Henry Meadows, usually known simply as Meadows, of Wolverhampton, England, were major suppliers of engines and transmissions to the smaller companies in the British motor industry. Founded in 1920 in Park Lane, Wolverhampton, as a car gearbox maker, they expanded into petrol engines in 1922 and in the 1930s built a large factory in Fallings Park, Wolverhampton.

Products

Petrol engines

thumb|4½-litre engine in an Invicta car, 1931

Early production was connected with the move from W. H. Dorman & Co of the Dorman works manager (W. H. Dorman's son, John E. Dorman) in August 1921, and a design engineer Mr R. S. Crump. Dorman had been producing engines from 1903. The early Meadows engines and gearboxes were produced with Meadows-Dorman on the castings. This resulted in a court case between Dorman and Meadows, claiming that this was a misuse of the Dorman name and reputation. Dorman won the case

One of the most popular petrol engines was the 1½-litre four-cylinder Type 4ED engine (following their less powerful 4EB and 4EC engines, used by several makers in the pre 1931 period), widely used by Frazer Nash and Lea-Francis during the 1920s and 30s, and in the H.R.G. light car from 1936 to 1939 which was sold with a guaranteed top speed of . Another successful product, the 4½-litre 6-cylinder engine is best remembered as the power unit for Invicta and Lagonda cars.

Meadows also produced marine engines after a visit from Hubert Scott-Paine in 1931 who was looking for some better engines for his prototype seaplane tender (RAF200) which was fitted at that time with Brooks engines. After some modification to allow the engines to be angled at 17 degrees, the British Power Boat Company selected Meadows 6-cylinder petrol engines for the high-speed seaplane tenders, each having two engines rated at and being capable of .

In the 1930s, Meadows developed a flat-12 type-MAT/1 engine of 8,858cc for military applications including the Tetrarch Light Tank. Later they built a 16-litre flat-12 type-DAV petrol engine used in the Covenanter tank This engine was also used in the prototype A20 tank, although this weighed more than twice the Covenanter and so was considered underpowered. The Rover Company also produced Meteor engines in this period.

Diesel engines

Meadows started developing diesel engines in the 1930s, and a 5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel developing at 2,000 rpm was launched at the 1935 Olympia Motor Transport Show. They introduced a 6-cylinder version in 1938. Both of these engines used a Lanova combustion chamber design, CAV injector pumps, and they were listed both for road transport and marine use. In 1938, they supplied diesel engines for the New Zealand Railways Standard class railcars.

After the Second World War, they resumed making diesel engines, but with a new design this time with direct injection and toroidal cavity pistons. The 6.9-litre 4-cylinder unit gave at 1,800 rpm and the 10.35-litre 6-cylinder unit developed at 1,800 rpm. These were aimed at both vehicle, marine, and stationary markets, and there was a horizontal version of the 6-cylinder unit for flat underfloor mounting. The same two engines were rated at for continuous marine use at 1,600 rpm, and a larger engine of similar design rated at and of 15.5-litre capacity was also listed.

Cars

They were also responsible for making the Meadows Frisky microcar between 1957 and 1961.

Merger and closure

In 1965, Henry Meadows was purchased by Jaguar.

References

  • Information from Wolverhampton Local History