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Maudsley Car Manufacturers

W

Wendy

Guest
I don't know if anyone can help I am looking for info on the company above. I have been going through my mother's wedding present list. It states they had a case of cutlery and a mirror from the employees of Maudsley's . My brother said it was a car company my dad did some work for. He was a designer and electrical engineer. Mom and Dad married in 1940. I just wondered if anyone knew any more about this company.
 
Somewhere I have come across Maudsleys. Memories are vague, but I have a feeling they were lorry or coach manufacturers and not cars. I seem to remember a logo, possibly with the 'Y' having a long tail that went along under the name to the 'M'. I hope this is of some help.:stare:
 
Shortie said:
Somewhere I have come across Maudsleys. Memories are vague, but I have a feeling they were lorry or coach manufacturers and not cars. I seem to remember a logo, possibly with the 'Y' having a long tail that went along under the name to the 'M'. I hope this is of some help.:stare:
Click to expand...

Hi Shortie,

I remember them as a lorry manufacturer too, - when I lived in Tilton Road in the 1960s I used to pass one most mornings stuck in the traffic jam
in Cattell Road. When the driver let the handbrake off it made a noise like a pistol shot. A mate of mine told me that it was because the handbrake
release was on the back rather than the front of the handbrake lever,
and drivers tended to let the handbrake off by just hitting the release with the palm of the hand. Silly the things you remember, isn't it! By the way
the spelling is Maudslay, and there is a bit about them at www.britishmm.co.uk . Apparently they made cars before WW1.

Kind regards

Dave
 
Found this in Lord Stokes obit.

In 1961, with the takeover of Standard Triumph, Leyland entered the passenger car business for the first time, and found it a traumatic experience. The following year Associated Commercial Vehicles (AEC Thornycroft, Park Royal, Maudsley) came into the group, which was reconstituted in 1963 as the Leyland Motor Corporation. Stokes became sales director of the corporation, and subsequently deputy chairman and managing director, with Sir William (later Lord) Black of ACV as chairman.
 
Wow thanks Shortie Dave and Mike. This gets more interesting as my brother tells me the man who owned the firm that my Dad worked for in Sparkbrook was Mr O.D. Smith. He thinks he was on the board at Maudsley's. My father developed the first automated car wash whilst working there. He then went on to buses trains and lorries. When he died in 1969 he was working on an anti jacknife for heavy goods vehicles.We never knew if it went into production the problem of working for a company. Now I wonder if this is the company he was doing the development for. I suppose we will never know now. Thanks for your help folkes.
 
Wendy
My brother used to work for the maudslay at great alne near alcester
but i think they had few divisions in coventry and brum they were
took over by a north american company rockwell i believe
astwood;)
 
extract from Daves earlier link Better known for their commercial vehicles, Maudslay built several cars up to the outbreak of The Great War. After the war the company made only commercial vehicles except for a prototype two-litre car in 1923.
 
astwood said:
Wendy
My brother used to work for the maudslay at great alne near alcester
but i think they had few divisions in coventry and brum they were
took over by a north american company rockwell i believe
astwood;)
Click to expand...
The company my father worked at moved from Sparkbrook to Alcester. There must be a link here! Thank you all.:)
 
By the time they moved to Gt Alne they were I think making axles for large lorries. They used to be part of the old Standard Triumh Motor Company for whom I once worked. Oddly enough many years after Maudsley were sold Off I me the American that Rockwell put in charge but by then he was back in the USA working for someone else.

There is a Maudsley Hotel in Cov and there used to be a works there as well if I recall correctly. A search for the Standard Triumph history may well through up a few leads.

Check this out and this the second post down.
 
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Bernie this is facinating thank you for the links. I wish I had asked my Dad more but at 15 I was not so interested in these things. I know he was in Coventry when it was bombed. Was he at Maudslay's at the time?
 
There is a bit about the history of the company here
After they were taken over by AEC (the ACV group) their own products were phased out, and AEC buses and lorries with Maudslay badges replaced them. Coventry city transport had a large batch of AEC Regent buses in the late 40s, all badged as Maudslays , for instance. The last Maudslay-badged vehicle left the factory in late 1959.
There are lots of photographs of the range of vehicles they made here.
 
Thanks for the info and link Lloyd. I am trying to piece things together. The only other thing I remember from my childhood is my Dad had a close friend who either owned or ran Walsall Buses. They were the first to have an automated bus wash. I remember going once with Dad to the bus station to see it running.
 
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Wendy said:
The only other thing I remember from my childhood is my Dad had a close friend who either owned or ran Walsall Buses. They were the first to have an automated bus wash. I remember going once with Dad to the bus station to see it running.
Click to expand...

Would that have been the late Ronald Edgley Cox, the Walsall corporation transport manager?
 
I am not sure Lloyd I was quite young. I will ask my brother he may know. Thank you for all your help.
 
Would that have been the late Ronald Edgley Cox, the Walsall corporation transport manager?
Click to expand...

Yes Lloyd. Thats the gentaman Wendy was thinking about.

John (Wendy's Brother)
 
Wendy said:
Wow thanks Shortie Dave and Mike. This gets more interesting as my brother tells me the man who owned the firm that my Dad worked for in Sparkbrook was Mr O.D. Smith. He thinks he was on the board at Maudsley's. My father developed the first automated car wash whilst working there. He then went on to buses trains and lorries. When he died in 1969 he was working on an anti jacknife for heavy goods vehicles.We never knew if it went into production the problem of working for a company. Now I wonder if this is the company he was doing the development for. I suppose we will never know now. Thanks for your help folkes.
Click to expand...

Wendy

It was O.D. Smith who lived at Ceder Lawns if memory serves.

Darby.
 
Darby you are right I only saw O.D. as he was called him a couple of times. The last time was my father's funeral in 1969. He was very tall with white hair.
My father sorted the pump in his garden pool at Cedar Lawns which I remember did not impress my mother much as it took all day.
 
Hi other half,
There are 5 more of this type if you would like me to post them.
They are done by an ex-lorry driver turned artist.
His website where you can buy prints etc is as follows:

www.roadscapes.co.uk

Regards John.
 
nice ...John... yes please ...good link :)some lovely trucks the AEC badged Maudsley is great with the sign above :)
 
Glad to see the 'Best of British' magazine get a mention John, it's my favourite too. Anyone out there who hasn't already, try to get a look at one, it's right up our street for us on this Forum. (Hope this is not considered as advertising or I shall be in for some:headhit:)
Mike
 
John I can't thank you enough for the info on this thread. This has explained a lot about my fathers connection to this company.
 
hi Wendy

The company produced cars as well as lorries. There was one in the National Motor Museum some yars ago. It was about a 1920's model with a Crossley engine. A friend of mine worked for BRS in the 1940's and actually drove one. Henry Maudslay the founder invented the micrometer and the lathe lead screw, an essential part of precision turning on a lathe.

Have a look at www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/Maudslay
 
Thank you Rodger it does fit together now. My father was an engineer and inventor but sadly died before his projects were completed. I just wondered why he and my mother had a wedding gift from the employees of Maudslay's:)
 
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