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History
of the MG Airline Body |
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1921, Chalmer & Hoyer |
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Chalmer &
Hoyer Coachbuilders was active in volume coachbuilding between the two
world wars. H.W. Allingham was sales manager. Factories were in
Hanworthy near
Poole,
Dorset
and later the ex-Lang propellor works, the ex-Gwynne car factory. Due
to increasing demand and business from Morris (2 closed Morris
Oxfords) interest was mainly in closed, not too expensive bodies. They
either supplied manufacturers with own variants under their own name
or supplied manufacturers via sub-contracts.
Chalmer &
Hoyer were the first to take out the “Weymann” license (Bentley,
Austin 12, Morris Oxford) and was a pioneer in using jigging for wood
frames. H.W. Allingham had studied installation of a cellulose paint
plant for several years in America. |
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1925, Chalmer & Hoyal |
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Chalmer &
Hoyal were named Hoyal (HOYer and ALlingham), then the Hoyal Body
Corporation. Made bus bodies due to unrenewed contracts from Morris
which had their own Pressed Steel Company. |
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1928, Hoyal
Bodybuilding Corporation |
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Renamed
Hoyal Bodybuilding Corporation in 1928 due to financial squeeze.
Started bodying unfamiliar Wolseley Hornets, Austin 7s, and MGs. |
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1931, Hoyal |
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Hoyal was
sold. John Charles & Co. also named Charles, was formed by
ex-employees (John L.
Dalrymple and Charles H.
Linvesay). H.W. Allingham left and started his own firm Allingham. |
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1931, Allingham |
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H.W. Allingham was not a coachbuilder, but an independent and
influential designer. He had his offices in
Central
London (10 Stratford Place, London NW1).
He designed the Vauxhall Airline Coupé (Light Six and DX
chassis), the Vauxhall Stratford tourer, the Rover Six Drophead and
the MG Allingham Coupé bodied for him by Whittingham & Mitchell, the
Vauxhall 27hp Coupé de Ville,”St James”, bodied by Motor Bodies, the
MG P and N Airline Coupé bodied by Carbodies. |
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1934, Vehicle
Developments |
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At the
same time, Allingham formed Vehicle Developments and in cooperation
with AMBI-Budd Germany, developed a standardized pressed-steel door
and pillar for drophead coupés fitted to many chassis (Austin 12,
Ford, Morris, Vauxhall, Wolseley) as the “Sandringham design”. They
were made for him by Ranalah, Whittingham & Mitchell, and Jones Bros. |
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In the 1920s, the car industry was very reluctant to introduce the
“streamlining” design to the public. Generally “streamlining” meant the
“teardrop” design (per Jaray and Rumpler) with its tail coming to one point and so mounting
the engine to the rear.
In the late 1920s, the interest
was growing for closed cars and specially the “sport-coupes”; then
coachbuilders realized that it was possible to give the illusion to produce
“streamlining” by sloping the tail on a conventional front-engined chassis
and matching the swept wings.
In 1932, one of the first mass produced designs was done by Rootes, who produced the Hillman Aero
Minx designed by Freddy March (later the Duke of Richmond and Gordon)
and built by Carbodies. |
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