AIRBORNE SERVICES EQUIPMENT (GB)

AIRBORNE SERVICES EQUIPMENT (GB)
They were a British firm of 1960s that converted vans to Mobile Campers (RVs)and they also distributed other makers -One of their most common conversions was working on Fords like the Ford Thames 15cwt van and a few were exported outside the UK with Ford backing to countries like Canada.
Later work included the Ford Transit

A Brief profile of the company was discussed on 5th February 1960 Autocar (GB) page 212

above is a Photo of Vehicle made by Corgi Toys LTD in 1960s based on a Thames (Ford GB) - I got it from models enthusists site


A Road Test for a:

Ford Thames 15cwt Camper 1959 1703cc engined
See 28th August 1959 Autocar (GB) page 90-91

Ford Thames 15cwt Camper 1959-1960 was compared with 4 other mobile campers
See: 5th February 1960 Autocar (GB) Pages 238-240

While a Ford Thames 15cwt Camper 1961 400E was found in Canada and discussed in Finds & Discovery section of Practical Classics it was found by Chris Spenceley in his hometown of Charlottetown ; Prince Edward Island Canada who writes in to say he needs information so he could restore as of 2005 he gave his email address as spenceley@pei.eastlink

See: February 2005 Practical Classics (GB) Page 29

While we move on to later conversion - Ford Transit Van

FORD Transit 4 berth Camper was photographed in black and white photo of one Reg GJN 285D and was displayed at the 9th Camper Exhibition at Olympia in 1967

See: 9th February 1967 Autocar (GB) Page 49 Volume 126 Issue 3704

AICHI MACHINE INDUSTRY (J) 1955-1969

AICHI MACHINE INDUSTRY (J) 1955-1969 They were small Japanese car and commercial maker where there is little known

But from a internet site "Cony cars were built by the Aichi Machine Industry Company in Nagoya. The company was founded in 1943 and in 1965 it became part of the Nissan group. Aichi is still operating today, building the Nissan Serena mini-bus. Cony's speciality was building micro-cars with 2 cylinder engines below 360cc. The under 360cc class in Japan was taxed at a very low rate, making the cars very inexpensive. So the Cony cars took every possible shape, from the sedan to the pick-up, including the break.
Source: http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/classic-cars/19482-cony-360-wide.html.

"Aichi still builds engines for cars today but Nissan purchased Aichi in the late 60s." quote 1

"Most Cony trucks imported to the US went to large sites for yard work or light industrial work." quote 2

Source: http://www.littlecartrader.com/2006conytruck.html who were selling a truck "This Cony was originally owned by Oregon state university. This truck was originally white... We are currently rebuilding the engine with hardened valves. Washington state requires all trucks to be weighed before they can be titled. As soon as this truck can drive to the scale it will be titled." quote 3

With regard to references found by me from magazines
Is just this one:

They were also known as CONY a number of their small 354cc Flat 2 engined (Boxer) commercials were sold in the US

Road & Track Magazine did a driving impression for Cony 360 Wide light truck
See November 1969 Road & Track (US) Page 53-54
Road & Track (US) 1969 NOV pages 53-54

AGUZZOLI BROS -Alfa Romeo ( I ) 1963

AGUZZOLI BROS -Alfa Romeo ( I )

2 Cars were produced by Giovanni & Sergio Aguzzoli (one had a 1300cc engine; the other had a 1600cc engine) owners Alfa-Romeo main dealers in Paema ; Luigi Bertocco who worked there had built a Fiat Monoposto and had connections with Ferrari ; together with co-op with Alfa Romeo Rocchi and Salvarani from Ferrari came involved in building this Alfa Romeo Mid Engined Coupe -the body was by Neri and Bonacini later to be known as Nembo who made a name for themselves converting customers Ferraris

1 of cars appeared at the Geneva Show 1964 and competed at Coppa Fisa Monza in 1963



References - Photo was used by a magazine as part of its mystry vehicle competition and Roland Ellison gives a brief snipet of history
See: March 2002 Auto Italia (GB) page 5 Issue #67

Later a Brief History was written by Simon Park in Auto Italia when 1 of cars turned up at Silver Flag 2006

See: 26thJanuary-22ndFebruary 2007 Auto Italia (GB) page 79 Issue 128
as 2 cars were produced 1 had a 1300cc and other 1600cc not clear in the feature which one is here?

AGTRUCK (NZ) 1988-?

AGTRUCK (NZ)1988-?

This was more a new New Zealand Manufacturer whom converted exsisting trucks for Agricultural application

One was featured in Preview feature and the truck was powered by a 210hp 6V53 Detroit Diesel engine - The Vehicle was built as mobile sprayer and was also 4 wheel drive - The particular vehicle examined belonged to Alister Ross and carried NZ Registration KP7466. Does it still survive?

See April 1988 NZ Trucking Pages 24-27

AGA (D) 1919-1926

AGA of Germany 1919-1926
AGA briefly dabbled in the manufacture of cars before concentrated on his range of expensive and well built stoves. There is not much information on surivors

However there is a Very brief snippet of history - the maker is discussed briefly in Motorsport (GB) 1999 March the feature includes includes a photo of a running example as of 1999

From the internet regarding early history"
"AGA was a German automobile company, once quite large, which manufactured its wares in Berlin from 1919 to 1929, and which by 1922 was manufacturing 1000 cars a month. It was part of the Stinnes group of companies. AGA stood for Autogen Gasaccumulator AG, a company originally founded in 1914.

The first car, the Typ A of 1919 had a 1420 cc four-cylinder car. The more successful Typ C followed in 1921 with the same engine but tuned to give more power and was sometimes used as a taxi. After Hugo Stinnes died in 1924, AGA and its sister companies Dinos, which was bought in 1925 to increase production space, and Rabag which was licensed to build Bugatti cars at the time, ran into difficulties. Plans for a six cylinder model never reached the production stage. From 1926, production was severely curtailed and stopped completely in 1929 after about 8000 had been made.

Willy Loge drove a 6/30PS sports-racing version which had a 1490cc engine, and which won many races and was entered in the 1926 German Grand Prix. Other racers also drove AGA cars.

The Swedish Thulin company made AGA cars under licence between 1920 and 1924" quoted from :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGA_(automobile)

and on Aga Company site who seem not have any idea when car production started!!
see:http://www.aga.com/web/web2000/com/wppcom.nsf/pages/History_AGACar

AFRICAR (GB) 1984

AFRICAR was a a reasonably serious attempt but it lacked funding to produce a wooden based vehicle for the third world (Developing Countries) the vehicle was designed and built in Britain made of Plywood and it was designed by Tony Howarth. As part of its development testing 3 prototypes were sent on 30000km long distance tour

References:
Preview Feature CAR (GB) 1984 April

An africar goes home CAR (GB) 1984 OCT page 7 prototypes arrived in Kenya after 30000km proving run from the Artic Circle

From the Internet
I found the following further information:
"The car was the idea of Tony Howarth, an English journalist/photographer who spent most of the 1970's in Africa taking pictures. He did not like the roads, the cars and their inability to manage the roads, or the first-world's arrogance---sending lousy vehicles and billing the third-world countries for the cars and interest, while the vehicles disintegrated long before the bills were paid.


Africar was designed to handle rough roads, to be constructed of native materials, and to be made with low-skill labor---all with a minimal imported content. Using Citroën 2CV suspension and drivetrains, Howarth constructed three cars: a station wagon, a pickup and a 6-wheeler. They were built in England and driven to the Arctic Circle. From there they headed south and reached the equator in about four months. A five-hour UK Channel 4 TV special was produced, which raised interest, funds and hopes. A lovely book was printed along with many brochures.

There were promises made about global sales, third-world manufacturing rights, and so on. But the company squandered their funds on a new engine and gearbox, then floundered. Bankruptcy court sold off all the assets, put Tony Howarth in jail for a short time, and the Africars themselves have disappeared.

Tony Howarth, the former owner of Lancaster-based Africar International Limited, was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment, having pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading and obtaining property by deception." qv from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africar

and further information can be found on:
www.oldwoodies.com/feature-africar.htm

and www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/africar/africar.html

AFM (D) 1949-1953

AFM of Germany

This was a 2 seater sports that was originally built as a single seat race car but later converted to a 2 seater open roadster in the 1960s?- One was found in Germany and discussed in Discovered section of Thoroughbred & Classic Car (GB) 1997 November page 132

The Sportscar was derived from F2 Single Seater built by Alex von Falkenhausen and hence the name AFM and extensive historic racing history on this 2 seater can be sourced from
www.forix.com/8w/afm.html

Where in this above website articles
'1952 German GP - German F2 specials taking on Ferrari' by Mattijs Diepraam
Early post-war German F2 cars - The BMW-derived specials that came up in war-struck Germany, by Mattijs Diepraam

and extensive history of the cars particularly Great Racer of the 1930s Hans Stuck been a keen competitor of one of F2 cars see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_von_Falkenhausen_Motorenbau

AEROTRAIN (France) 1967

AEROTRAIN (F) 1967

Not strictly a car manufacturer in the sense - but an interesting vehicle!
It was a proposal to build a Hovercraft Train powered by 2 x rear mounted on the roof Renault Gordini engines and Technical Article appeared in Autocar (GB) 1967 FEB 9th page 47 Volume 126 Issue 3704 the feature was extract from a paper delivered by M Jean Bertin its designer and included a 'cut-a-way illustration

More Information of Aerotrain - is sourced from
see extensive research see wikipedia
below:
""The Aérotrain was a hovercraft train developed in France from 1965 to 1977. The lead engineer was Jean Bertin.

The goal of the Aérotrain was similar to that of the magnetic levitation train: to suspend the train above the tracks so the only resistance is that of air resistance. Consequently, the Aérotrain could travel at very high speeds with reasonable energy consumption and noise levels, but without the technical complexity and expensive tracks of magnetic levitation. This project was abandoned in 1977 due to lack of funding, the death of Jean Bertin, and the adoption of TGV by the French government as its high-speed ground transport solution."

AERONAUTICA MACCHI (I) 1919 -1960s?

This was Little known manufacturer of Motorcycles and motorcycle commercials based in Italy which is subsidary of the great Italian Aeroplane manufacture Aeronautica Macchi "..is one of the pioneer aviation companies in Italy. It's most famous aircraft were the seaplanes that participated in the Schneider trophy races in the 1920s and 30s." and whose aeroplane orgins begin in 1912 where Guilio Macchi forms Societa Anonima Nieuport-Macchi to build Nieuport designs. and then in the 1920s: The firm changes its name to Aeronautica Macchi.
Source: http://www.shanaberger.com/macchi.htm
While the Motorcycle or Trike side of business see Aermacchi Motorcycles and information on motorcycles can be found from the following sites
http://www.dropbears.com/bikelinks/Classic_Motorcycles/A_to_Z/A/Aermacchi_Motorcycles/
and http://www.aermacchi-world.de/Frameset.htm

and Vehicle Identification Number breakdown for Aermacchi and Harley Davidson motorcycles.
http://home-3.worldonline.nl/~jahstof/ahd/vin/vin.htm

Regard to Sole reference sole far for a vehicle

I have only found 1 reference to a 1960 3 wheel Trike based commercial - mentioned in Discovered section of Thoroughbred & Classic Car (GB) 1995December Page 41. This vehicle was found in Spain . In 1960 50% of the company was sold to US Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson!