The D Type Vauxhall 1912-1922
Vauxhall’s D Type motor car was distinguished by its four cylinder 4 litre engine and solid long-wheelbase chassis. It was catalogued by Vauxhall as 25 horsepower and introduced in 1912. Like the six cylinder B Type of 1910-1915 the D Type was capable of carrying large and luxurious coachwork, in time becoming known as ‘the weight carrying chassis’. It was produced until 1922, by which time approximately 4,000 examples had been sold. In view of this it is striking that so few D Types – less than 1 per cent of production – survive today.
The D Type design changed little over its ten year production run, a testimony to the soundness of Laurence Pomeroy’s initial design. Early cars had a wheelbase of 10 feet 7 inches and were 66 inches wide; from 1919 the design was revised and cars were a little larger at 10 feet 10 inch wheelbase and 70 inches wide, giving them a very imposing appearance. The D Type engine was essentially a larger version of the A Type 3 litre engine, the four cylinders (bore 95 mm and stroke 140 mm) giving a capacity of 3,969 cubic centimetres. Like the A Type the cylinders were contained within a neat monobloc with integral cylinder head and inlet manifold, the inlet and exhaust valves being arranged in line on the near side. In an improvement on earlier engines the camshaft and magneto were driven by an internally toothed ‘silent’ chain which was adjustable for wear. The earliest cars had a White and Poppe 40 mm carburettor and Simms magneto; a 42 mm Zenith carburettor and Watford F04 magneto became standard subsequently. Bosch ZU4 magnetos were also fitted, particularly on export cars. Engine numbers are stamped on the crankcase (timing chain cover); car numbers are stamped on an elliptical brass plate attached to the firewall. Car numbers were also painted on the underside of the bonnet in the erecting shop although the passage of time and energetic restorations have removed most traces of these. Unfortunately Vauxhall did not stamp a number on the chassis and this makes it very difficult to establish the exact identity of a car if the brass number plate is missing.
In 1913 the C Type Prince Henry Vauxhall was revised to allow the D Type engine to be fitted to improve its performance. Around 130 such Prince Henry Vauxhalls were produced. Some D Type marine engines were also made, and some engines were used for experimental work. These applications explain the subsequent discrepancy between engine and car numbers in D Type motor cars, and from the late Edwardian period onward engine numbers were around 150 higher than the number of the car to which they were fitted (as can be seen in many of the cars listed in this Register).
During the Great War of 1914-1918 Vauxhall manufactured nearly 2,000 D Types for the War Office. These were used as Army Staff Cars, with both tourer and landaulette bodies being fitted. Deployed with great success on the Western Front and in the Middle East they carried King George V, senior officers and high speed mail despatches. Vauxhall made much of this work in its contemporary advertising, invoking the slogan ‘The finest car on active service.’ In December 1918 The Auto Motor Journal described in detail the D Type chassis design which had been revised for 1919, again reflecting on the model’s vital wartime role:
‘It is the handsomest the writer has seen. Lacking nothing of the prettiness of the drawing-board, it simultaneously embodies the teachings of many season’s successful speed-work on track and road, tens of thousands of miles’ touring in the care only of pleasure-bent owner-drivers, and – on top of that little lot – four years solid slogging on the busiest fronts of the present… war.
No tank is tougher; no battleplane is fleeter (relatively and in potentiality); no light cruiser is smarter to the eye…’
With the coming of peace came the cancellation of War Office orders and in 1919 Shaw and Kilburn, Vauxhall’s agents in London, were advertising ‘1918 War Office Model’ D Types fitted with the fairly plain ‘Newmarket’ open touring body at a price of £900. Vauxhall went on to make a further 1,600 D Types to the revised design between 1919 and 1922, and whilst some were bodied by outside coachbuilders such as Grosvenor many were fitted with one of the wide range of attractive bodies available from Vauxhall’s in-house coachbuilders. These were identified by such noble-sounding names as the ‘Warwick’ landaulette, the ‘Sutherland’ three-quarter cabriolet, the ‘Arundel’ saloon limousine and the ‘Kington’ open tourer. The latter was particularly popular and many of these are represented in the D Type Register.
By 1922 the D Type (25 h.p.) chassis with ‘Kington’ body was catalogued at £1,100 which was marginally less than a fully-equipped 30-98 chassis with ‘Velox’ body catalogued at £1,195. At this time Vauxhall offered a three year guarantee on the D Type chassis, but only one year on the 30-98 which was obviously expected to have a harder life!
Sir Stanley Reed KBE, politician, author and editor of The Times of India was a very satisfied owner of a post-war 25 horsepower car. In a testimonial letter to Vauxhall published in early 1920 he enthused that
‘I need hardly say that I am absolutely delighted with the car. Although I have never had occasion to develop its full speed, the sense of power under the driver makes touring a perfect joy, whilst at the same time the remarkable flexibility of the engine makes it quite an easy car to drive in the thickest traffic of London. I do not keep a driver and look after the engine entirely myself, but I have never found that the car offers any difficulty to the intelligent owner-driver.’
Because of their high build quality, rugged reliability and an ability to cope with poor road surfaces at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, a significant proportion of D Types were exported, particularly to Australia and New Zealand. This is reflected in the sizeable number of cars in the D Type Register listed in, or from, those countries. Some of these cars were fitted with bodies made by local coachbuilders, a notable example being Jackson, Jones and Collins in Sydney, one of whose directors was Boyd Edkin. He had done much to raise the profile of Vauxhall in Australia with feats of long-distance record-breaking combined with brilliant salesmanship.
In 1922 the OD Type was introduced, giving the 25 horsepower chassis a new lease of life.
Alexander Hayward - November 2013
Vauxhall’s D Type motor car was distinguished by its four cylinder 4 litre engine and solid long-wheelbase chassis. It was catalogued by Vauxhall as 25 horsepower and introduced in 1912. Like the six cylinder B Type of 1910-1915 the D Type was capable of carrying large and luxurious coachwork, in time becoming known as ‘the weight carrying chassis’. It was produced until 1922, by which time approximately 4,000 examples had been sold. In view of this it is striking that so few D Types – less than 1 per cent of production – survive today.
The D Type design changed little over its ten year production run, a testimony to the soundness of Laurence Pomeroy’s initial design. Early cars had a wheelbase of 10 feet 7 inches and were 66 inches wide; from 1919 the design was revised and cars were a little larger at 10 feet 10 inch wheelbase and 70 inches wide, giving them a very imposing appearance. The D Type engine was essentially a larger version of the A Type 3 litre engine, the four cylinders (bore 95 mm and stroke 140 mm) giving a capacity of 3,969 cubic centimetres. Like the A Type the cylinders were contained within a neat monobloc with integral cylinder head and inlet manifold, the inlet and exhaust valves being arranged in line on the near side. In an improvement on earlier engines the camshaft and magneto were driven by an internally toothed ‘silent’ chain which was adjustable for wear. The earliest cars had a White and Poppe 40 mm carburettor and Simms magneto; a 42 mm Zenith carburettor and Watford F04 magneto became standard subsequently. Bosch ZU4 magnetos were also fitted, particularly on export cars. Engine numbers are stamped on the crankcase (timing chain cover); car numbers are stamped on an elliptical brass plate attached to the firewall. Car numbers were also painted on the underside of the bonnet in the erecting shop although the passage of time and energetic restorations have removed most traces of these. Unfortunately Vauxhall did not stamp a number on the chassis and this makes it very difficult to establish the exact identity of a car if the brass number plate is missing.
In 1913 the C Type Prince Henry Vauxhall was revised to allow the D Type engine to be fitted to improve its performance. Around 130 such Prince Henry Vauxhalls were produced. Some D Type marine engines were also made, and some engines were used for experimental work. These applications explain the subsequent discrepancy between engine and car numbers in D Type motor cars, and from the late Edwardian period onward engine numbers were around 150 higher than the number of the car to which they were fitted (as can be seen in many of the cars listed in this Register).
During the Great War of 1914-1918 Vauxhall manufactured nearly 2,000 D Types for the War Office. These were used as Army Staff Cars, with both tourer and landaulette bodies being fitted. Deployed with great success on the Western Front and in the Middle East they carried King George V, senior officers and high speed mail despatches. Vauxhall made much of this work in its contemporary advertising, invoking the slogan ‘The finest car on active service.’ In December 1918 The Auto Motor Journal described in detail the D Type chassis design which had been revised for 1919, again reflecting on the model’s vital wartime role:
‘It is the handsomest the writer has seen. Lacking nothing of the prettiness of the drawing-board, it simultaneously embodies the teachings of many season’s successful speed-work on track and road, tens of thousands of miles’ touring in the care only of pleasure-bent owner-drivers, and – on top of that little lot – four years solid slogging on the busiest fronts of the present… war.
No tank is tougher; no battleplane is fleeter (relatively and in potentiality); no light cruiser is smarter to the eye…’
With the coming of peace came the cancellation of War Office orders and in 1919 Shaw and Kilburn, Vauxhall’s agents in London, were advertising ‘1918 War Office Model’ D Types fitted with the fairly plain ‘Newmarket’ open touring body at a price of £900. Vauxhall went on to make a further 1,600 D Types to the revised design between 1919 and 1922, and whilst some were bodied by outside coachbuilders such as Grosvenor many were fitted with one of the wide range of attractive bodies available from Vauxhall’s in-house coachbuilders. These were identified by such noble-sounding names as the ‘Warwick’ landaulette, the ‘Sutherland’ three-quarter cabriolet, the ‘Arundel’ saloon limousine and the ‘Kington’ open tourer. The latter was particularly popular and many of these are represented in the D Type Register.
By 1922 the D Type (25 h.p.) chassis with ‘Kington’ body was catalogued at £1,100 which was marginally less than a fully-equipped 30-98 chassis with ‘Velox’ body catalogued at £1,195. At this time Vauxhall offered a three year guarantee on the D Type chassis, but only one year on the 30-98 which was obviously expected to have a harder life!
Sir Stanley Reed KBE, politician, author and editor of The Times of India was a very satisfied owner of a post-war 25 horsepower car. In a testimonial letter to Vauxhall published in early 1920 he enthused that
‘I need hardly say that I am absolutely delighted with the car. Although I have never had occasion to develop its full speed, the sense of power under the driver makes touring a perfect joy, whilst at the same time the remarkable flexibility of the engine makes it quite an easy car to drive in the thickest traffic of London. I do not keep a driver and look after the engine entirely myself, but I have never found that the car offers any difficulty to the intelligent owner-driver.’
Because of their high build quality, rugged reliability and an ability to cope with poor road surfaces at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, a significant proportion of D Types were exported, particularly to Australia and New Zealand. This is reflected in the sizeable number of cars in the D Type Register listed in, or from, those countries. Some of these cars were fitted with bodies made by local coachbuilders, a notable example being Jackson, Jones and Collins in Sydney, one of whose directors was Boyd Edkin. He had done much to raise the profile of Vauxhall in Australia with feats of long-distance record-breaking combined with brilliant salesmanship.
In 1922 the OD Type was introduced, giving the 25 horsepower chassis a new lease of life.
Alexander Hayward - November 2013