On the occasion of the Motorclássico in this MG Centenary year, some reading showed us that what came to be known as Old Number One was undoubtedly the first MG to be built specifically for competition. Cecil Kimber wanted it so he could compete in the 1925 Lands End Trial in the Light Car Class and win the Gold Medal. Despite this, he immediately sold it to a friend for £300 and made a profit.
In broad terms, Old Number One was built on a Bullnose Morris Cowley chassis with a modified rear section.
It was powered not by a Morris side-valve engine, but by a special Hotchkiss 11.9 hp water-cooled engine. This engine, originally destined for the Gilchrist Cars company, was an in-line 4-cylinder unit with overhead valves, 68mm bore and 102mm stroke, giving it a capacity of 1,548cc and enabling it to go from 0 - 60mph in 20sec and reach a maximum speed of 129km/h (80mph). It was linked to a standard Morris 3-speed manual gearbox. Fuel was supplied to the SU carburettor by a hand operated air pressure pump located next to the gear lever.
The suspension system used a standard semi-elliptical spring at the front and special semi-elliptical rear springs. Tall wire spokes wheels were fitted to the standard three bolt hubs, and the brakes were a standard Morris Oxford drum system at both the front and rear.
Cousins and Stevens of Carbodies in Conventry, designed and built a special aluminium sheet body inspired by the Bugatti cars they saw in specialized magazines, as this brand was beginning to make a name for itself in racing in continental Europe. Final assembly of the car took place at Morris’s Longwall factory.
Extra instrumentation included a tachometer, fuel and oil pressure gauges alongside the standard speedometer and ammeter. The car’s only illumination was provided by two small sidelights mounted on each side of the grille and a single headlight which disappeared like the car itself until it was discovered in a Manchester scrapyard, in 1932, by an employee of the MG Car Company, and bought for £15. Taken to the Abingdon factory, it was restored to be used as a promotion vehicle for the brand.
The car now forms part of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Collection at Gaydon, where it is on permanent display. It is kept in perfect working order and over the years many privileged journalists, historians and enthusiasts have been allowed to drive the car to assess its merits, which has greatly helped to fuel the brand’s huge following around the world.
So let's take a look at what the Hothkiss et Cie Universe came to be from the time when Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss (1826-1885), an American citizen born in Connecticut and a renowned munitions manufacturer, decided to move to Europe to accept, along with his son, an invitation from the French National Defence Committee. The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) had broken out and it was necessary to set up and run a factory for the production of metal ammunition for small arms, in Viviez, in the Paris region.
In 1875, this factory was replaced by another in Saint-Denis, Paris, for the production of the famous Hotchkiss revolving cannon, which was developed as a defence weapon against the first torpedo boats and ended up being adopted by almost all the Navies in the world. The Hotchkiss rapid-fire and semi-automatic guns and the Hotchkiss automatic machine guns were also developed there.
In 1901, while continuing to produce weapons, the company began to manufacture components for the engines of the Panhard et Levassor and De Dion-Bouton car brands.
As it was already manufacturing complete engines in 1903, it began to produce its own cars at the encouragement of the two major car distributors Mann & Overton in London and Fournier in Paris.
With the outbreak of the First World War, the French military authorities ordered the urgent relocation of the factory to Lyon and, in just 12 days, managed to restart production in order to meet not only the enormous needs of the French and Belgian armies, but also to equip the first American divisions to arrive in France with Hotchkiss cannons. In 1915, the war effort led to the establishment of machine gun factories in Coventry at the request of the British government for use in British tanks and cavalry.
After the conflict, in 1923 Morris purchased the Hotchkiss et Cie factory, which had already been supplying engines and gearboxes since 1920, at the same time as Cecil began developing the so-called ‘Kimber Specials’ with the octagonal MG badge. At the same time, Henry Mann Ainsworth left England to take up the position of General Manager at Hotchkiss et Cie in France, which he held until his retirement in 1949.
In 1929, a new factory on Boulevard Ornano allowed them to manufacture steel bodies and develop new 4- and 6-cylinder models. The Hotchkiss were luxury, elegant, robust and reliable cars aimed at the bourgeoisie and the upper middle class, which made the Hotchkiss name famous for more than half a century.
In competition, the Hotckiss brand broke many world speed records at Montlhéry and won the Monte-Carlo Rally six times in 1932, 1933, 1934, 1949 and 1950, largely thanks to its 686 GS 3.5L model, which was launched in 1936.
The resumption of car production in the post-war period (1939-1945) failed to rehabilitate the brand, which ceased production in this segment in 1955 and only the production of lorries, which had been going on since 1936, managed to balance the company with some of them being adapted to fire engines.
The Hotchkiss name disappeared in 1970 after its last public act was the presentation of the Jeep Wagoneer at the Paris Motor Show in 1969.
A total of 34 vehicles came to Portugal and around half of them still exist. Some are part of Mr Erik Ulrix's private collection, which we visited with great curiosity on the day of the MGCP's 43rd anniversary. There we found a Hotchkiss Type T Coupé from 1909 making the transition from hippomobile to another type of motive power. We were explained the meaning of the term Chauffer and why all the cars on display are right-hand drive, even though they drive in France. We understood why some of the models had been transformed into open-top vans. We saw a tractor, jeeps and were delighted to hear the 6-cylinder engine of a model from the 30s. We found the Hotchkiss of our Honorary Member No. 16 - Jacques Touzet - who used to drive an MG Midget TC at MGCP meetings. And we didn't leave without passing by the vehicle storage, repair and restoration area, as well as the Hotchkiss ‘souvenirs’ and documentation area. As a token of our gratitude for the kindness shown to us by Denise and Erik, we gave them a Jacques Lemans MG Centenary Watch.
Lunch was served at Páteo Velho da Milá, in Atalaia, so we can look back on birthdays in Ota. Excellent atmosphere, service and an interesting cake whose candles were blown out in an original way by MAG President Gouveia Fonseca.
Sources:
https://www.mgownersclub.co.uk/mg-guides/pre-war/old-number-one
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotchkiss_et_Cie
gracesguide.co.uk
www.garagehotchkiss.com
|
· Early models: Hotchkiss 17CV : 1903 Hotchkiss 20-24CV : 1904 Hotchkiss HH : 1906
|
· 1910-1914: Hotchkiss 12-16CV : 1910-1914 Hotchkiss 16-20CV : 1910-1913 Hotchkiss 20-30CV : 1910-1914 Hotchkiss 40-50CV : 1910-1914 Hotchkiss AD : 1913-1914
|
· 1920-1933: Hotchkiss AH : 1920-1923 Hotchkiss AF et AL : 1920-1924 Hotchkiss AK : 1921 Hotchkiss AM et AM2 : 1924-1932 (Slogan “O carro de Ouro”) Hotchkiss AM80 : 1928-1933 |
|
· 1933-1948: Hotchkiss 411, 412, 413, 415 et 480/486 : 1933-1937 Hotchkiss 614, 615, 620 et 680/686 : 1933-1939 Hotchkiss 864 : 1937-1940 Hotchkiss 866 : 1946-1948 |
 |
· Últimos modelos: Hotchkiss Artois : 1948-1950 Hotchkiss Grégoire : 1950-1953 Hotchkiss Anjou : 1950-1954 Hotchkiss Anthéor : 1950-1954 Hotchkiss Agay : 1954 Hotchkiss Monceau : 1954 |
