Adams was an English automobile manufactured in Bedford, England, between 1905 and 1912 under the brand names Adams-Hewitt and later just Adams.
Arthur Adams
Arthur Henry Adams was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1868. He became a qualified mechanical engineer with a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. First, working for Western Electric Company, then moving to Paris to install the city's telephone system. In 1899, Adams moved to London and joined the Sturtevant Engineering Company, which manufactured fans and air handling equipment.
Edward Hewitt
Edward Ringwood Hewitt was born in New Jersey in 1866. His grandfather was Peter Cooper, who had built the first American steam locomotive. Hewitt studied chemistry at Princeton University and the University of Berlin. He had helped Sir Hiram Maxim to build a large steam plane in 1894. On his return to the States, Hewitt designed and patented an automobile. At some point, he met with Adams, and in 1904, the two decided to manufacture it.
In 1906 a range of more conventional cars was introduced with shaft-drive and vertical engines and from 1907 sliding mesh gearboxes. One of these was supplied to the Emperor of Abyssinia.
The company went into voluntary liquidation in and stopped making vehicles in 1912.
See also
- List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom