Dutch RoverArchives Special Edition Rover History Dutch Rover Archives is the brainchild of René Winters. It is a free digital magazine. René is a great Rover enthusiast, and since 1979 he has been passionately collecting all and any information on the Rover brand. Over the years this private collection has grown into a prestigious archive, a treasure trove of information and objects. By creating an e-zine, a digital magazine, René intends to share the information gathered with other Rover MG enthusiasts and to keep the memory of this fantastic brand – no longer around since 2005 - alive among younger generations. Making magazines is not a new venture for René, as he already made club member magazines for the Dutch Rover SD1 foundation between 1990 and 1994. Apart from this, he also made a number of issues of Viking, the Dutch Rover Owners’ Club magazine. The latter were very well received by the club’s members but not by the board . This special edition has been created together with various other Rover lovers who also want to share their interests and passion. A wide range of topics is dealt with, from the very first Rover bicycle to the Rover 75 V8 and the MG Zed models ZR, ZS, ZT and ZTT. Our motto is: be open, honest and transparent. We do not have a membership structure and therefore do not charge membership fees. If you also want to have the next magazines, just send an email to [email protected]. Please put your full name, place of residence, telephone number, the type of Rover car you own and its number plate in your message. If you wish to send us a reaction or be informed of our activities, please join our Facebook group, because a lot of unique information is posted on this platform: www.facebook.com/groups/dutchroverarchives. Editor and designer: René Winters Mail: [email protected] Websites: The world of the Rover SD1 www.roversd1.nl DutchRoverArchives www.roversd1.nl/dutchroverarchives/index.html Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/dutchroverarchives www.facebook.com/groups/ dutchRoverarchivesSaleandwanted/ www.facebook.com/groups/rovermgclubnederland/ www.facebook.com/groups/ rovermgclubnederlandtekoopengevraagd/ www.facebook.com/groups/roverpartsholland The opinions stated in this magazine are not necessarily the editor’s. Articles submitted to the editor are not checked on factual correctness and completeness. The editor cannot in any way be held accountable for the contents. Nothing from this magazine can be copied or publicized in print, in pictures or through digital channels without the express permission of the editor. 2 Dutch RoverArchives Contents Editorial 5 The Rover Safety Bicycle 14 Crisis in the early 1930s 35 The sewing machine industry 7 The Pioneer era 1904 -1932 18 The Fresh product range 40 The velocipede 8 Rover in the war years The first Rover Car 21 1940 -1945 43 From two wheels to three wheels to four wheels 11 The impact of World War I 25 M1 or P3 46 John Kemp Starley 11 Advertisers FR59 4 Spencer Wilks and the Blue My old Shoebox Netzo Druk 50 Train Challenge 31 48 Dutch RoverArchives 3 4 Dutch RoverArchives Editorial Dear Rover enthusiasts, his is the first English-language issue of the free Dutch Rover Archives magazine. T After making five magazines in Dutch, I felt it was high time to launch this first magazine in English, simply because my overseas reading pu- blic greatly appreciates my work but its command of the Dutch language is limited at best and in most cases actually non-existent. Why this magazine? Many years ago Harry Hilgerdenaar and I decided Rather than compete with other Rover clubs, we to share the rich Rover history with Rover lovers. aim to complement the work of other organisa- We had a wealth of material and did not want tions and to cooperate with many Rover clubs all this to gather dust on shelves or mould in boxes. over the world. We do not want members and do Old-school Harry did not have a computer, how- not charge a membership fee. ever, so it was me who turned the Rover history into digital files. If you want to keep abreast of our activities and news, please join our Facebook group. Our passion for the Rover brand led to meetings On Facebook many nice-to-know and need-to- every fortnight, starting as early as 9 am and know details are posted. ending sometime in the evening. Time really flew www.facebook.com/groups/dutchroverarchives. and the memory of those meetings is still very sweet. The idea of a free magazine was a joint Our magazines can be downloaded on: one, and I hit upon the name Dutch Rover Archi- www.roversd1.nl/dutchroverarchives/index.html. ves. Harry was a veritable encyclopaedia of Rover Reactions can be sent to: facts and anecdotes, so contents creation was a [email protected]. breeze. Making this magazine has cost blood, toil, tears Sadly, fate struck unexpectedly in April 2012. and sweat. Without the help of the following per- For years Harry had bravely battled cancer, but sons I could not have made it: weary of the fight his body finally gave out. Harry Harry Hilgerdenaar (Ϯ) Reinhard Stadthaus had completed the history text only a few months Stewart Devlin Geoff Arthur before his untimely death. It was my task to make the text come alive with pictures and dra- Special thanks to: Peter Frambach (FR59) wings. It is with this free magazine that Harry’s name goes into the Rover hall of fame. Harry, thanks for your friendship, the amazing stories and the information. What is our objective? Dutch Rover Archives is for anyone who holds the Rover brand close to his or her heart. It covers all possible Rovers. It is made by volunteers and it is for free. Dutch RoverArchives 5 Rover: the early history of a legendary car brand 6 Dutch RoverArchives Rover: the early history of a legendary car brand York to London in 14 hrs. 33 min. Rover bicycle was the fastest verhicle of the world The sewing machine industry The Coventry Sewing Machine Company The establishment of the Coventry Sewing Machine Compa- ny in 1861 marked that the beginning of Rover’s bicycle ma- nufacturing activities and its later car building business. The British car and motorcycle industry originated in and evolved from the bicycle industry. What few people realise is that the bicycle industry in its turn sprang from the sewing machine manufacturing industry. This is where not only Rover’s roots lie, but also those of many other, once house- hold names, such as Rudge, Ariel, Hillman, Singer, Swift and Humber. This is now more than 150 years ago, and is The James Starley Queen of harts is where our story begins. machine James Starley and the city of Coventry James Starley and his nephew John Starley were to found the Rover Company. James Starley, was born in Sussex in 1830 and started his working life as an apprentice gar- dener. He changed jobs and became an apprentice mecha- nic, working for a man called John Penn from Lewisham, South-London. In Penn’s shipbuilding workshop his real career in industry took off. The Smith and Starley patent Dutch RoverArchives 7 Rover: the early history of a legendary car brand One day Ms Penn’s sewing machine broke down, and James was asked to repair it. He did such a good repair job that his boss, Mr Penn, introduced him to Josiah Turner, who was active in the above-mentioned sewing machine indu- stry. Mr Turner hired the young, promising mechanic, and this is how James Starley started working in manufacturing and designing of sewing machines for Newton-Wilson & Co.. For a while he found much satisfaction in his new job, and it was not long before he had independently designed his own sewing machine and taken out a patent on it. This se- The Patent no: 1678 of 1868 for J. Starley wing machine was so modern that his employer Mr Turner was deeply impressed and convinced of its market potential. He persuaded James to go into business with him and founded a company to market the new sewing machine. As the place of business Coventry was selected as the place to run the busness. Why Coventry? Mr Turner, being a shrewd businessman, knew that Coventry’s industry was not doing well. The city, known for its clocks and textiles industry, was facing keen competition from abroad, such as from Swiss clock makers, and there were also plenty of strikes at the time. Many companies went bankrupt or were closed, which led to a high number of unemployed workers. Spot- ting an opportunity, Mr Turner went for Coventry where many suitable business premises stood vacant and where experienced clock makers could easily be turned into se- wing machine mechanics. This is how the Coventry Sewing “Salvo” Safety Company came to be established in 1861. In that year Ja- mes Starley turned 31. Then came the bicycles The velocipede The shift to bicycles was pure coincidence. Josiah Turner had a nephew called Rowley Turner, who was a student in Paris. In the best capitalist tradition of the Victorian era Rowley was fascinated by the French craze with vélocipèdes, literally meaning ‘fast foot’ and being the original word for a bicycle. Rowley Turner’s interest in the subject was so great that he became a shareholder in the French vélocipèdes fac- tory Michaux. Next to his studies Rowley was also the Paris agent for the Coventry Sewing Machine Company, and on top of that the enterprising young man suggested a new bu- siness venture to his uncle Josiah: producing Michaux bicy- cles under licence in Coventry.