Library of the Week: 28th March: We have a very exciting post this week from The Frederick Lanchester collection at Coventry University Library! Gary Collins (Archivist) & Paul Henderson (LIA Outreach Worker) have written this fantastic post! Thank you so much for taking part and we can’t wait to find out more.
This is an update following on from an article that appeared two years ago on the work of car manufacturer, engineer, scientist and inventor Frederick Lanchester (1868-1946), which is celebrated by the Lanchester Interactive Archive (LIA) at Coventry University.
The background to the Lanchester collection and the LIA is covered in the March 2020 article and since then the LIA team has been busy with outreach work (despite the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns). The university has also received some additional Lanchester-related donations to the archives, so we thought it would be interesting to go into more detail about this activity.
External visits made during outreach work often feature the university’s 1932 Lanchester 15/18 h.p. car, which is kept in working order by a small volunteer team of Lanchester enthusiasts, with support from the university’s estates department. The car attracts attention wherever it goes and since early 2020 has been involved in visits to the British Motor Museum at Gaydon in Warwickshire, and to the ThinkTank Museum and the National Exhibition Centre Classic Car show in Birmingham.
In 2021 the car was invited to be part of a celebration at Hampton Court Palace with one British-manufactured car present for each of the 95 years since the birth of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Among Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Rileys and Minis, the 15/18 was the only Lanchester present. The Lanchester Motor Company held a royal warrant and was a particular favourite of King George VI. It was a competitor for Rolls Royce and Bentley in terms of engineering, style and price.
The car also returned to its roots for the first time in almost 90 years to celebrate the reopening of a former Daimler factory building in Sandy Lane, Coventry as the Daimler Powerhouse arts venue. The car was the first Lanchester model to be designed and built in the city and the first time the car had been back since it rolled off the production line in 1932. Lanchesters like the 15/18 were built in Coventry from 1931 to 1956 on the same production line as Daimler cars as both brands were owned by Birmingham company BSA.
VIPs who have experienced the luxury of this unique vehicle have included the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who showed great interest in the car while being given a lift to the RISING Global Peace Forum in Coventry in November 2021. Another passenger was University Chancellor Margaret Casely-Hayford, who was transported to the Chancellors’s dinner at Coventry Cathedral in December 2021.
Donations to the Lanchester collection received in the last two years have included toy models such as an Airfix 1907 Lanchester car plus a Lanchester armoured car. Two larger radio controlled models were also received and highlight Fred Lanchester’s interests away from car manufacture. The first of these was based on an 1894 Lanchester boat design, and the second used Lanchester’s 1897 aeroplane patent for the design. Both models came via the Lanchester Trust, a charity that aims amongst other things to raise awareness of the work of Frederick Lanchester and other family members. The plan is to have both models on display in the LIA space at Coventry University library.
Other items donated included Lanchester inspired artwork produced for a City of Culture 2021 student project, some of which is now on display near the entrance of the library. Two cans of 16mm film were also received showing footage of a 10 h.p. Lanchester car being driven up steps at the Crystal Palace site in London in 1904, and a 1913 38 h.p. Lanchester tourer being driven on the road by its owner in the 1960s and featuring a stop for petrol. Digital scans of Lanchester car adverts from the 1920s to the 1960s were also donated.
One other update to mention – descriptions and images of the blueprints included in the Lanchester collection are due to appear any day soon on the university’s online archives catalogue.
More information can be found on the LIA website which includes a link to Coventry University’s online archives catalogue.
Gary Collins (Archivist) & Paul Henderson (LIA Outreach Worker), Coventry University
Explore Coventry University library’s collections on Library Hub Discover:
- Browse the library records here
- Browse the archives records on Archives Hub
- Find out more about the library, including contact details and visitor information on its Discover information page.
All images copyright Coventry University (available via Creative Commons 4.0 license) and reproduced with the kind permission of the copyright holders.
