

Performance

A 1500 cc car tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1956 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 31.2 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1013 including taxes.

Gallery

File:1956 Paramount 1½ Litre.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1½ Litre with the Ford Consul engine File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 front left chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 left side chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 rear left chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 front chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Paramount roadster sxm 269 rear chew 2013.jpg, 1956 Paramount 1 1/2 litre Roadster File:Alvis_Crested_Eagle_Paramount_Coupe_front.jpg, Alvis-based prototype 1948 File:Alvis_Crested_Eagle_Paramount_Coupe_head.jpg, Alvis badge and 3litre engine File:Alvis_Crested_Eagle_Paramount_Coupe_side.jpg, Aluminium body on 1933 Alvis

References

Bibliography

* Lawrence, Mike. (1991). AZ of Sports Cars since 1945 - page 252. Bay View Books. * Sedgwick, Michael. (1985) CARS OF THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES - page 225. AB nordbook. * Georgano, G.N. (1973) The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars1885 to the present - page 536. Ebury Press. {{ISBN, 0852230486

External links