BELSIZE, Manchester, United Kingdom, 1897-1925


At the end of the last century, the former bicycle manufacturer, BELSIZE, began producing cars under the Marshall brand. They were assembled under the licenses of the French company Hurtu and the German Benz and equipped with horizontal single-cylinder engines located at the rear. Torque to the rear wheels was transmitted chain or belt. This model had no success, so the production in 1902 had to stop.

New cars “BELSIZE" were made at a high technical level: they had a front engine and cardan transmission. But the old model with a 3-cylinder engine and chain-driven rear wheels remained on sale until 1907.
In 1905, the buyer had the opportunity to choose cars with 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and even with 6-cylinder engines. The greatest success enjoyed the model “14 / 16HP” with a 4-cylinder engine of 2.5 liters with side valves.
In the period 1910-1914, “15.9 HP” cars appeared with a 4-cylinder engine and 4-speed gearbox and “18 / 22HP” with a 6-cylinder engine. In 1914, the lightest model “10NR”, or “Ten" was born, but before the war they were made very little.
Automotive production resumed in 1919. Then a model “15HP” with a 4-cylinder engine of 2.8 liters appeared. Two years later, the designer Granville Bradshow created a very simple and easy car “9НР”, in which the engine was cooled with oil. In history, it is known as “Belsize Bradshow".
In 1923, the former motorcycle racer G. R. Mills took charge of the company. He put the designers in front of big tasks and commissioned to create two new models capable of providing mass demand: “Ten" with a 4-cylinder overhead valve with a displacement of 1200 cm3 and “Light Ten” with a 6-cylinder engine in 1719 cm3, which increased in 1925 up to 1875 cm3.
1923 was the last year of existence of “BELSIZE”, although “Light Ten” managed to get the brakes on all wheels and began assembling a completely new passenger model with an 8-cylinder engine.

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