This week Marque Time looks at the Lea-Francis
Born: 1904 Nationality: British
Richard Lea and Graham Francis had been making bicycles in Coventry for nine years before they produced their first car in 1904. It had an unusual 3-cylinder engine, its cylinders horizontally opposed and designed to be mounted under the floor of the car. But only two of the 15hp cars were produced until 1906, when the Singer Motor Company took over production under licence and Lea and Francis went back to bicycle making.
In 1911 they again tinkered with the internal combustion engine and began motorbike production. Their enterprise moved back into cars in 1920, building 11.9hp and 13.9hp vehicles with bought-in components. In 1922 an 8.9hp model joined the range, powered by a Coventry-Simplex engine. Lea-Francis merged with the Vulcan Motor Company in the early 1920s, and its badge was attached to some of the bigger Vulcan cars.
Developing a more sporting ethos, the marque launched its Meadows-engined Hyper Sports in 1928, powered by a supercharged 1.5-litre motor and being the first British production car to be supercharged. A year later a Hyper Sports was the only 1.5-litre car to finish the Le Mans endurance race, winning the Grand Prix d'Endurance Trophy.
The final model of this period appeared in 1931, the Ace of Spades with a two-litre six-cylinder engine. During this time, the 12/40 represented the more conservative arm of the brand. In 1935, though, partly due to the difficulties caused by unreliability of one of its engines and also the cumulative effects of the Great Depression, Lea-Francis went into receivership.
A new Lea-Francis company was established in 1937 by engine designer Hugh Rose, late of Humber, Riley and Hillman. With a colleague he kept car production going until the outbreak of the second World War, when the company was diverted making into aircraft components.
In 1946, using the expertise gained in aircraft production, Lea-Francis revived its late 1930s designs, building them in aluminium and providing more room for the passengers by innovations such as dispensing with running boards. Their 1.5- and 1.8-litre four-door saloons were well considered at the time, and a two-door coupé was destined to become a classic.
The 14/40 model, sold in both saloon and estate "woodie" forms, became the basis for a number of specials and racers, and attracted the Connaught Engineering racing chassis company who used its engines in two-litre form with some success in a number of British competitions.
A new engine, a four-cylinder 2.5-litre, was generally accepted as a mechanical masterpiece. But in 1953 the company died once more, mostly because it couldn't compete with the new Jaguar which had evolved from the Swallow marque.
An attempt to revive the Lea-Francis automotive name was made in 1960, with the introduction of the Lynx at the London Motor Show. The car was to be powered by the 2.6-litre Ford engine used in the Zephyr, but nobody seemed to want it, and the brand languished once more. A V8-powered Lynx prototype called the Francesca was produced in 1963, but failed to drive further, and the remaining parts operation was put into receivership in 1963. The core Lea-Francis company went on to concentrate on other engineering projects.
In 1978 a new Lea-Francis car was proposed by a Warwickshire businessman, with power to be provided by Jaguar engines. But this too failed to roll out beyond the idea stage. And in 1999 a sportscar prototype was built which was to be powered by a three-litre Opel engine, but it has not found an investor.
BEST CAR: The 1950 Lea-Francis Sport, or, if you prefer pre-war, the Hyper Sport of 1929 (pictured).
WORST CAR: The 1.7-litre of the late '20s that helped to bankrupt the original company.
WEIRDEST CAR: The Lynx prototype of 1960, which some described as a "flying saucer" in design.