723cc Air Cooled Single-Cylinder Engine
5-6 RAC hp
2-Speed Gearbox
Semi-Elliptic Leaf Spring Suspension
Rear Wheel Brake

*Formerly in the Peter Black Museum
*Ex-Sam Garrett
*Complete with period accessories
*Well documented with exceptional provenance

THE WARRICK

In 1877 John Warrick & Co. Ltd. of Reading transitioned from gunsmithing to selling Pitt tricycle box carriers, eventually in 1910 taking over the Pitt works and establishing the Warrick Cycle Carriers at Pitt's "Monarch Works" on Caversham Road. Warrick's ingenuity quickly improved the product's quality. His business acumen was likewise evident in the company's practice of renting out its carriers and bicycles to tradesmen, sometimes even providing riders, to encourage adoption of its products.

The year following John Warrick's acquisition of the Monarch Works the company introduced its first powered Motor Carriers. A vigorous competition with Autocarrier ensued with AC eventually largely ceding the box carrier market to Warrick.

Produced from 1910 through 1925, Warrick's powered box carriers were notably successful in meeting the need for businesses and tradesmen to serve their largely local clientele. Numbered among major clients, however, were Selfridge's, Dunlop tire and the Royal Mail. In fifteen years' production Warrick built some 2,000 Motor Carriers and their hire business continued with bicycles and commercial tri-cars well into the second half of the 20th century, a strong indication of its success.

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

This 1914 Warrick Motor Carrier is an early example. Its proprietary single cylinder 723cc engine is rated 5-6 horsepower. Tiller steered with hand-operated throttle and choke, a pedal actuates the clutch in the rear wheel hub. The two gears are selected by a separate lever above the tiller. Braking also is in the rear wheel hub. The engine has a flywheel on each end of its crankshaft and two small cast cooling fans are driven by a friction wheel off each flywheel's outer rim. The frame is suspended on leaf springs, semi-elliptical at the front under the load area and quarter elliptical at the rear with a parallel torque arm on the left side.

This Warrick is configured as a "milk float" with a pivoting milk can and associated containers and accessories. Equipment includes cowl-mounted acetylene lights, Bosch magneto and Miller kerosene taillight. Unusually, it still has its British log book showing only three owners in the U.K. since 1921 and was for many years part of the Peter Black collection in the U.K. Subsequently it formed part of the Sam Garrett collection in the U.S. It has been dated as a 1914 by the Veteran Car Club and was featured in a 1967 article in Veteran & Vintage magazine.

Distinctively liveried in yellow with black tiger stripes, it can't be missed in any setting. It is eligible for many desirable events due to its dating. Its restoration fully deserves the description sympathetic and in all likelihood it has never been apart, preserving its originality and the charm and simplicity of a time when you knew your milkman, and probably his cow.