What is it? Quiz #490

I made a comment yesterday, or maybe the day before. But I did not realise that sources of the information have to be given. I have many books about very old cars, & have been studying them, & old magazines, for 50 years ! I cannot remember my sources for Horstmann-I have read about them in several of my books, & have met a man who worked for the firm. Also, I have seen a Horstman car-it was being restored by a man I knew well in my town. Also, I have seen a Horstman catalogue somewhere-it may have been Beaulieu library -& got some of the pages copied for me. The horizontal valve engine was not very good, & they stopped building it. They used a side-valve Anzani engine instead-much better engine, & raced at Brooklands using the Anzani.

Cannot give any explanation whatsoever but is it a Silver Hawk? Seem to recall only a limited production run in the early 1920s but the designer may have gone on to greater things?
Simon Thomas

1921 Horstman Super Sports
Sidney Horstmann, born in Bath, son of German clockmaker Gustav Horstmann, designer of the world's first micrometer with accuracy greater than 1/10000.
1904 Sidney and his brothers established Horstmann Gear Co to develop an unsuccessful variable speed gear-box he invented. They became well-known for clockwork mechanisms and timers. First car launched 1913 London Motor Show. 1919 Sidney was awarded the OBE. After WWI the second "n” was dropped.
Between 1914-29 around 1,500 cars were produced. Around ten cars still exist.
After WWII Hadrill and Horstmann Ltd. was formed, they became famous for their Counterpoise Lamps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Horstmann
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Horstman_Cars
https://www.uniquecarsandparts.com/lost_marques_horstmann.htm

Is a Horstman ? If so, made in the town of Bath in south-west England. The name of the builder was actually Sidney Horstmann (2 "N"s) but after the First World War german names were not very popular in England. Mr. Horstmann was an inventive engineer, & at one period built his own engines for his cars. For some reason, he decided on a cylinder head with horizontal valve layout-not very efficient ! I have seen one of these ,installed in a car, & recall the very long vertical rockers, on the outside of the engine .

This is a Horstman 10.5 Super Sports from 1922. Powered by a 4 cylinder sidevalve Coventry Simplex engine. The car was advertised as 'The fastest British light car' after finishing 5th at the JCC 200 mile race at Brooklands. Sydney Horstmann produced cars in Bath England from 1914 with his own OHV engine. After the war manufacture resumed but Sydney's clever engine was replaced by proprietary engines. In 1919 the name was changed, Horstmann becoming Horstman, losing an 'n' to make the name sound less German. Horstman(n) cars were advanced, with cantilever suspension, in-car kick starters and anti roll bars

Sources:

The Automobile A-Z of Cars of the 1920s. Nick Baldwin
The Complete Encyclopedia of Automobiles 1885 to the Present. G.N.Georgano
Motorsport Magazine March 1970 - https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-1970/36/fragments-forgotten-makes

This looks like a 1921 Horstman sports (previously Horstmann) with a Coventry Simplex engine. Made in Bath by Sidney Horstman. Among the novel features on some of these care was the provision of a kick starter to be used from inside the car.

I'm going to have a go without using Google. I remember reading an article 30 years ago in the "Automobile" about a Horstman and this picture looks very similar to that little car. The engine block doubled as a chassis stiffener. From memory it had a little 4 cylinder side wacker. No front brakes tells me it's 1923 or earlier. I reckon it also won a class race at Brooklands! That's about it from me. Cheers Mark.

Hello,
This is a post war Horstmann Sports (about 1922) made in Bath UK. The double 'n' had been dropped from the name during the war however to 'Horstman'.
The car has unique features like a kick starter (from inside the car) and gearbox integral with the rear axle/differential. I own the front half of one of these cars and have been looking for that transaxle for decades. There don't seem to be any in Australia where I live. Other unique features are an aluminium casting that makes the front half of the chassis, engine sump and support for clutch, pedals and radiator. Not sure whether this car was post the early engine that had the valves horizontal into a thin vertical combustion space, with rockers running right down the side of the engine to the low camshaft.