Tickford

Tickford Coachwork

Product type	Coachbuilder
Country	United Kingdom

Tickford is an automobile engineering and testing business in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, known for tuning and such products as the 140 mph Tickford Turbo Capri.

Under the name Salmons & Sons and their Tickford products the firm has an almost two century-long history of coachbuilding.

History 150 years of coachbuilding

Salmons & Sons

Tickford Limited grew from the very substantial coachbuilding business founded in the 1820s by Joseph Salmons later known as Salmons and Sons at Tickford on the east side of Newport Pagnell. Their products bore the brand-name Tickford. With the advent of the internal combustion engine, Salmons & Sons progressed into developing coachbuilt cars as early as 1898 and prospered.^[1] In 1925 they announced their Tickford "All Weather" body, a drophead with the hood mechanism operated by inserting and turning a handle in the rear quarter-panel.^[2]

During the 1930s Salmons built standard catalogued Tickford drophead bodies for: BSA, Daimler, Hillman, Lanchester, MG, Rover, Standard, Triumph, Vauxhall and Wolseley.^[3]

By the late 1930s 450 people were employed producing 30 car bodies a week. Their London showrooms were at 6–9 Upper Saint Martin's Lane WC2.

• 
  Panhard-Levassor
  1924
• 
  Austin Sixteen Light Six
  1929
• 
  1935 Rolls-Royce 20-25
• 
  MG SA
  1938
• 
  Daimler Eighteen
  1940

Tickford Limited

In 1943 following Ian Boswell's purchase of Salmons & Sons Limited the company changed its name to its trademark, Tickford Limited.^[4]

• 
  Aston Martin 2.6 litre
  1951
• 
  Healey
  1952
• 
  Alvis TC 21-100
  1952
• 
  Lagonda 2.6 litre
  1953
• 
  Aston Martin 2.6 litre
  1954

1955–1981: Aston Martin Lagonda

In late 1955 Tickford Limited was bought by David Brown,^[5] owner of Aston Martin since 1947 and Lagonda since 1948 both always fitted with Tickford bodies. He soon moved Aston Martin onto the site at Tickford Street where it remained until Ford moved DB7 production to Bloxham and then to Gaydon for the DB9 and DBS.^{[citation needed]}

• 
  Lagonda 3 Litre
  1955
• 
  Alvis 3 Litre
  1965

Subsequent brand name use

1981–1990: CH Industrials

In 1981 Aston Martin created an engineering service subsidiary and chose the name 'Aston Martin Tickford'. With the changing fortunes of Aston Martin, the company moved into a purpose-built facility in Milton Keynes under the separate ownership of CH Industrials plc and despite carrying out a lot of unseen, "back-room" engineering projects for major manufacturers, gained most publicity from adding engineering and tuning to its coachbuilder roots allowing it to develop special products like the 140 mph, turbocharged Tickford Capri for Ford. After the Capri, Tickford worked with among others,

After a worldwide search, Ford Australia selected Tickford as a joint-venture partner, resulting in Tickford Vehicle Engineering Pty Ltd (TVE) being established in 1991 as the high performance car division of Ford in Australia.^[6]

TVE is best known for building the

In 2001 the whole Tickford Group in UK, Germany, Australia and USA, was acquired by Prodrive, the British motor sport company and, in 2002, its Australian joint venture with Ford, Tickford Vehicle Engineering, was rebranded as Ford Performance Vehicles. The Tickford name disappeared again.

2006–2012: Tickford Powertrain Test

In December 2006, the management team of Prodrive Test Technology, running the former Tickford site at Milton Keynes, purchased the business from Prodrive, renaming it Tickford Powertrain Test. The company now focused on the independent engine and vehicle testing needs of vehicle manufacturers, component companies and the catalyst and petroleum industries. In June 2007, the company acquired Scott Gibbin Ltd, a Peterborough-based engine test and development company. In the spring of 2009 the Peterborough site was closed and the work transferred to the Milton Keynes facility in Tanners Drive.

2013–2015: Intertek

Intertek Group plc, a provider of Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification services to a wide range of industries worldwide, acquired Tickford Powertrain Test on 31 December 2012 from its management shareholders. Traded as Intertek Tickford for 12 months and then latterly just Intertek.^{[citation needed]}.

2016-present: Tickford Australia

In 2016, through Prodrive, Tickford returned to the Australian automotive market. Offering high performance upgrades to the Ford Mustang, Ranger and Everest.This was as a result of Ford Australia shutting down local production, ending the Falcon model and discontinuing the Ford Performance Vehicles brand.

Motorsport

Tickford built on its engine performance heritage with the development of V8 racing engines for

In the late 1980s Tickford designed, developed and built Formula One engines, including some with unique 5-valve cylinder heads. A Tickford 5v version of the Judd V8 was commissioned by Camel Team Lotus for Nelson Piquet and Satoru Nakajima to use.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tickford Coachwork.

• Tickford Powertrain Test Ltd
• Tickford Owners Club