H. J. Mulliner & Co.
HJ Mulliner & Co. is a British coachbuilder, whose beginnings date back to 1760, when the company carriages for the Royal Mail ( Royal Mail ) built in Northampton. Mulliner is today Bentleys special products division.
Previously, there were four different companies with the name " Mulliner " which were obviously all founded by members of the same family: Arthur Mulliner in Northampton; AG Mulliner in Liverpool, who also had a showroom in Brook Street in Mayfair; HJ Mulliner, who bought the above exhibition space; and Mulliners in Birmingham.
Arthur Mulliner ( Northampton ) and AG Mulliner (Liverpool ) merged and formed the Mulliner ( London) Ltd. .. This company took over Henry Jervis Mulliner. He founded the HJ Mulliner & Co. in Mayfair (London), where he built the factory. This place was well suited because the resident nobility could afford the products of the manufacturer.
1961 bought Rolls -Royce H. J. Mulliner & Co. and joined the company in 1938 acquired the Park Ward Co. to Mulliner Park Ward. This exists as a label to this day, even if the construction of special bodies in 1967 was set.
Arthur Mulliner Ltd..
Arthur H. Mulliner was the son of F. Mulliner, Mulliner of the original firm, which made carriages in Northampton founded. His son Arthur Mulliner Felton ( born 1859) brought the company to the construction of automobile bodies, and in 1900 she had already produced over 150 pieces, mainly for Daimler vehicles. 1907 a new factory and sales office in Long Acre, London, in addition to the plants, opened in Northampton. In the 1920s, business boomed: There were orders for bodies on Armstrong Siddeley and Vauxhall chassis, which at the London Motor Show in 1920 were issued.
In the 1930s, it was difficult to get large orders from manufacturers of the middle class, the orders of the venerable company Rolls- Royce and Bentley but were further issued. 1939, the company was sold to the car dealer Henlys, which ended the body shop, but until 1976 the sales department continued operation.
Mulliners (Birmingham)
This company was probably founded around 1896 and built some bodies for Daimler before the decision was made to produce large series for car manufacturers who did not have their own body shop departments. One of the first orders it received from Calthorpe, at that time a thriving company which made sure that the manufactured bodies were supplied exclusively to these manufacturers and were close financial and contractual ties between the two companies.
After Calthorpe 1924 went bankrupt, the director of Mulliners, Louis Antweiler bought, the wheelwright operation and renamed it in " Mulliners Ltd.. " order. He signed contracts with Clyno and Austin, for which he produced Weymann bodies for the Austin 7. When the bodies were of mixed fiber out of fashion, ended up doing business with Austin, but it could be orders of Hillman, Humber, Standard and Lanchester be obtained.
In 1929, the company was floated on the stock exchange. Most transactions were made with Daimler and Lanchester, for the bodies were manufactured for the cheaper vehicles. Arthur Mulliner of Northampton made the bodies for the more expensive cars. Also Alvis was one of the new customer.
During the Second World War, the company introduced the bodies for military vehicles and troop ago.
After the war, the body has continued and added Aston Martin, Armstrong Siddeley and triumph of the list of customers. Standard - Triumph then needed capacity in the body, and so they bought the Mulliners Ltd.. 1958 on. The name disappeared in 1962.
Source
- Nick Walker: A- Z of British Coachbuilders. Bay View Books, 1997, ISBN 1870979931st