How the Trojans put Croydon on the Map
Carenthusiasts in Croydon are being urged to get in quick and snap up the last copies of a booklet cataloguing the borough's history of car manufacturing.
Image: Booklet first published in 1985
A batch of 200 copies of the publication Croydon Cars has recently been discovered at Croydon Clock tower.
The booklet was first published in 1985, the year which celebrated the centenary of the motorcar, and explores the part that Croydon played in its history and development.
Croydon Cars looks at 23 different makes, more than 70 different models and stories of success and failure. It also looks at motoring incidents and events which have happened in or passed through Croydon.
The book's author, Bob Stearn, says in the booklet: "The first London to Brighton run spluttered its way through the borough on 14th November 1896, as if to mark the beginning of a new era of road usage, Croydon switched on its first electric street lamp that evening."
Then called the Emancipation Run, the event was staged to celebrate the Locomotives on Highways Act, freeing the motorist from the restrictive four miles an hour speed limit.
Earlier that year in August, Croydon resident Bridget Driscoll became the first ever person in the country to be killed by a motorcar, in this case a show vehicle on display at Crystal Palace.
Croydon also has the dubious honour of being the location of the first ever fatal car accident, when motorist Henry Lindfield lost his life in Russell Hill, Purley, in February 1898.
Mr Lindfield had been travelling with his son when his car crashed and he became stuck between the car and a tree. He was taken to Croydon General Hospital where he had his leg amputated but he died the next morning.
The first person to own a car in Croydon is thought to be a Mr D P Roberts, a chemist and dealer in photographic and optical goods, who bought his car in October 1898 to deliver goods from his business at 120 North End, now the location of Marks and Spencer. According to the book, the first car to be manufactured in Croydon was the 1902 Bradbury voiturette.
Prior to this, old coach makers built bodies for cars and engineering firms also made modifications to existing machinery but, according to the book, Bradbury Bros has the distinction of being Croydon's first car manufacturer because they designed, built and marketed their own car rather than modifying someone else's.
Image: The Iconic Trojan Car
Hot on the heels of the Bradbury came six further Croydon cars over the next three years, the Firefly, the Imperial, the Emerald, the General, the Weller and the Brotherhood. These vehicles, which were once the pride of Croydon, now remain largely forgotten.
The book examines the contribution Croydon made to the motoring industry highlighting the many types of vehicles manufactured in the borough. This includes the iconic Trojan car, arguably one creation which has become synonymous with Croydon.
Copies of Croydon Cars, published by Stearn Publishing, are available from the Tourist Information Centre at Croydon Clocktower, Katharine Street, priced £2.