In Detail
1 total work
In the 1930s a number of firms came into being in Britain producing cars based to one degree or another on imported American components. Railton was the first, in 1933, using the straight-eight Hudson engine, transmission and chassis to create cars offering exceptional performance at prices far lower than the homegrown English competition. Brough Superior also used the Hudson drive train and chassis, while Jensen went from re-bodying Ford V8s to using Ford, Nash and Lincoln Zephyr power in their own chassis. Among the other makes that surfaced were Allard, Atlanta, Batten, Lammas and Leidart. The notion of using American engines in particular was a good one, for these large-capacity units gave high outputs for the time, were uncomplicated and well engineered, and were cheap to buy. Over many years the author has owned various Railtons as well as a Brough Superior and a straight-eight Jensen Each marque is described detail, including more than 200 photographs, many of them not published before. He also draws comparisons between the hybrids and their English competitors, and discusses the practicalities of owning an Anglo-American hybrid today.