What is it? Quiz #408

Hello,

I'm a jury member.

This very nice picture appears on page 17 of Nick Baldwin's "A-Z of Cars of the 1920s". It'a 1921 11.9 hp Albert (sold as the 12HP) made by Gwynne, who had bought out the original manufacturers in 1920. Apparently well made but with design flaws that gave the cars a bad name that took the company into receivership. Total production is thought to be about 1800.

What is it Quiz#408

1919 A6A Farman (RAC rating 37.2hp) (Design by Charles Waseige)

Debuted at the 1919 Paris Salon, and London Motor Shows (either at Olympia or the White City) ‘til 1926. A polished chassis or engine was always featured on the stand.

Six-cylinder engine, bore 100mm. x stroke 140 mm. (6597cc), 100 bhp at 2800 rpm.
Four-speed gearbox, 2nd and 3rd pinions with helical teeth for silent running, mounted separately from the engine.
Cone clutch, dual ignition, 3 Main bearing crankshaft,
Semi-elliptic springs at front and cantilevers to rear.
Rear wheel brakes only, plus transmission brake.
Four-bladed fan, with a dashboard lever operated clutch, to disable fan if temperature drops too much for maximum efficiency.
Wheelbase 11 ft. 11 in (3632mm). and track 4 ft. 8 in. (1422mm)
Touring, and sports models were offered, the maximum speeds claimed being 70 and 90 mph respectively.
Vehicles manufactured in France although the Farman brothers, had English parents.
Farman's had their own coach building department, but also used other coachbuilders, on the Farman chassis.
At the 1919 Olympia Motor Show the price of the chassis was quoted at £1900, compared with £1575 asked for the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.
“The Farman seems to have been a rather glorious failure. Every enthusiast admired it, and the motoring press was full of praise for the brilliance of its engineering, but very, very few people were prepared to buy it”
Jury member

I believe the car shown in the picture is a Varley Woods, produced by the High Speed Tool company Acton London. Chassis' were sourced from Turner, and engines 1794cc engines from Dorman and launched at the1919 Motor Show at Olympia. There were three models, a 2-seater, priced at £540, a 4-seater tourer, priced at £660, and a coupé, priced at £760. Roughly 150 cars were built with Dorman engines as the company suffered with financial problems. I believe only one of these cars survives today.

Once production came to an end, Varley moved to a cottage in Cornwall, while Woods travelled to Nyasaland, where he was eaten by a lion.