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#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. |
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[[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. |
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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]]. |
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With firms like [[Birmingham Small Arms Company|BSA]], [[Norton (motorcycle)|Norton]], [[Ariel Motorbikes|Ariel]], and [[Velocette]] motorbikes, [[LDV]] vans, [[Wolseley]] police cars, [[Morris]], the [[Mini]], [[Austin Motor Company|Austin]], [[MG Rover Group]], [[Lucas Aerospace]], [[Tyseley Locomotive Works]], The [[Dunlop Tyre Company]], the [[Midland Red]] [[Bus]] Company and a UK branch of [[Alstom]] trains, formerly the [[Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company]], [[National Express]] coach services also are based in Birmingham. |
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[[Jaguar]] also has a production plant at [[Castle Bromwich]]. |
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The N.E.C. Motor Show is the largest motor show in Britain, and is hosted every other year. |
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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. |
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Longbridge has played a vital role in Birmingham and the wider conurbation's employment since the invention of the aeroplane. |
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===Transport-history related links=== |
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*[http://www.bammot.org.uk/index.asp Transport Museum] |
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*[http://www.technispec.com/a50/default.htm#begin Amazing Austin Aeroplanes] |
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*[http://derela.republika.pl/austin.htm How Austin helped Russia in WWI] |
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*[http://www.raafawa.org.au/wa/museum/lanc/history.htm construction of the avro lancaster bomber in Birmingham] |
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*[http://www.lancastermuseum.ca/lancs.html Surviving Birmingham made Avro Lancasters] |
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*[http://austin1800.homestead.com/Page2.html Austin] |
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*[http://www.mg-rover.org/articles/showart.php?ArtID=63&PageID=2 MG-Rover] |
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*[http://www.histomobile.com/histomob/presmark.asp?chat=324&lan=2 The Wolseley] |
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*[http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/spitfirefactory/history.htm Castle Bromwich Airfield] |
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*[http://www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk/ national motorcycle museum] |
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*[http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/spitfire.html The Spitfire] |
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*[http://www.wheels.co.uk/midland-red/midland-red.htm Midland Red] |
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*[http://home.hccnet.nl/m.hooijberg/garner.html Garner Tractors] |
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*[http://www.singercars.com/prewar/9rep.html Singer Cars] |
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*[http://new.minimania.com/nmm/Last_Mini_leaves_Longbridge.htm The Mini] |
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*[http://www.samsroadracing.co.uk/html/bikes/classicbikes/classic_bikes.html Images of the Museum before the fire] |
Latest revision as of 22:48, 13 June 2006
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