Beginnings of the Economy Car in the Edwardian Era
In the Edwardian Era, a
few
manufacturers followed the lead
of the light cars makers in making cars that were smaller and lighter
than the conventional cars of the period, following the principles of
their chassis design, but making machines that were even smaller and
lighter.
These were the first true economy cars, the forerunners of
today's
City cars. This is a study of economy cars produced by the British
motor industry. I have arbitrarily chosen an upper limit of 1.1
litre engine
capacity for the subject’s of this article as it reflects the
subsequent history of the Economy/Mini/City car. Many of these cars
differed from the convention of
the time of having four cylinder water cooled engines, by
having only two cylinders, some air cooled and some water cooled and in
various configurations, being classified at the time as cyclecars. But
none of them used belts, chains or friction drives for the
transmission. Many
millions of Economy/Mini/City cars with twin cylinder engines
would be produced in
the years to come after being considered unsuitable for car use in the
1930's.
Their is very
little information generally available on the economy cars of the
Edwardian Era, but I am fortunate
in possessing three books that contain references and data on the
subject,they are "Edwardian Cars", by Earnest F. Carter, "The Light
Car", by C. F. Caunter, and "The Autocar Handbook", of I believe 1914
0r 1915. These have provided data and quotes for the text. Most of the
graphics have come from http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Category:Cars. It is a unique source information, particularly the items copied from Lightcar and Cyclecar and other publications.