Footnotes

• Beardmore, of Parkhead, Glasgow were established as manufacturers of armour plate and warships before they ventured into motor transport in 1901, taking out a licence to build Thorneycroft steam lorries. Company head William Beardmore became newly formed motor car manufacturer Arrol-Johnston’s major shareholder in 1902, but it would be another 17 years, by which time The Great War had come and gone, before the first Beardmore passenger cars appeared. First shown at the London Motor Exhibition at Olympia in 1919, these comprised an 11hp quality light car, a 15/20hp medium-sized model and the luxurious 20/30hp, although the latter would not achieve series production. Built at Arrol-Johnston’s Underwood works, the 15/20 would provide the basis for the first Beardmore taxicab as well as being manufactured for the private hire, limousine trade. An unqualified success, the Eleven grew in both wheelbase length and engine capacity over the years before metamorphosing into the 12/30hp in 1923. In this new guise the car boasted a 1,854cc engine with chain-driven overhead camshaft and aluminium pistons, driving via four-speed gearbox and installed in a 115” wheelbase chassis.
  One of only five surviving Beardmore passenger cars, this 12/30hp wears four-seat tourer coachwork by Beardmore’s in-house coachbuilder J H Kelly. ‘SP 9653’ has featured in a number of reference works including A-Z of Cars of the 1920s by Nick Baldwin (page 39) and Automobile Quarterly (Vol 43, No 1, 2003). Previously forming part of the famous Sword Collection in Scotland, it was restored in the 1990s and is currently owned by a member of the Beardmore family. The car is offered with old-style logbook, current road fund licence, MoT to October 2007 and Swansea V5 registration document. An exceptionally comprehensive history file also is included with it, the contents of which are far too numerous to itemise here.