George Johnston (1855 - 1945) was a Scottish Locomotive Engineer. In 1894 , Glasgow tramways had awarded him the contract to design a steam tram for them. Unfortunately the steam tram developed by him was destroyed in a fire and the project was dropped.
Johnston, then concentrated on making a motor car powered by internal combustion engine. In 1895, along with Sir William Arrol (1839 - 1913), a famed Bridge Engineer, formed the company Mo-Car Syndicate Ltd.
Despite it's rather ungainly appearance the 'dog cart' was a popular model well into the 1900's. It was not until 1906 that they started to produce more convential looking vehicles that were more successful than this model.
In 1907 , one Arrol-Johnston car participated in the attempt of Ernest Shackleton to reach Antarctica, and was used in the Antarctica base camp
"15hp air-cooled engine, with special anti-freezing arrangements. Foot warmers heated by the exhaust gas. Tank at the side for melting the snow for drinking purposes, heated by exhaust gas. Folding wind shield made of talc. The construction of the driving wheels and of the runners speaks for itself. A Burberry weave cloth is carried in the car and is arranged to cover the whole vehicle, making a sort of tent" The car shown and described is the New Arrol-Johnston taken with Shackleton to the Antarctic for his Nimrod expedition in 1907-1909. The car was supplied by Sir William Beardmore, head of the vast Beardmore empire (which included the Arrol-Johnston company) who was the major sponsor of the Nimrod expedition.
This vehicle, HX 4110, was bought from Arrol-Johnston when they went into liquidation by Richard Shuttleworth in 1931, and he drove it the 250 miles from Dumfries down to Old Warden, Bedfordshire where it is on display today
here's and example of the simple adaptation to a roof
"...Folding wind shield made of talc."
ReplyDeleteWhat? How? Is that a typo?
I don't know, and haven't got the time to try and find an answer. It's what the source said, and I copy and paste, so, it's not a typo on my end
DeletePaisley is where the Hillman Imps were manufactured half a century later.
ReplyDelete