The Cars of the Ellermans

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Sir,
May I respond to the editorial coat-trailing and “weigh in” upon the reference to Sir John Ellerman’s Lanchesters in your “Cars in Books” feature? I think the authors of “Being Geniuses Together, 1920-1930” may have got the story the wrong way round. I have always understood that it was Lady Ellerman who insisted on riding in the Lanchester as she found the motion of the Rolls-Royce unsettling. At this distance of time one cannot be dogmatic, but it is significant that from 1925 onwards Sir John Ellerman did not own a Rolls-Royce but relied entirely on his Lanchesters and a small car, a Standard 11.9 I believe, for local work, shopping, etc.

The much criticised “rolling” of the earlier Lanchesters was more in the nature of a slow list to starboard or port when cornering, and many people found it less trying to the stomach than the pitching experienced in Silver Ghosts and Phantom Is. Before the 1914-18 war the unconventional design of the Lanchesters inhibited people from having a Lanchester chassis fitted with bodywork by an “outside” coachbuilder, but this applied much less after the war. The Company tried to persuade their customers to have Lanchester bodies but many ignored the advice. The “outside” coachbuilder’s body-work was nearly always heavier than the Company’s own and often necessitated altering the rear suspension, with a bad effect on riding and handling. I discovered some years ago that a “Twenty-One” Lanchester with a Hooper landaulet weighed five hundredweight more than my Lanchester-bodied example of the same year.

Anthony Bird.
Potbridge.

***
Sir,
In “Cars in Books” I was interested to see the reference to Sir John Ellerman’s cars. I remember in 1929 seeing two Lanchester Forties at St. Ives; they both had round 3/4-rear-lights, like portholes, and a private yacht was standing out in the bay. I have no authentic information, but I thought they belonged to the Ellermans.

W. Stuart Best.
Godmanston.