Buckingham (automobile)
Encyclopedia
The Buckingham was an English
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...

 automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 manufactured by the Buckingham Engineering Company in Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

 from 1914 until 1923. The company had made cars under the Chota
Chota (automobile)
The Chota was a 6 hp English cyclecar manufactured from 1912 until 1913 by the Buckingham Engine Works of Coventry.The car was designed by J. F. Buckingham and had a 746 cc single-cylinder engine of Buckingham's own design. A larger 1492 cc model was added in 1913.The Chota was...

 name from 1912.

The first cars were a 746 cc cyclecar and a 1492 cc V-twin-engined light car both previously sold as Chotas. The engines were to Buckingham's own design and were water-cooled.

Production was suspended during World War I and during the conflict Captain Buckingham, the company owner, gained fame as the inventor of the tracer bullet
Tracer ammunition
Tracer ammunition are bullets that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited by the burning powder, the phosphorus tail burns very brightly, making the projectile visible to the naked eye...

, which was used against airships.

In 1920 he returned to car production with a new model using an air-cooled version of the pre war V-twin engine but now with a capacity of 1096 cc, a two-speed gearbox and belt drive to the rear axle. A three-speed gearbox was fitted from 1922 with shaft drive and a rear axle incorporating a differential. Front suspension was by a transverse leaf spring and the rear by quarter elliptic leaf springs. The two-seat bodies were made by the coachbuilder Charlesworth.

A coupé
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...

 version was called the "Palace".

From 1922 to 1923 manufacture of the car was undertaken by Alvis
Alvis Cars
Alvis Car and Engineering Company Ltd was a British manufacturing company that existed in Coventry, England from 19191967. In addition to automobiles designed for the civilian market, the company also produced racing cars, aircraft engines, armoured cars and other armoured fighting vehicles, the...

but it is estimated that they only made about 30 of the cars.
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