Clyno Cars

In its heyday Clyno was the third largest car manufacturer in the UK after Austin and Morris. It proudly boasted that it offered a price level as low as any car of like rating in the world, and a value vastly higher.

It all began when cousins Frank and Ailwyn Smith of Thrapston,  Northamptonshire designed and manufactured a pulley with a variable drive ratio, for belt-driven machines. They called it the "inclined pulley", which soon became abbreviated to the "clined" and finally Clyno.

In 1909 they began to manufacture motorcycles, and in 1910 the company moved into a factory at Pelham Street, Wolverhampton, on the site of Fort Works. The factory had previously been used by the Stevens Brothers for the manufacture of petrol engines.

The buildings were occupied by Clyno in 1910.

A little while later Clyno also acquired Ashes works across the road.

How the factory looked in 2012. It has been greatly extended.

A new motorcycle, the highly acclaimed 'Spring 8' with a top speed of 50m.p.h. was launched in 1919 at the Olympia show.

Unfortunately it would be two years before the machine went into production.

Ashes Works, Clyno's second factory in Pelham Street, now demolished.

In 1920 the post-war motorcycle market collapsed, and the original works manager Henry Meadows, left to form the well known engine manufacturing company, Henry Meadows Limited at Fallings Park.

At the time, large numbers of cheap ex-WD machines were available. To compound the problem, there were also shortages of materials, which didn’t help production, and last but not least, the Russians failed to pay for the military motorcycles they had received during the war. As a result the company's financial backers withdrew, and the Clyno Engineering Company went into liquidation.

Rebirth

Frank Smith very much wanted to produce cars, and with this in mind he formed the Clyno Engineering Company (1922) Limited with a capital of £100,000. Frank’s father William Smith was chairman and Frank became managing director.

Initially both cars and motorcycles were produced, but by the autumn of 1923 motorcycle production had ended. The new company stated that no Clyno machines would be displayed at the 1923 Motor Cycle Show.

Clyno's prototype car.

A prototype 2 seater car had been built before the end of the war, but it was abandoned, possibly due to lack of finance.

The car had been designed by Charles M. Van Eugen who had recently joined the company.

The car had a 10.8hp. 1,368c.c. four cylinder Coventry Climax engine, a Clyno 3 speed gearbox, electric lighting, and initially sold for £250.

Most of the parts were made in-house including the steering, brakes, and gearbox.

A Clyno advert from 1923 showing their first production car.

Clyno prices were always kept low to undercut the competition, in this case Morris. In the following year the selling price fell to £238, complete with an electric starter. A 2 seater version was introduced, and around 522 cars were built that year, and distributed by Rootes. The agent in Wolverhampton was Cyril Williams.

The car had some success in reliability trials, winning 2 gold medals in the 1923 London to Edinburgh Trial, and a silver medal in the Scottish Six Day Trial.

In April 1924 the product range increased with the introduction of the 11.9hp., known as the Clyno 13hp. and a 10.8hp. saloon. Prices ranged from £275 to £350. In July the cars had some success at Brooklands when racing motorcyclist Ray Abbott won a race, organised by the Essex Motor Club, at 70.74m.p.h. driving his specially tuned Clyno car.

In June a new 'Sports Clyno' appeared, with Swallow bodywork. It was a door-less two seater with a slimline body, and sold for only £250. At such an attractive price, sales could have been high, but only 25 were built because of the difficulty in keeping up with the large demand for the other models.

Roy Surman's Clyno Tourer from 1924.

Frank Smith and the other directors had an obsession to beat the Morris Motor Company at their own game, by a sustained price-war.

At this time Clyno had become a serious competitor, but was always under-capitalised. It has been said that the company was floated on a bank overdraft.

The car, actually rated at 11.9h.p. in an R.A.C. test, had a 1,496c.c., side valve engine, 3 speed gearbox and internal, fabric lined, cone clutch.

There were 2 horns, one electrically operated, and the other bulb operated.

It had a petrol gauge and a 3 pane windscreen, with two upper adjustable panes, and a Smith mechanical windscreen wiper.

Another view of Roy Surman's Clyno Tourer.

A final view of Roy Surman's Clyno Tourer.

The 2 seater version sold for £245, the coupé sold for £285, and the 4 door saloon sold for £298.

The chassis was also available for £172.10s.

Another new model was the Regent 4 door saloon, rated at 11hp. with a fuel consumption of 35 to 40m.p.g., and a selling price of £275.

1925 also saw another reduction in the price of the 10.8hp. range. The ‘Royal’ 2 seater now sold for £210, the ‘Royal’ 4 seater now sold for £215, and the 4 door saloon sold for £245.

Other models in the range included the 2 Seater, the ‘Occasional Four’, and the 4 Seater. At this time production had reached an average of 150 cars a week, although many more where produced in December. It’s hard to imagine how so many cars could have been built in the cramped conditions at the works.

By the mid 1920s a 'flow' system of production was in operation and the company employed around 1,000 people. The works operated both day and night to meet the demand.

By 1926 a maximum of three hundred and fifty cars were produced every week. A total of 13,149 Clyno cars were made in 1926. A marvellous achievement in the year of the General Strike, which demonstrates the loyalty of the staff.

The factory at Pelham Street was enlarged, and the 'Colonial' model began to sell well all over the world. Its main markets were in Singapore, Australia, Aden, America and Europe.

The 13hp. car was renamed the 12-28 and produced in three forms:

The first, the 2 seater model had a dickey seat, an all-weather hood, and sold for £215.

The second, the 4 seater model had 4 wide doors, an adjustable front seat, and sold for £220.

The third, the saloon had a coach-built body, incorporating a sloping windscreen, patent slam-locks, and sold for £250.

They are bound for Maude's of Exeter,
the West Country distributor.

The far building has lost its upper story, and the yard on the right has been opened-up.

The photograph, courtesy of Chris Smith is from the Light Car and Sidecar magazine, 12th March 1926.

In January, 1927 the company announced a new factory, covering 4 acres at Bushbury, financed by another bank loan. The new factory contained some of the latest machinery, but although production began during the first half of the year, it took a long time to really get going. The old factory was slowly allowed to run down, and it took until November to reach an acceptable level of production at the new works.

The buildings at Bushbury consisted of a two storey office block and a range of north-lit sheds. The sheds were arranged in 17ft by 28ft bays, along with 2 large shops, for chassis and engine building.

The chassis shop was equipped with an assembly line and a large wood working shop which used machinery driven from electric motors and overhead line-shafting.  There were also bays for car despatch and export chassis preparation. Initially 70 saloons were built there each week. In May the luxury 'Olympic' saloon was introduced, which had wire wheels and sold for £295. The company's financial situation worsened; there were loans to be paid, and the whole product range needed updating.

Over the year output had fallen, mainly due to the time lost in the change-over.

Bushbury didn’t get into full swing until November. As a result only 7,350 of the 10.8hp. models were produced, although 2,099 of the 12/28 models were made during the year.

Another new model, the 12-35hp. 4 door, 4 seater tourer appeared towards the end of 1927.

Like all of the later models it carried a new style of radiator. It sold for £220.

Other models included a 2 seater that sold for £215 and a coach built Saloon that sold for £250.

In the summer of 1927 Clyno developed the model 'Nine' light car.

It had a 9hp., four cylinder, side valve engine, three speed gearbox, Cox-Atmos carburettor and a modern single plate clutch.

A.J.S. secured the contract to build the bodies at Lower Walsall Street works.

Mike Dancer's 1926 Clyno Royal at the Black Country Vehicle Rally.

The first was to end the agreement with Rootes, in favour of a network of dealers, split up into territories. This is hard to understand because Rootes had done so much to boost the company’s sales. Presumably the new dealer network would have accepted lower profit margins, allowing Clyno to reduce selling prices to a minimum.

Another bad decision, that would soon have serious repercussions, was to discontinue the use of Coventry Climax engines, in favour of engines of Clyno’s own design, built at Bushbury works.

Third from the right with his hand in his pocket is Arthur G. Booth himself. Third from the left at the front (directly above the number plate) is Frank Smith.

A Clyno 'Nine' tourer.

Frank Walker's Clyno Tourer from 1828.

Even at this desperate time, Clyno set about designing a new model, the 8 cylinder, 22hp. ‘Straight Eight’. A single prototype was built, but that’s as far as it got.

On 11th February, 1929, E. E. Meugens, of Bennets Hill, Birmingham was appointed as Receiver.

In September the company was wound-up at a meeting of the creditors in Birmingham. The total debts amounted to £173,454.

F. E. Bendall of Birminghan was appointed liquidator, and the assets were acquired by toolmaker Alfred Herbert Limited of Coventry, who sold the jigs, drawings, and spares to R. H. Collier & Company Limited of Birmingham. A. G. Booth, Clyno’s designer soon moved to A.J.S. to design the A.J.S. “Nine” car.

The company had become a victim of its own success, but had taken its cost cutting policy much too far. Clyno had invested heavily in the new factory at Bushbury, and low sales quickly led to cash flow problems. The company had always suffered from a shortage of capital and had borrowed heavily to fund the new factory, and update the machinery. The last straw, the ‘Century’ destroyed Clyno's reputation, and led to its ultimate demise. During Clyno’s lifetime, over 15,000 motorcycles and between 36,000 to 40,000 cars had been produced.

All traces of the Bushbury factory have now disappeared. Most of it had been destroyed by fire in the 1990s. It is thought that only 100 or so Clyno cars survive, including the prototype “Straight Eight”.  They are a reminder of one of Wolverhampton's leading vehicle manufacturers, and hopefully will continue to be so for many years to come.

The site has now been redeveloped.

This view shows what was left in 2000. Most of it had been destroyed by fire in the 1990s.

It was eventually purchased by Britool Limited, who were there for many years.

The rear seat could be removed and replaced with specially made, adjustable shelves, as in the photograph. The car sold for £210.