A Show of Hands: A Study of Birmingham's Forgotten Light Car

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As the 1920s dawned, there were dozens of eager car-makers working in rudimentary facilities to produce cars which were simple and affordable. In reality, these ideas often translated into cars which were excessively basic and a little sluggish, if not otherwise flawed, and few could hold their own against the light cars of the large manufacturers. A century later, those low-volume Vintage light cars survive in such small numbers that they now stand out over and above their mass-produced peers. Besides, to have lasted so long they can’t have been bad machines.

Such a car is the sole-surviving Hands from 1922. George W Hands was not an insignificant figure, for in 1904 he had founded the Calthorpe marque, but he left in 1919 amid directorial disagreements. Securing small factory premises in Birmingham, he had the first chassis of his eponymous light car ready for testing by the end of 1921 and, with a Dorman engine under the bonnet, it proved a capable car. Though it was offered in a range of styles – two-seater with dickey, two-seater sports, tourer and coupé – and there were talks of a six-cylinder sister, few were made before Hands returned to Calthorpe in 1924.

Peter Card tells the story of the company and this charming survivor in the April issue of The Automobile, available now.

Words by Zack Stiling; Photographs by Reverendpixel
 

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