Phompsonby Motor Vehicles

Phompsonby's logo, barely changed from how it was 100+ years ago

## Phompsonby Motor Vehicles LTD

**Phompsonby** **Motor Vehicles Limited** (stylised as Phompsonby LTD or just Phompsonby) is an English based automotive manufacturer that services the United Kingdom and wider Commonwealth of Nations. Phompsonby has been building a variety of vehicles for over 100 years.

### Origin

Phompsonby got its start creating a range of small steam engines for use in agricultural and industrial environments. These steam engines were small, cheap to maintain and delivered a small but consistent amount of power. The engines could produce between 1-15 horse power in varying sizes, marketed as an economic and cheaper way to power factory machinery or agricultural machines than either person or animal power.

### Turn of the Century

Phompsonby caught on to the potential of the combustion engine very quickly. It was smaller, easier to manufacture and safer than steam power and had the potential to produce far more power than a steam engine ever could. In 1901, Phompsonby rebranded themselves and made a big announcement. They were discontinuing their current line of steam engines and switching to combustion engines. They would continue to support their existing steam engines with spare parts, repairs and services until the end of the decade, at which point all steam engine support would be terminated. They also unveiled their first car to the public, named the Phompsonby Family, a very luxurious, premium car to demonstrate their belief in the new power source and to show how invested they would be in the combustion engine. Of course, the car was just a mock-up at this point, little more than a paint shell, free wheeling axles and wheels with an interior that would pass as luxurious at a glance in the distance. It would take until 1905 before Phompsonby would finally release the car to hit success. From here, they produced something for everyone so they could cover all bases and make sure everyone had a reason to own a Phompsonby.

### First World War

When WWI rolled around, Phompsonby quickly dropped development of new cars and focussed on the war effort. They converted their factories to building aircraft engines for the newly formed Royal Flying Corps and producing materials for the war effort. This wasn't to say that they stopped vehicle production all together, however. Instead of developing for the civilian market, Phompsonby produced designs for the War Department and the military, hoping to supply them with vehicles to use on the front. They produced several armoured car concepts that were ultimately rejected, but they did manage to secure one contract to build ambulances for the army. The ambulances were essentially existing Phompsonby vans which had beefier suspension fitted for the mud of France, chunkier tyres for grip and a stronger engine, once again for the mud, shell holes and weight they would be carrying when hauling the injured too and from the casualty stations and the trenches. The ambulances were successful in their designed role and helped save many hundreds of lives by braving shell fire and German intervention to carry wounded soldiers to the rear lines. After the war, the ambulances stayed on for several years before being ultimately sold or scrapped. One of these ambulances can be seen in the Military Air and Land Museum in restored and running order.

### Post WWI and the 'Golden Age' of Phompsonby

The 1920s saw a 'Golden Age' for Phompsonby where they released a new car nearly every year, of which nearly all of them were a success. After the First World War, Phompsonby left it until the end of the decade before unveiling a new car. In 1921 they revealed the Phompsonby Longstar, a 2 seater sports car which had a rear hatch to double the seat count, was sleek, fast and modern. The Longstar was a smash hit, selling in droves and powering Phompsonby to a massive high. Over the course of the decade, they released successors to their original 1905 Family named the Family MKII in 1922, the 1907 Economic named the Everyman in 1924 and the 1909 Commercial named the Enterprise in1924 as well. All these were successes, with just the Everyman performing to expectations. They also released a limousine in 1926, a station wagon named the Wagoneer in 1926 and a general purpose car of the people in 1927. Again, all these were successes or at least performed to expectations. Coming up to the end of the decade, Phompsonby were in a fantastic position, having successfully rejuvenated their existing cars with newer models, expanded their offerings with more options and being a big name brand for high quality, luxurious cars which had a great build quality.

### The Failure of the Phompsonby Luxury

However, it all came crashing down with their release of the Phompsonby Luxury in 1929, a hulking behemoth of a car which made a lot of promises and failed to deliver on any of them. The Luxury had been promised to revolutionise the motor industry. Phompsonby promised a lot of things about this car which had eyes glued to any news about it. Phompsonby promised a large, powerful engine capable of 25 miles to the gallon. A new gearbox and drivetrain, design, interior and style. However, the car failed on most fronts. The engine was indeed larger than every before, at 2.2 litres and it was their first engine to break 100 horse power. However, it was built in exactly the same way as their previous engines, without the promised new headers or carburettors and the increase in power was purely due to the increased size. Talking of size, the car was massive. Far too massive for the UK roads, resulting in many people turning it down. The vehicle also didn't change the drivetrain, using rear wheel drive and a 4 speed manual gearbox, the same as every other Phompsonby car. The interior was luxury, yes, but it was no more luxury than the Family MKII which released 7 years prior, was smaller, better looking and cheaper! As for speed, it was fast, yes, faster than any other Phompsonby for the time, but the 0-62 was slower than the Longstar which released 8 years earlier and was more desirable, sporty and once again better looking! The Luxury was expensive, massive, ugly and to top it off it had slightly worse miles to the gallon than the far cheaper Enterprise at 16.1 miles to the gallon, a far cry from the huge 25 promised! The Luxury was the first real failure Phompsonby had, being on sale for less than a year and resulting in a massive deficit from the costs of engineering, researching and marketing it.

### The Great Depression

While the Great Depression wasn't as hard hitting to the UK as it was in America, it still proved nearly deadly for Phompsonby. The sudden market crash and unemployment spikes combined with the massive failure of the Luxury resulted in massive losses for Phompsonby. Where they came into the decade with success and full pockets, they left with abject failure and near bankruptcy. The Luxury's flop hit the company hard and it couldn't have come at a worse time. The Great Depression resulted in a lot of unemployment, inflation and a lack of spending by the populace. This meant Phompsonby couldn't afford a large workforce and no-one would purchase their cars due to the failure of the Luxury and the recession brought on by the Great Depression. The company came very close to bankruptcy but just kept out of liquidation by discontinuing most of their line. The Limousine, Wagoneer, Enterprise and Everyman were all dropped at the end of the decade, while the Standard was kept on sale for just 1 more year until 1931 when it too was dropped. This left their line-up with just 2 cars, the Family MKII and Longstar as well as their race car, which was performing very well in the racing world and one of the only things keeping them going from the championship wins and sponsorships received. When the UK started recovering in 1933, Phompsonby looked towards the future. Never again would they promise something outlandish like they did with the Luxury and decided to focus on the vehicles need for the reaerating economy.

### Leading to WWII and the Phompsonby 'Dark Age'

The 1930s saw a slow rebuild for Phompsonby. They had been carried through the Great Depression by the Longstar and Family MKII as well as their racing division and team, who they publicly thanked multiple times both during and after the depression period. However, they didn't experience the big boom they saw at the beginning of the 1920s. Instead, it was an unsteady climb up back to a stable environment, often cited as their 'Dark Age'. They released smaller, cheaper vehicles with some success while phasing out the Longstar after over a decade of sale. They also released a successor to the Family MKII, named the Family MKIII with less success, resulting in the end of the Family lineage at the outbreak of the war. The recovery was slow for Phompsonby with both successes and failures, but thankfully nothing as catastrophic as the Luxury.

### Second World War

Like with the First World War, when the second one broke out in 1939 Phompsonby instantly switched their production to aircraft, military vehicles and aircraft engines. The government grants they received for this helped rejuvenate the company and bring it out of its current recession. However, like in WWI, they weren't content to just produce licenced vehicles and engines. They developed their own engine, a small inline 3 engine named the 'Phompson Home Front' and created some small utility vans for use by the RAF, army and Home Guard. The RAF utility van was built in the greatest number and designated the 'Car, Light Utility 4x4/Phompsonby'. As the name suggests, it was a small 4x4 utility van with a soft rear and top which can be easily taken off for more storage or easier access to the rear load. The car saw heavy usage during the Battle of Britain and Liberation of France, serving on into the early '50s when the RAF replaced it. One restored and running examples of the RAF model can be seen once again in the Military Land and Air Museum.

### Post WWII

Phompsonby gave the country more time to recover after WWII than they did in WWI. In the last war, Britian saw limited attacks from the German Empire other than the occasional Zeppelin raid or late war bombing attack by Gotha G.IV bombers. During WWII, however, Britain was pounded by the Luftwaffe for a lot of war with case in point being the Blitz. So, after peace was declared in May 1945, Phompsonby focussed on development of new models rather than pushing the public to purchase their cars again. While they did release a sleek sports car in 1946 under the name of the Phompsonby Dart, it didn't do well commercially so was dropped and Phompsonby once again was silent from the public. However, in June 1950, the government announced that petrol rationing was to end, making Phompsonby sit up and take an interest once again in producing cars. Giving it one year, they released their new car in 1951, over 10 years since their last proper public car release! Over the rest of the decade, Phompsonby took it slow and steady with their car releases, all of which were met with far greater success than anything from the last 30 years!

### Regrowth of the company

In 1960 Phompsonby had about recovered to their 1920s standard. It wasn't quite as vibrant or successful as their 1920s 'Golden Age', but they were enjoying success again and once again getting into the public eye. With a modern release of their Family line, though under a different name, they started building up a selection of different car models again, accumulating in the massive success of their 1965 hatchback named the Phompsonby Petite. The Petite was a small, compact hatchback with a powerful engine which was capable of making it fly around the roads! The Petite proved popular with the youths of the UK who wanted a fast, mobile and fun road car to race around in, as well as those families who needed a small and compact family car which could easily be parked, was relatively inexpensive and capable of carrying a family of 4. From here the company kept building up the end of the century, riding on the success of the Petite but being mindful to not get too carried away like they did 40 years ago.

### On the up

The 1970s saw the release of the Phompsonby Elematic, a boxer 4 sports car which was incredibly light, weighing less than 900 KG. The engine was just 280ish horse power but because of its light weight, the Elematic could easily out perform cars with double that! It was a massive selling point of the Elematic and carried Phompsonby to new heights and new models. Just 5 years later, Phompsonby released the Overhauler, a massive 4x4 off-roader capable of towing heavy loads, proving popular with farmers and extreme off-roaders for its power and cross-country capabilities. Going into the 1980s and 1990s, Phompsonby stuck with general models of cars and didn't produce anything outrageously fast or luxurious, instead option to keep a premium level of comfort across all their base models rather than having one or two highly luxurious offers like they did at the beginning of the century. Most of their offerings were sedans, hatchbacks, coupes and SUVs, making sure there was something for everyone on offer. 1990 also saw the celebration of Phompsonby's 100th anniversary of being a company, with a retro throwback model being released and a year of celebrations about Phompsonby's existence and celebration about their steam powered origins.

### A new decade

Heading into a new decade and new century, Phompsonby was looking to celebrate their 100th birthday of producing motor vehicles which was rapidly approaching in 2005. Until then, they continued to release basic car models leading up to a special throwback model in 2005, celebrating and referencing their origins. It was in the new century that they started developing extremely high powered hypercars. Notable examples are the Phompsonby Hypercar and the Phompsonby Mach 2, both of which are extreme speed, drag racing and enclosed track racing cars. At the end of the 2010s, Phomsonby announced and released their 'retro line' of vehicles. These are to celebrate their 115th anniversary of building motor vehicles and are either recreations or continuations of previous vehicles from all eras of Phompsonby. These include a successor to the 1970 Elematic named the Elematic II, a remake of their first ever car in 1905 which was named the Phompsonby Dynasty as well as the extreme acceleration hyper drag car named the Phompsonby Rocket, designed to look like a 1960s race car. Phompsonby is in a stable position going into the 2020s, with consitent and popular releases and their new 'Retro Line' quickly becoming popular.

## Phompsonby Racing Group LTD

Phompsonby had always had a racing group attached to them, ever since the 1920s. They originally specialised in open wheeled race cars but branched out after WWII to more modern racing events. Development of the first Phompsonby race car started in 1910, though the car wouldn't debut until 1920 under the name of the Phompsonby Powermax. It was a brute of a car and highlighted a lot of problems with its design. Just 5 years later it was replaced by the far more successful Phompsonby 'Green Arrow' a specialised and well designed race car. The racing division of Phompsonby was responsible for, nearly single handedly, keeping Phompsonby afloat during the Great Depression during the UK between 1929-33. The 'Green Arrow' was the saving grace of Phompsonby, able to win championships and secure sponsorship deals because of it, giving Phompsonby the money required to just crawl through the Great Depression. In 1933, a replacement to the 'Green Arrow' was unveiled and the racing division continued to be the main income source of Phompsonby up to the Second World War, when racing was stopped and the division put on hold.

The group was revived in the second half of the 1950s when they were tasked with making a car to compete in the 1960s 24 hours Le Mans race, designed to herald in a big comeback for Phompsonby racing. They did manage it and the Le Mans Special debuted at the race that year. Since then, Phompsonby has nearly exclusively raced in the Le Mans race, with just a few one-off cars for other races or racing types, such as rallying. Phompsonby didn't really take part in the rise of F1 racing, so they are notably absent from this racing theatre, but they continue to be prominent in the Le Mans world. They are also responsible for engineering the hypercars of modern Phompsonby, such as the Hypercar and Mach 2.

### Open wheel racers

#### The Phompsonby Powermax

The Powermax was Phompsonby's first attempt at a race car. It had a long development time of 10 years, starting development in 1910 and debuting at Brooklands Racetrack in 1920! The Powermax was large, ungainly, dangerous, hard to handle and not very aerodynamic. The car was extremely powerful, with an 8.7 litre V8 producing just over 400 horse power, a 130 MPH top speed and a 0-62 of 10.1 seconds. The car was loud and powerful but also heavy and ungainly, resulting in a very conserved driving style. The drivers had to concentrate a lot to keep the car from crashing, resulting in mixed results. The car raced for 5 years until 1925, seeing its best results in 1924 once the drivers had gotten used to its power and handling. It saw its last race in 1925 when it appeared next to the successor to the Powermax, named the 'Green Arrow' which raced alongside the Powermax in its debut race.

#### The Phompsonby 'Green Arrow'

Development on the 'Green Arrow' happened as soon as the Powermax had ended its first race. Phompsonby saw the competition, looked at the Powermax, saw how it performed and instantly recognised the many problems it had. In half the development time of the Powermax, they had created a far superior race car. Starting in 1920, the 'Green Arrow' started its life under the name of 'Powermax II' as a successor to the Powermax. The 'Green Arrow' had a new engine, body and chassis resulting in greatly improved characteristics. It debuted in the last race the Powermax appeared in, being revealed to the world in that race, and it out-performed the Powermax in that opening race. The 'Green Arrow' had a 6 litre V12 engine producing 410 horse power, 10 more than the Powermax, for a better 0-62 of 8.9 seconds and the same top speed. The 'Green Arrow' was superior in every way than the Powermax, with better handling, less weight, better acceleration and a far sleeker design. The ‘Green Arrow’ finished in the top half nearly every championship, winning 6 championships during its career, one in 1926, 1 in 1927, 2 in 1929, 1 in 1930 and one final victory in 1931. It was replaced in 1933 by the Phompsonby Recharging, which debuted in the final race of the 'Green Arrow' the same way the car had been introduced over the Powermax.

#### The 'Le Mans Special' family

After the war, Phompsonby sat out of racing for 20 years, not coming back until 1960, when they released a car to compete in the 1960s Le Mans race of that year. Development of a race car had started several years earlier in the late '50s, when Phompsonby revived their racing division and pushed for a car which could be unveiled that year. So was born the 'Le Mans Special', a family name which would be used up to the present day. The original model mounted a boxer 6 engine and so started the tradition of all Phompsonby Le Mans cars mounted boxer 6 engines. In each incarnation, the car was improved in some way. Sometimes it would be a large improvement, other times a small boost of some statistic. This has continued to this day.

* 1960 Le Mans Special MKI
* 1965 Le Mans Special MKII
* 1972 Le Mans Special MKIII
* 1976 Le Mans Special MKIV (the first to employ a turbocharger)
* More models coming