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Duchess of Bedford in BM 1
© Cheltenham Ladies College
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Your Story: Bedford’s Motoring Heritage |
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The first company in Bedford to advertise as a commercial garage was Wilson Bros, 5 St Peter’s Street, who built a ‘motor shed’ (or car workshop) at the rear of the premises in 1903.
First Bedfordshire Driving License
© Bedfordshire and Luton Archives Service |
The earliest Bedford motorists were engineers and inventors, people of private means, or well-to-do professionals, such as the photographer Jabez Charles Brown, who registered BM37, a 4 ½ hp De Dion voiturette, in 1905 (the registration was originally that of a motorbike).
The Saunderson Car
Herbert Percy Saunderson of Kempston, Bedford, who made tractors and other farm machinery, advertised the Saunderson Motor Car in 1895. It was a mechanically powered cart, which could also carry passengers on removable seating, and was capable of 12 mph (the highest road speed permitted from 1896). The car was still in production in 1901.
The Wilson Car
Jabez Charles Brown & De-Dion BM 37
© Bedfordshire and Luton Archives Service |
Wilson Bros (see Introduction, above) exhibited their three ‘Bedford’ cars in London in 1904: a two-seat 6 hp car, a 10 hp four-seat car, and another of 16 hp. They did not remain in production, as very few people could afford to buy such motorcars, which were very expensive.
The Adams Car
Arthur Henry Adams, from Massachusetts, set up the Adams Manufacturing Company in Elstow Road, Bedford, in 1905, to make Adams motorcars and ‘Igranic’ electrical control gear. He hoped to produce 500 cars per year. His pedal-operated gearbox and self-starting mechanism were revolutionary, but despite much favourable publicity in the trade press, the Adams Company collapsed through shortage of funds in 1913. It was making too many different models, mostly aimed at the luxury market. A rare example of an Adams mail phaeton of 1907 is in Bedford Museum.
Words: Richard Wildman & Alan Crawley
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