Vauxhall A-Type
Encyclopedia
The A-Type Vauxhall was a car manufactured by Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...

 from 1908 to 1915 with one more built in 1920. This was to be the first production Vauxhall
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...

 designed by Laurence Pomeroy
Laurence Pomeroy
Laurence Henry Pomeroy was an English automotive engineer.Laurence Pomeroy was born in London and after leaving school served as an apprentice with the North London Railway Company. From there he became a draughtsman with Thornycroft in Basingstoke before moving to Vauxhall Motors in Luton in...

: it became a highly acclaimed 3 litre of its day and at Brooklands
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...

 on 26 October 1910, it became the first 20 hp car to exceed 100 mi/h of any make in the world.

Laurence Pomeroy had joined Vauxhall in 1907 as an assistant draughtsman at the age of twenty-two. He first made his mark at the 1908 RAC and Scottish Reliability Trial, held in June of that year. His first design, the Y-Type Y1, had outstanding success at the 1908 RAC and Scottish 2000 Mile Reliability Trials. Showing excellent hill climbing ability with an aggregate of 37 seconds less time in the hill climbs than any other car in its class and unparalleled speeds around the Brooklands circuit, the Vauxhall was so far ahead of all cars whatever class that the driver could relax, accomplishing the 200 miles (321.9 km) at an average speed of 46 mi/h, when the car was capable of 55 mi/h. The Y-Type went on to win class E of the Trial.

Such a success that the Y-Type was, that it was decided to put the car into production as the A09 car. This spawned the A-Type Vauxhall.

There were 4 distinct types produced between 27 October 1908 up to when mass production halted in 1914. One last A-Type was put together in 1920.

The Four Distinct versions - A09, A11, A12 and the 16/20 hp

The A09 and A11 were basically developments of the X Type with the Y Type Motor and converted to a four speed gearbox though some of the earliest A-Types had three Speed gearboxes from the X-Type. At least 70 of the first A-Types also retained the sheet copper sump from the X Type Engine. For the A12 there was a major revision of the chassis and for the 16/20 hp A-Type both Engine and chassis underwent major redesign.

The A Type featured a 3-litre forced lubrication side-valve monobloc engine
Monobloc engine
A monobloc or en bloc engine is an internal-combustion piston engine where some of the major components: cylinder head, cylinder block, or crankcase are formed, usually by casting, as a single integral unit, rather than being assembled later...

. The camshaft and magneto were driven by gear on the A09, A11, A12 and then for the 16/20 hp A-Type it was changed to a chain drive.

See the table below for more information.
A09
Oct 1908 - Oct 1910
A11
Oct 1910 - Jun 1912
A12
Jun 1912 - Nov 1912
16/20 hp
Nov 1912 - Oct 1920
Engine Size:

3 Litre
90x120


3 Litre
90x120


3 Litre
90x120

Some 3.5 Litre 95x120


3 Litre
90x120
Cam drive: gear gear gear chain
Carburettor:
White & Poppe

Zenith

Claudel Hobson


30 mm

-

-

30 mm

-

-


30 mm

36 mm

-


30 mm

36 mm

26 mm
Magneto: Bosch D Bosch D Bosch D Bosch D or Eisman EK4
Clutch: cone cone or multi-plate multi-plate multi-plate
Fuel supply: gravity gravity gravity a few forced feed forced feed
Brake drums: 12 inches (30.5 cm) 12 inches (30.5 cm) 12 inches (30.5 cm) 9 inches (22.9 cm)
Rear axle ratio: 1:2.95 to 1:4.13 1:3.65 or 1:3.875 1:3.65 or 1:3.875 1:3.875
Chassis length: 9 in 7 in (2,921 mm) or 10 in 3 in (3,124.2 mm) 9 in 7 in (2,921 mm) or 10 in 3 in (3,124.2 mm) 9 in 7 in (2,921 mm) or 10 in 3 in (3,124.2 mm) 9 in 9 in (2,971.8 mm)
Std Wheel size: 875x105 875x105 880x120 815x105
Chassis width:

Front:

Rear:

30 inches (76.2 cm)

36 inches (91.4 cm)

30 inches (76.2 cm)

36 inches (91.4 cm)

30 inches (76.2 cm)

36 inches (91.4 cm)

28 inches (71.1 cm)

34 inches (86.4 cm)
Sub frame U section U section angle iron angle iron
King pins: vertical vertical inclined inclined
Work Orders: 1770–1778 1803–1811 1811 & 1812 1813–1818
Production run: 253 cars 359 cars 57 cars and 21 as 3.5 litre 271 cars


Capable of up to 100 mi/h the A-Type Vauxhall was one of the most acclaimed 3-litre cars of its day, achieving many records for out-right speed and high speed endurance, within the 21 hp limit, as well as having had some parental involvement in the conception of both the Prince Henry
Vauxhall Prince Henry
The Vauxhall Prince Henry was a car manufactured by Vauxhall Motors from 1911 to 1914. It had a length of around and a weight of depending on the model and the coachwork fitted.-History:...

and the 30-98 hp Vauxhalls.

Less than two dozen survive today out of the 950 produced.
Model Year Chassis Number Work Order Engine Number Gearbox Number Steering Box Number Radiator Number Cooling Petrol Supply G.Gravity F.Force Magneto Carburettor Hand Brake Dia Size of Tyre Rear Axle Ratio Date of Manufacture Location Status
A09 1908 A09.1 1770 A09.1 Thermo Syphon G Bosch D W+P 30mm 12" 875x105 15-62 24-11-1908 Australia Restored
A09 1909 A09.73 1771 A09.73 Thermo Syphon G Bosch D W+P 30mm 12" 875x105 17-56 25-06-1909 England Restored
A11 1911 A11.455 1808 A11.455 Thermo Syphon F Bosch D W+P 30mm 12" 875x105 16-62 29-09-1911 Spain Restored
A11 1911 A11.487 1808 A11.471 Thermo Syphon G Bosch D W+P 30mm (Current Engine from A11.471 had Zenith 36mm) 12" 880x120 16-62 7-11-1911 Australia Restored
A11 1911 A11.596 1811 A11.440 Thermo Syphon F Bosch D W+P 30mm 12" 875x105 16-62 5-02-1912 Australia Restored
A12 1912 A12.670 1812 A12.670 Thermo Syphon G Bosch D Zenith 36mm 12" 875x105 16-62 23-08-1912 Australia Restored
A12 1912 England N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
16/20 hp 1913 A13 1813 A8 N/A N/A N/A Thermo Syphon F Eiseman EK4 Zenith 36mm 9" 815x105 16-62 6-03-1913 New Zealand Unrestored
16/20 hp 1913 A35 1813 A31 121 1517 31 Pump F Eiseman EK4 Zenith 36mm 9" 880x120 16-62 26-06-1913 Australia Under Restoration
16/20 hp 1913 A58 1814 A151 N/A N/A N/A Thermo Syphon F Eiseman EK4 Zenith 36mm 9" 880x120 16-62 20-09-1913 Australia Restored
16/20 hp 1914 A104 1816 A100 380 N/A N/A Thermo Syphon F Bosch ZR4 Zenith 36mm 9" 815x105 16-62 12-3-1914 New Zealand Unrestored
16/20 hp 1914 A170 1818 A186 704 N/A 1601 N/A N/A N/A Claudel Hobson 26mm 9" N/A 15-62 01-12-1914 Australia Restored
16/20 hp 1914 A198 1817 A192 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Bosch ZR4 Claudel Hobson 26mm 9" 815x105 16-62 24-11-1914 England Restored
16/20 hp 1914 A207 1817 A197 N/A N/A N/A Thermo Syphon F Eiseman EK4 Claudel Hobson 26mm 9" 880x120 16-62 8-12-1914 Australia Unrestored
16/20 hp 1914 A210 1817 A207 N/A N/A N/A Thermo Syphon F Bosch ZU4 Claudel Hobson 26mm 9" 875x105 16-62 23-10-1914 Australia Restored
16/20 hp 1914 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A


Vauxhall Basic Chassis changes 1908-1914 -
The following list outlines some changes seen thoughout the A09, A11, A12 and 16/20 Production
Type Date Range Chassis Change Work Order Car Number / Range of Car Numbers Change
16/20 21-11-1912 - 02-10-1920 1813-1818 The 16/20...
For the 16/20 A-Type Laurence Pomeroy introduced a completely new chassis design. With the first work order for 16/20 cars 1813 the chassis had changed quite considerably. The 16/20 A-Type Work Order 1813 Chassis was drawn up in May 1912 Drawing Number: No663-664 Drawing Date: 19-05-1912. The chassis narrowed at the front and rear to Front: 28 inches Rear: 34 inches.
1813-1818 Sometime in 1913 the clutch, transmission brake and accelerator pedal design changed somewhat.
16/20 16-08-1913 1814 For the 1814 work order the chassis was redesigned again to
20-09-1913 - onwards 1814 A58-A104 Sometime between A58 and A104 the support brackets for the running boards changed from a bracket secured by 2 large dome headed bolts to a bracket fixed with 4 smaller bolts. The newly designed brackets slowly were fitted as stocks diminished of the 2 bolt type.


Vauxhall Engine changes 1908-1914 -
The following list outlines some changes seen thoughout the A09, A11, A12 and 16/20 Production
Type Date Range Engine Change Work Order Engine Number / Range of Engine Numbers Change
A09 xx-xx-1908 1770-1778 The A09...
24-11-1908 - 25-06-1909 1770-1771 A09.01-A09.73 Sometime between A09.1 and A09.73 the engine sump was changed from a sheet copper sump carried over from the X Type Engine to a Cast Alloy sump.
A11 xx-xx-1908 1803-1811 The A11...
A12 xx-xx-1908 1811-1812 The A12...
16/20 21-11-1912 1813-1818 The 16/20...
For the 16/20 A-Type Laurence Pomeroy introduced a completely new engine design with a silent chain drive for the cam-shaft and magneto. The inlet manifold is now cast en bloc with the radiator cooling outlet pipe located at the front where the fan bolts on this was to allow a waterpump to be fitted if required.
06-03-1913 - 26-06-1913 1813-1813 A8-A31 Sometime between Engine Numbers A8 and A31 the exhaust manifold gained cooling fins located along the top of the manifold.
26-06-1913 - 12-03-1914 1813-1814 A31-A41 Sometime between Engine Numbers A41 and A100 the external oil level pot located on the side of the engine sump carried over from A09-A12 Production was deleted in favour of a redesigned sump integrating this feature.
26-06-1913 - 12-03-1914 1813-1816 A31-A100 Sometime between Engine Numbers A31 and A100 the radiator outlet located around the fan on the engine block was relocated to the side of the block near the front under the inlet manifold.
29-09-1913 - 12-03-1914 1813-1816 A41-A100 Sometime between Engine Numbers A41 and A100 the external oil feed line going to each main bearing in the crank case was deleted in favor of a oil gallery integral to the crank case.
12-03-1914 - 05-05-1914 1816-1817 A100-A151 Sometime between Engine Numbers A100 and A151 the number of securing bolts holding the radiator inlet ontop of the engine block increased from 4 bolts to 6 bolts.
12-03-1914 - 05-05-1914 1816-1817 A100-A151 Sometime between Engine Numbers A100-A151 the steel baffles located under the cylinders in the engine block were deleted from production.
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