London Motors

London Motors was a Canadian automobile company located in London, Ontario. The company was formed by William Stansell, who was previously involved with the production of the Brock car in Amherstburg, Ontario. In 1921 Stansell raised $75,000 to form London Motors Limited, with a factory located at King and Rideout Streets. Prototypes were ready by the autumn of 1921. The London Six was an impressive vehicle featuring wooden disc wheels, pointed windscreen and a Herschell-Spillman 6 cylinder engine. The engine was tilted down at the rear, providing a lower drive shaft and reducing universal joint strain. The aluminium body made the car very light, allowing a top speed of 85 mph to be reached.

Production began in late 1921, with the following models:

  • Touring car
  • Hardtop tourer/roadster
  • Sedan
  • Sedan Special

Prices ranged from $2,600 for the tourer to $3,700 for the sedan. The car's slogan was "Canada's Quality Car".

Bodies were originally built at a factory in Ingersoll, Ontario, but when the supplier was unable to keep up with demand, Stansell rented factory space next door to the London Motors factory.

When Governor General Julian Byng visited London, several London Six owners loaned their cars for official ceremonies. Lady Byng claimed that the London Six was the most comfortable car that she had ever travelled in.

In 1924, Stansell made visits to various firms and bankers looking for extra capital in order to expand production. In his absence, the board of directors of the company allowed control to be taken over by new investors, who wound up the company in early 1925. Total production of the London Six was 98 cars.

Famous quotes containing the words london and/or motors:

    The most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.
    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)

    When General Motors has to go to the bathroom ten times a day, the whole country’s ready to let go. You heard of that market crash in ‘29? I predicted that.... I was nursing a director of General Motors. Kidney ailment, they said; nerves, I said. Then I asked myself, “What’s General Motors got to be nervous about?” “Overproduction,” I says. “Collapse.”
    John Michael Hayes (b. 1919)