Advance Motor Manufacturing Company
Encyclopedia
The Advance Motor Manufacturing Company was a British motorcycle
and engine manufacturer established in 1905. As well as supplying aircraft engine
s to the pioneering monoplane
developers, Advance engines were also used by Captain Robert Scott
to power Antarctic snow sleds. After the end of the Second World War the company was sold to Sheepbridge Engineering and became a motor supplies organisation.
by Douglas Herbert Gainsford and Frederick Smart, with an original share capital of £10,000. Gainsford and Smart previously ran a bicycle shop in Northampton that also hired out motorcycles, and from 1903 when Joseph Power joined them they began designing and manufacturing engines and motorcycles. The reliability of Advance engines was such that it was not long before they were in demand from other motorcycle manufacturers and they came to be exported all over the world.
Moving to a larger factory on the corner of Kingsthorpe Road and Balmoral Road in 1912, Advance ended vehicle production to concentrate on reconditioning engines and making components, including the 'Gradua' multi-speed mechanism for Zenith Motorcycles
and engines for Duzmo Motorcycles
, producing everything in-house except for cylinder castings. As well as producing their own products and supplying stationary engines for driving agricultural machinery, Advance were agents for Kerry Cars and dealers for Brown and Barlow carburettors.
Advance were also pioneers and innovators, with a number of patents for components such as the 'Advance Adjustable Pulley' (the basis of the Gradua multi-speed mechanism) that aided the ascent of steep hills, and their adjustable belt fastener. They had a sister company that was incorporated in 1916, Standard Valves Ltd, which manufactured replacement valves for the motor trade.
By 1936 Advance had become contractors to the War Office
, Admiralty
and the Air Ministry
, providing specialist engineering services including cylinder re-grinding and repairs, case hardening and grinding. Sometime between 1949 and 1953 Advance was sold to Sheepbridge Engineering of Chesterfield
and renamed Advance Motor Supplies Ltd, and in 1979 they were taken over by GKN Plc
who changed the name to GKN Replacement Services Ltd in 1982. The name was changed again by 1984 to GKN Autoparts Distribution Ltd, then in January 1990 it became Partco Ltd and finally Partco AutoParts Ltd in October 1995. As of October 2011, the company was still on the UK register of companies, but is shown as being dormant.
is thought to be the only complete Advance motorcycle in existence. The engine has an automatic inlet valve above a mechanical exhaust valve and the rear wheel is driven by a belt from the crankshaft. Pedals and a free-wheel hub are provided for starting and helping the engine on steep hills. The handlebar grips, pedal blocks and the box for the ignition’s accumulator are all made of wood.
The 2¾ hp engine was replaced by a 3 hp (2.2 kW) version, a 3½ hp (2.6 kW) and a 6 hp (4.7 kW) V-twin
, all with the same basic design of automatic inlet valves and a one-piece cylinder head and barrel. The Advance engines quickly gained a reputation for reliability and were much in demand from other motorcycle manufacturers. In 1907 Advance's sales catalogue listed a range of motorcycles with the different engines and a ladies version of 3 hp. In 1908 Advance appeared for the first time in The Motor Cycle
as motorcycle manufacturers, with a range of motorcycles and three-wheelers including a new 9 hp (6.9 kW) motorcycle with an aircooled engine.
, including the sprung chassis and two-speed gearbox which also had a neutral position. The brakes were foot operated and all controls were contained within the steering wheel. The 9 hp Tricar had trembler coil ignition and was cooled by twin radiators with a belt-driven pump. The Chater-Lea three-speed gearbox also had a reverse gear, and front and rear seats had springing for comfort.
was made from two V-twin
engines bolted together back-to-back. One of the engines would have been running backwards and it is not known how the crankshaft
s were joined. The carburettor was a Brown & Barlow type 65DU or GU as used by cars of the time and fed a one-into-two-into-four manifold
. With an output of 20 bhp and a capacity of 2290 cc, the flywheel was 9.25 inches (23.5 cm) in diameter and weighed 36 pounds (16.3 kg). The engine revved to 1,800 rpm.
in 1909 by Alfred Grose and Neville Feary, to attempt to win the Daily Mail
prize of £1,000 for the first British aircraft to fly a circular mile with a British pilot. The Advance V4 aero engine was chosen to provide the power and in its first trial the monoplane was tethered to a tree but it never flew. It was eventually dismantled and taken to de Havilland
at Hatfield
.
of 26 feet (7.9 m). A single-seat canard
pusher monoplane, the Nipper flew but crashed and was completely wrecked in an accident at Acton
. The contribution of the Nipper to the development of flight was recognised by Hollywood, however, as a non-flying replica was built for comedian Tony Hancock
's plane in the 1960s comedy film Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines
, called the Little Tiddler.
in the summer of 1913. A single-seat monoplane, it was designed and built by experienced pioneering aviator Edward Victor Hammond who had built and flown a biplane
in 1910 and a triplane
in 1911 at Brooklands. The Advance engine was modified by Hammond and the fuselage
consisted of a pair of parallel steel tubes.
engine, which in turn was replaced by an Isaacson radial engine
and first flew 15 July 1911, once again crash landing, so it may have been the airframe design rather than the Advance engine that was the cause of the problem.
in 1909 as a snow-sled engine by Antarctic
explorer Captain Robert Scott
. The engine was changed to an in-line four-cylinder 16 hp unit with mechanical inlet valves, rather than their usual automatic valves. It used a Brown & Barlow carburettor and had a Bosch
magneto ignition. The motorised sledge engine was designed to run for 300 miles (482.8 km) carrying three quarters of a ton at a top speed of just 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h). In the coverage of Scott's departure on 1 June 1910 The New York Times
quoted him as saying they would take the motorised sledges as far as they could and hoped they would "relieve the ponies and dogs of weight and increase the safety of the return journey".
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
and engine manufacturer established in 1905. As well as supplying aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
s to the pioneering monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
developers, Advance engines were also used by Captain Robert Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
to power Antarctic snow sleds. After the end of the Second World War the company was sold to Sheepbridge Engineering and became a motor supplies organisation.
History
The Advance Motor Manufacturing Company Ltd was incorporated on the 31 May 1905 with registered offices at Louise Road, NorthamptonNorthampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
by Douglas Herbert Gainsford and Frederick Smart, with an original share capital of £10,000. Gainsford and Smart previously ran a bicycle shop in Northampton that also hired out motorcycles, and from 1903 when Joseph Power joined them they began designing and manufacturing engines and motorcycles. The reliability of Advance engines was such that it was not long before they were in demand from other motorcycle manufacturers and they came to be exported all over the world.
Moving to a larger factory on the corner of Kingsthorpe Road and Balmoral Road in 1912, Advance ended vehicle production to concentrate on reconditioning engines and making components, including the 'Gradua' multi-speed mechanism for Zenith Motorcycles
Zenith Motorcycles
Zenith Motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer established in Finsbury Park, London in 1904. Zenith motorcycles used engines from various suppliers, including Precision, Villiers and JAP...
and engines for Duzmo Motorcycles
Duzmo Motorcycles
Duzmo Motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Enfield Highway, London in 1919 by John Wallace, engines for the early Duzmo machines were manufactured by the Advance Motor Manufacturing Company in Northampton. Wallace had no training as an engineer but while he was still at...
, producing everything in-house except for cylinder castings. As well as producing their own products and supplying stationary engines for driving agricultural machinery, Advance were agents for Kerry Cars and dealers for Brown and Barlow carburettors.
Advance were also pioneers and innovators, with a number of patents for components such as the 'Advance Adjustable Pulley' (the basis of the Gradua multi-speed mechanism) that aided the ascent of steep hills, and their adjustable belt fastener. They had a sister company that was incorporated in 1916, Standard Valves Ltd, which manufactured replacement valves for the motor trade.
By 1936 Advance had become contractors to the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
, Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
and the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
, providing specialist engineering services including cylinder re-grinding and repairs, case hardening and grinding. Sometime between 1949 and 1953 Advance was sold to Sheepbridge Engineering of Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
and renamed Advance Motor Supplies Ltd, and in 1979 they were taken over by GKN Plc
GKN
GKN plc is a multinational automotive and aerospace components company headquartered in Redditch, United Kingdom. The company was formerly known as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds and can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the Industrial Revolution.GKN is listed on the London Stock...
who changed the name to GKN Replacement Services Ltd in 1982. The name was changed again by 1984 to GKN Autoparts Distribution Ltd, then in January 1990 it became Partco Ltd and finally Partco AutoParts Ltd in October 1995. As of October 2011, the company was still on the UK register of companies, but is shown as being dormant.
Motorcycles
The 1904 360 cc Advance 2¾ hp (2.05 kW) motorcycle on display at the National Motorcycle Museum (UK)National Motorcycle Museum (UK)
The National Motorcycle Museum occupies an site in Bickenhill, Solihull, England and holds the world's largest collection of British motorcycles. In addition to over 850 motorcycles which cover a century of motorcycle manufacture the site has conference facilities...
is thought to be the only complete Advance motorcycle in existence. The engine has an automatic inlet valve above a mechanical exhaust valve and the rear wheel is driven by a belt from the crankshaft. Pedals and a free-wheel hub are provided for starting and helping the engine on steep hills. The handlebar grips, pedal blocks and the box for the ignition’s accumulator are all made of wood.
The 2¾ hp engine was replaced by a 3 hp (2.2 kW) version, a 3½ hp (2.6 kW) and a 6 hp (4.7 kW) V-twin
V-twin
A V-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine where the cylinders are arranged in a V configuration.- Crankshaft configuration :Most V-twin engines have a single crankpin, which is shared by both connecting rods...
, all with the same basic design of automatic inlet valves and a one-piece cylinder head and barrel. The Advance engines quickly gained a reputation for reliability and were much in demand from other motorcycle manufacturers. In 1907 Advance's sales catalogue listed a range of motorcycles with the different engines and a ladies version of 3 hp. In 1908 Advance appeared for the first time in The Motor Cycle
The Motor Cycle (magazine)
The Motor Cycle was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles. Launched in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication Motor Cycling but the cover eventually became multi-coloured...
as motorcycle manufacturers, with a range of motorcycles and three-wheelers including a new 9 hp (6.9 kW) motorcycle with an aircooled engine.
Tricars and Forecars
In addition Advance made a 6 hp Forecar, and 6 and 9 hp Tricars, all of which were available with air- or water-cooled engines. These Forecars were fitted out by Chater-LeaChater-Lea
Chater-Lea was a British bicycle, car and motor cycle maker with a nine-storey factory in Banner Street in the City of London and, from 1928, premises at Letchworth, Hertfordshire. It was founded by William Chater-Lea in 1900 to make bicycle components. It made cars between 1907 and 1922 and...
, including the sprung chassis and two-speed gearbox which also had a neutral position. The brakes were foot operated and all controls were contained within the steering wheel. The 9 hp Tricar had trembler coil ignition and was cooled by twin radiators with a belt-driven pump. The Chater-Lea three-speed gearbox also had a reverse gear, and front and rear seats had springing for comfort.
Advance V4 aero engine
The Advance V4 aero engineAircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
was made from two V-twin
V-twin
A V-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine where the cylinders are arranged in a V configuration.- Crankshaft configuration :Most V-twin engines have a single crankpin, which is shared by both connecting rods...
engines bolted together back-to-back. One of the engines would have been running backwards and it is not known how the crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
s were joined. The carburettor was a Brown & Barlow type 65DU or GU as used by cars of the time and fed a one-into-two-into-four manifold
Inlet manifold
In automotive engineering, an inlet manifold or intake manifold is the part of an engine that supplies the fuel/air mixture to the cylinders...
. With an output of 20 bhp and a capacity of 2290 cc, the flywheel was 9.25 inches (23.5 cm) in diameter and weighed 36 pounds (16.3 kg). The engine revved to 1,800 rpm.
Grose Monoplane
The Grose Monoplane was built in OakingtonOakington
Oakington is a small village 4 miles north-west of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire in England, and belongs to the administrative district of South Cambridgeshire. The village falls into the parish of Oakington and Westwick.-History:...
in 1909 by Alfred Grose and Neville Feary, to attempt to win the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
prize of £1,000 for the first British aircraft to fly a circular mile with a British pilot. The Advance V4 aero engine was chosen to provide the power and in its first trial the monoplane was tethered to a tree but it never flew. It was eventually dismantled and taken to de Havilland
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
at Hatfield
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...
.
Dixon Nipper
Another aircraft to use the Advance V4 aero engine was the 'Dixon Nipper No.1', designed and built by H.S.Dixon in 1911 with a wingspanWingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
of 26 feet (7.9 m). A single-seat canard
Canard (aeronautics)
In aeronautics, canard is an airframe configuration of fixed-wing aircraft in which the forward surface is smaller than the rearward, the former being known as the "canard", while the latter is the main wing...
pusher monoplane, the Nipper flew but crashed and was completely wrecked in an accident at Acton
Acton
-Australia:*Acton, Australian Capital Territory, suburb of Canberra*Acton, Tasmania, suburb of Burnie, Tasmania*Acton Park, Tasmania, suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton-Canada:*Acton, Ontario*Actons Corners, Ontario...
. The contribution of the Nipper to the development of flight was recognised by Hollywood, however, as a non-flying replica was built for comedian Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
's plane in the 1960s comedy film Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is a 1965 British comedy film starring Stuart Whitman and directed and co-written by Ken Annakin...
, called the Little Tiddler.
Hammond Monoplane
The Hammond Monoplane used a 30 hp water-cooled Advance V4 engine and was built at BrooklandsBrooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
in the summer of 1913. A single-seat monoplane, it was designed and built by experienced pioneering aviator Edward Victor Hammond who had built and flown a biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
in 1910 and a triplane
Triplane
A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically-stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they may occasionally be.-Design principles:...
in 1911 at Brooklands. The Advance engine was modified by Hammond and the fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
consisted of a pair of parallel steel tubes.
Handley Page Bluebird
The first powered Handley Page aircraft, the Type A Bluebird of 1910, used an Advance V-four engine. A single-seat monoplane, the Bluebird was made of wood covered with fabric, and crash landed on its maiden flight on 26 May 1910. Changes were made to improve control and a more powerful Alvaston flat-twin engine of 25 hp replaced the Advance. When the Bluebird was exhibited at Olympia in April 1911 it had progressed to a 35 hp GreenGreen Engine Co
The Green Engine Co was an early British aero engine manufacturer. It was founded by Gustavus Green in Bexhill to produce engines of his design during the first two decades of the 20th century. Actual manufacturing was carried out at the Aster Engineering Company of Wembley...
engine, which in turn was replaced by an Isaacson radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
and first flew 15 July 1911, once again crash landing, so it may have been the airframe design rather than the Advance engine that was the cause of the problem.
Antarctic snow-sled
The engine developed for the Grose Monoplane was also tested in NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in 1909 as a snow-sled engine by Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
explorer Captain Robert Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
. The engine was changed to an in-line four-cylinder 16 hp unit with mechanical inlet valves, rather than their usual automatic valves. It used a Brown & Barlow carburettor and had a Bosch
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
magneto ignition. The motorised sledge engine was designed to run for 300 miles (482.8 km) carrying three quarters of a ton at a top speed of just 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h). In the coverage of Scott's departure on 1 June 1910 The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
quoted him as saying they would take the motorised sledges as far as they could and hoped they would "relieve the ponies and dogs of weight and increase the safety of the return journey".