ABC Motors Limited (All British (Engine) Company) of Hersham, Surrey, England was a manufacturer of cars, aircraft, motor scooters, and engines for road and air. Established by Ronald Charteris in Hersham, Surrey in 1912, its chief designer was the young and talented Granville Bradshaw.^[1] It was absorbed into Vickers in 1951 and the factory finally closed in the 1970s although some of the premises survive today as part of the Hersham Trading Estate and are occupied by the Ian Allan publishing company.

Products[link]

The ABC radial aero engines of the World War I period were extremely advanced for their time, and were initially thought to be very promising indeed. Unfortunately they were all more or less plagued by problems – and although a number of types for the Royal Air Force were designed around ABC engines (especially the ill-fated Dragonfly) none of these types were to see squadron service with the RAF.

ABC also made a large number of engines for electrical generators and other purposes – mostly with a flat twin cylinder layout and unusual exhaust-over-inlet valve configuration. These smaller ABC engine have the distinction of being possibly the first airborne APUs- the Coastal class blimp (first flown in 1916) had a 1.5-horsepower unit installed to provide electricity for the onboard wireless set, whilst a similar engine was used to power the searchlight of the Supermarine Nighthawk 'Zeppelin killer' of 1917.

Aero engines[link]

The Wasp engine

• ABC 8 hp (1923)
• ABC 30 hp (1912)
• ABC 60 hp (1912)
• ABC 100 hp (1912)
• ABC Dragonfly (1918)
• ABC Gadfly (1920)
• ABC Gnat (1916)
• ABC Mosquito (1916)
• ABC Hornet (1929)
• ABC Scorpion (1923)
• ABC Wasp (1918)

Aircraft[link]

• ABC Robin

Automotive[link]

• ABC (1920 automobile)
• ABC Supersports
• ABC Skootamota
• ABC motorcycles

See also[link]

• ABC motorcycles

References[link]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

v t e Defunct aerospace companies of the United Kingdom Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom ADC Aircraft · AJEP · Abbott-Baynes Sailplanes Ltd · ABC Motors · Air Navigation and Engineering Company · Airco · The Airscrew Company · Airship Industries · Airspeed Ltd. · Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft · Arrow Aircraft Ltd. · Auster · Austin Motor Company · Aviation Traders · Avro · Beagle Aircraft · William Beardmore and Company · Blackburn Aircraft · Boulton & Paul Ltd · Boulton Paul Aircraft · Bristol Aeroplane Company · British Aerial Transport · British Aerospace · British Aircraft Company · British Aircraft Corporation · British Aircraft Manufacturing · BTR Aerospace Group · Central Aircraft Company · Chilton Aircraft · Chrislea Aircraft · Clayton & Shuttleworth · Comper Aircraft Company · Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft · Dart Aircraft · de Havilland · de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School · de Havilland Propellers · Desoutter Aircraft Company · Dowty Group · Dowty Rotol · Dunlop Standard Aerospace Group · E. D. Abbott Ltd · Edgar Percival Aircraft · Elliotts of Newbury · English Electric · Fairey Aviation Company · Fane Aircraft Company · Ferranti · Folland Aircraft · Foster, Wikner Aircraft · Garland Aircraft Company · General Aircraft Limited · General Electric Company plc · Gloster Aircraft Company · Grahame-White · Handley Page · Hawker Aircraft · Hawker Siddeley · Heston Aircraft Company · Hewlett & Blondeau · Hordern-Richmond · Hunting Aircraft · Lakes Flying Company · Luton Aircraft · M. B. Arpin & Co. · Marconi Company · Marconi Electronic Systems · Martinsyde · Matra Marconi Space · Miles Aircraft · Moss Brothers Aircraft · Napier & Son · Nash & Thomson · National Aircraft Factory No. 2 · Nieuport & General Aircraft · Norman Thompson Flight Company · Parnall · Parnall & Sons · Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot · Lang Propellers · Reid and Sigrist · Rollason Aircraft and Engines · Royal Aircraft Establishment · Saunders-Roe · Scottish Aviation · Seaplane Experimental Station · Siddeley-Deasy · Sopwith Aviation Company · Spartan Aircraft Ltd · Supermarine · Vickers Limited · Vickers-Armstrongs · Westland Aircraft · Westland Helicopters · J. Samuel White Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom