Douglas Motors Ltd.

Automotive Manufacturer of Bristol; United Kingdom from 1913 to 1922

The Douglas Motors Ltd. was a British manufacturer of motorcycles and cars . The company was founded in 1882 by the brothers William Douglas and Edward Douglas and existed until 1956. The company was based in Bristol, cars manufacturerd from 1913 to 1922.

History 

Douglas was well known for his air-cooled, transversely mounted boxer engines. Joseph Barter, founder of Light Motors Ltd. had designed such a motor called Fair , but had to give up his business in 1907 and sold it to the Douglas brothers. These began to produce a 350 cc version. Douglas managed to secure a government contract in the First World War for the delivery of 15,000 machines. The machines were particularly suitable for Speedway races, and so were offered special competition models with 500 and 600 cc.

Between 1914 and 1922, small cars were produced with two-cylinder engines .Sporty was among others at the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man four times successful. The Senior TT was won in 1923 by Tom Sheard .

In 1935, Douglas was acquired by Bond Aircraft and Engineering . The production was maintained during the Second World War , but Douglas got in 1948 in trouble. It was only a model with 350 cc and transverse engine in the frame ago. 1955 came with the Douglas Dragonfly the last own motorcycle on the market. Westinghouse bought Douglas in 1956 and stopped motorcycle production in 1957.

Already in 1949 they began importing Vespa reels, which were then manufactured under license at Douglas. Even after the end of the two-wheeled production in 1957 Vespas were imported again.

Car Models