A 1930, P-Type 12 - 40, Lea-Francis on display at the Quay Green Classic Car Meet at the 2018 Sandwich Festival
Lea-Francis is a motor manufacturing company that began by building bicycles. R. H. Lea and G. I. Francis started the business in Coventry in 1895. They branched out into car manufacturing in 1903 and motorcycles in 1911. Lea-Francis built cars under licence for the Singer company. In 1919, they started to build their own cars from bought-in components. From 1922, Lea-Francis formed a business relationship with Vulcan of Southport sharing manufacturing and dealers. Vulcan supplied bodies to Lea-Francis and in return got gearboxes and steering gear. Two six-cylinder Vulcan-designed and manufactured cars were marketed as Lea-Francis 14/40 and 16/60 as well as Vulcans. The association ended in 1928 when Vulcan stopped making cars. 1928 Hyper A sporting image began to appear from about 1925, leading to models such as the Hyper and the Ace of Spades. The Hyper, also called the S-type, was the first British supercharged production car with a litre Meadows engine, and in 1928 a Lea-Francis Hyper won the Ulster TT, a 30-lap race on the ( km) Ards circuit on the roads of Northern Ireland in the hands of legendary race car driver Kaye Don. The race was watched by a record 250,000 spectators and the victory placed Lea-Francis firmly on the map. The company was re-formed in 1937 under the chairmanship of George Leek with other ex-Riley Motor men such as Rose who designed a new engine for Lea-Francis having a similar layout to the Riley 12/4. The 12 hp and the 14 hp (actually hp) were introduced in 1937 and continued until the start of the war in 1939 when production ceased and the factory concentrated on manufacturing for the war effort. Post-war car production commenced in 1946 with updated vehicles based on the pre-war designs. The 14 hp Saloon and Sports were luxurious and sporty vehicles and were popular, if expensive. Eventually, an improved chassis with independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes was introduced across the range.
Size: 4549px × 3701px
Location: The Quay Green, Sandwich, Kent
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, -quarter, -type, 4, 12, 1500cc, 4-seat, 40, 1930, 2018, avon, car, classic, coach, cylinders, festival, front, green, lea-francis, meet, open, quay, rare, sandwich, tourer, view, work
