Established in 1901, Belsize Motors was based in Clayton, Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The company was founded by Marshall & Company and took its name from their Belsize works where they had built bicycles.

Marshall & Co

Marshall and Company of Clayton Lane, probably Manchester's first automobile manufacturer, built its first car in 1897. The cars were very similar to the French Hurtu

Hurtu

Hurtu was a pioneering French car made by Diligeon et Cie based in Albert, Somme from 1896 to 1930. As well as cars, the company also made sewing machines and bicycles....

, itself a Benz

Karl Benz

Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered car, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz...

 replica and were sold badged as Marshalls.

Agencies were established in London and Dublin and the car gained a Gold Medal for efficiency at the 1899 London exhibition. A new more modern four seat model appeared in 1901 with twin cylinder engine made by Buchet and was the first to carry the Belsize name as the "Marshall Belsize". In 1903 the company name was changed to Belsize Motors and Engineering. In 1906 this changed again to Belsize Motors Ltd.

Belsize Motors

Before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 they were a major player in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 motor industry employing 1200 people and making up to fifty vehicles a week. A bewildering range of models were made including taxis, commercial vehicles and fire engines with engines of up to 14.5 Litre capacity.

Post World War I

After the First World War they followed a single model policy at first with the 15 hp of 2798 cc but this was joined in 1921 by the Belsize-Bradshaw with a 9 hp 1294 cc V-twin engine made by Dorman and designed by Granville Bradshaw

Granville Bradshaw

Granville Eastwood Bradshaw OBE, AFRAeS was an English engineer and inventor who designed motorcycle and aero-engines.-History:Bradshaw was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1887 as the son of William and Annie Bradshaw. His father was a jeweler and optician.Bradshaw's early work was involved with...

that was partly air and partly oil cooled. This gained a reputation for being unreliable and was dropped in 1924. It was replaced by a 1250 cc conventional 4 cylinder model, the 10/20 or RM, and a 1696 cc six the 14/30. The latter was at last an up to date car with overhead valves, four wheel brakes and a four speed gearbox but at £415 to £650 it was expensive when compared with the opposition. It was however, too late and the company which had been in the hands of the receiver since 1923 ceased trading in late 1925.

The company also tried to build a 2496 cc, straight eight engine but this probably never got past the prototype stage although it was advertised at £1050.

Main car models

• 12 hp 1728cc 2 cylinder 1901
• 15/20 2860cc 4 cylinder 1904
• 18/24 3940cc 3 or 3300 4 cylinder 1906
• 24/30 5880 cc 6 cylinder 1906-1908
• 40 hp 7774 cc 6 cylinder 1908
• 60 hp 11,724 cc 6 cylinder 1908
• 14/16 2543 cc 4 cylinder 1909-1913
• 18/22 3000cc 6 cylinder 1910-1913
• 10/12 1950cc 4 cylinder 1912-1916
• 15 2800cc 4 cylinder 1919-23 (enlarged to 3100cc and known as 15/20 in 1923)
• 9 hp Belsize-Bradshaw 1100cc V2 cylinder 1921-1924
• 14/30 1700cc 6 cylinder 1924-25 (also available with 2500cc straight 8 cylinder as the 20/40)