Wilson-Pilcher

Wilson-Pilcher was an English motor car, made by a company that Walter Gordon Wilson founded in London in 1901. Wilson had earlier worked with Percy Pilcher on an engine for an attempt at powered flight, before Pilcher died in a gliding accident in 1899. In 1904 the company was acquired by Armstrong Whitworth, which moved production to Newcastle upon Tyne, and production stopped in 1907. The first model had a nine horsepower four cylinder flat engine of 2400 cc, replaced in 1903 by a 12/16 horsepower engine of 2694 cc, and in 1904 a six cylinder 18/24 horsepower engine of 4041 cc joined the range. The car was considered advanced enough in 1904 to be described in a three part article in the Automotor Journal. Its cylinders were offset on an aluminium crankcase, a governor on the camshaft acted as an early form of cruise control, and a gearbox with two epicyclic gears gave four forward speeds, with reverse provided by the rear axle. A four cylinder example, registration BB96, survives and was sold at auction in 2012 for 203,100 pounds.