E. D. Abbott Ltd
Abbott of Farnham, E D Abbott Limited was a British coachbuilding business based in Farnham, Surrey, trading under that name from 1929. A major part of their output was under sub-contract to motor vehicle manufacturers. The business closed in 1972.
Origin
Edward Dixon Abbott (b. 1898)[1] had been employed in the design department of Wolseley Motors before he joined the coachbuilders Page and Hunt who had started operations in 1920.[2] Abbott became their London Sales Manager and when Page and Hunt's business failed in 1929 he took over their Farnham works, forming a new company using his own name.[2]
Many of the early orders were for commercial vehicles, which kept the business afloat during the worst of the depression, but some car body making continued. From 1931 Abbott took a stand each year at the London Motor Show. Cars fitted with bodies included the
Sailplanes
Abbott built a glider called the
Lagonda
In 1934 Abbott won a major contract from
During the second world war the company manufactured experimental radar aerials for the Royal Aircraft Establishment.
Postwar
After World War 2 the company restarted its coachbuilding activities, building production runs of coupés for
Large orders came from Ford for estate car versions of their Consul and Zephyr models, which kept the firm in business during the late 1950s and early 1960s, after which Ford estate production (aside from the Corsair) was done by Ford themselves as the level of demand had shown mass production was viable.
The days of the special coachbuilding industry were numbered and orders declined through the 1960s; the company finally closed in 1972.
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Bentley coupé 1953
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Bentley instrument panel
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Healey Abbott
Farnham Estates for Ford
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Zodiac MkII by Abbott
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Zodiac MkII conversion
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Ford Zephyr 6 conversion
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Ford ZodiacMkIII by Abbott
External links
- 1951 Jaguar XK120 four-seater open tourer by E D Abbott Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- 1952 Bentley R-Type coupé by E D Abbott
- Talbot Ten, drophead coupé by E D Abbott
- 1970 Ford Capri Convertible by E D Abbott
References
- Walker, Nick. A-Z of British Coachbuilders, Bay View Books, 1997. ISBN 1-870979-93-1