#REDIRECT [[History of Birmingham]]
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[[Birmingham]]'s earliest roots of transport manufacture lie in the [[Industrial Revolution]] with [[Lunar Society]] members like [[Matthew Boulton]] who was proprietor of the Soho engineering works and [[James Watt]] who made the [[steam engine]] into the power plant of the Industrial Revolution, the term "[[horsepower]]" was first coined by Watt in the city.
In 1770 the [[screw propellor]] was first connected to an engine by Watt in Brum.
1785 saw the invention of the [[oscillating cylinder]] by [[William Murdoch]].
Watt and Boulton, furnished engines (in 1807) for the first regular [[steam picket]] in [[United States|America]] with James Watt, jun., making the first steam voyage on the sea (October 14, 1817), crossing the [[English Channel]] in the [[Caledonia ship]], and taking that vessel up the [[Rhine]].
It could be argued that Watts aplication of the screw propellor to the steam engine inevitably led to power the first [[aeroplane]]s.
[[Frederick William Lanchester]] who was arguably the single most innovative [[automobile]] developer in the UK joined the Forward Gas Engine Company of Birmingham in 1889, he patented [[disc brakes]] in 1902 (even though his innovation was only widely adopted over half a century later). In 1893 he set up his own workshop. Amazingly in 1895 he and his brother built the first petrol driven four-wheeled car in Britain although the engine was underpowered compared to the weight of the six seater body. Fred also experimented with the wick [[carburetor]], [[fuel injection]], [[turbocharger]]s and invented the [[accelerator pedal]] as well as the [[Pendulum Governor]] which was used to controll the speed of an engine.
In 1893 Fred designed and built his first engine (a vertical single cylinder) which was fitted to a flat bottomed boat designed by his brothers. The boat was launched at Salter's slipway in Oxford in 1894 and was the first all British [[powerboat]].
In the 1800's Birminghams motor manufacturers grew out of the City's Steam Power heritage and the many [[Bicycle]] manufacturers.
[[Herbert Austin]] worked for the [[Wolseley Motor Company]] in Birmingham and in 1905 he resigned, taking a bicycle ride around the city he ended up at an old print works in [[Longbridge]] where he decided to start the [[Austin]] car company.
In 1921, the first British patent for [[windscreen wiper]]s was registered by Mills Munitions of Birmingham.
Prominent Birmingham motor manufacturers of days gone include:
* [[Lanchester Motor Company]]
* [[Daimler]] - from 1910
* [[Tyseley Car Company]]
* [[British Leyland]]
* [[EG Wrigley and Company Ltd.]]
* [[Perry Motor Company Ltd.]]
* [[Excelsior Motor Company Ltd.]] - (Bayliss-Thomas)
* [[The General Electric Company]]
* [[Calthorpe Motor Company Ltd.]]
* [[GW Hands Motor Company]]
* [[Gerald Cyclecar Company]]
* [[Ralph Gilbert & Son]]
* [[Birmingham Small Arms Company|BSA]]
* [[Norton (motorcycle)|Norton]]
* [[Ariel Motorbikes|Ariel]]
* [[Velocette]]
* [[Wolseley Motor Company|Wolseley]]
* [[Morris Motor Company|Morris]]
* [[Austin Motor Company|Austin]]
* [[Tyseley Locomotive Works]]
* [[Fort Dunlop]] - (first large scale factory by [[Dunlop Tyre Company]]
* [[Midland Red]] [[Bus]] Company
* [[Mini]]
Present day motor manufacturers include:
[[LDV]] vans, [[MG Rover Group]], [[Lucas Aerospace]], [[Jaguar]] a UK branch of [[Alstom]] trains, [[National Express]] coach services with [[Land Rover]] at nearby [[Solihull]].
The [[N.E.C.]] hosts the two most innovative UK specialist small car manufacturer exhibitions annualy.
In the First and Second World Wars, the [[Longbridge]] car plant built everything imaginable from [[ammunition]] to [[tank]] [[suspension (vehicle)|suspension]]s, [[Brodie helmet|steel helmets]], [[Jerricans]], [[Hawker Hurricane]]s, [[Fairey Battle]] fighters, [[Horsa Glider]]s, [[mines]] and [[depth charge]]s, with the mammoth [[Avro Lancaster]] bomber coming into production towards the end of WWII. The [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] [[fighter aircraft]] was mass produced for the [[Royal Air Force]] during the [[Battle of Britain]], at [[Castle Bromwich]]. It has been argued by some that Britain may have lost the second world war had it not been for Birmingham's massive industrial might.
Longbridge has played a vital role in Birmingham and the wider conurbation's employment since the invention of the aeroplane.
===Transport-history related links===
*[http://www.madeinbirmingham.org Birmingham's Industrial History Web Site]
*[http://www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk/ national motorcycle museum]
*[http://www.bammot.org.uk/index.asp Transport Museum]
*[http://www.technispec.com/a50/default.htm#begin Amazing Austin Aeroplanes]
*[http://derela.republika.pl/austin.htm How Austin helped Russia in WWI]
*[http://www.raafawa.org.au/wa/museum/lanc/history.htm construction of the avro lancaster bomber in Birmingham]
*[http://www.lancastermuseum.ca/lancs.html Surviving Birmingham made Avro Lancasters]
*[http://austin1800.homestead.com/Page2.html Austin]
*[http://www.mg-rover.org/articles/showart.php?ArtID=63&PageID=2 MG-Rover]
*[http://www.histomobile.com/histomob/presmark.asp?chat=324&lan=2 The Wolseley]
*[http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/spitfirefactory/history.htm Castle Bromwich Airfield]
*[http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/spitfire.html The Spitfire]
*[http://www.wheels.co.uk/midland-red/midland-red.htm Midland Red]
*[http://home.hccnet.nl/m.hooijberg/garner.html Garner Tractors]
*[http://www.singercars.com/prewar/9rep.html Singer Cars]
*[http://new.minimania.com/nmm/Last_Mini_leaves_Longbridge.htm The Mini]
*[http://www.samsroadracing.co.uk/html/bikes/classicbikes/classic_bikes.html Images of the Museum before the fire]
*[http://www.britishmm.co.uk/history.asp?id=540 Lanchester cars]
[[Category:Transport in Birmingham, England| H]]
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