Salmons to Tickford

Coachbuilders are a considerable fascination today since they demonstrate lost techniques and skills, and recall an age when many cars were bought as a chassis only and the customer had considerable choice over the way his or her car would look and the exact amount and type of equipment fitted. I can recall a story of how the daughter of a valued customer of the Sunbeam company, called at their Wolverhampton factory. She was entertained to lunch, given a tour of the factory, then shown a range of standard models. By chance she spotted a very attractive coupe, which was being serviced and
declared this was the model she wanted to purchase. This had a specially built body, so the Sunbeam management apologised that they would not be able to supply this exact car for some weeks, so they would lend her another until it was ready. Try that one today and hear the response. The coachbuilder I wish to spotlight this time is the Newport Pagnell, Bucks, firm of Salmons, later Tickford. As Aston Martin Tickford, the name and something of its former activities continue to
this day. Notably they make low-volume special series cars like the Tickford Turbo Capri and undertake work for other manufacturers like Jaguar on low-volume models such as the XJ-S Cabriolet prior to Jaguar, going into full-scale production themselves.

Tickford was, of course, associated for many years with Aston Martin, indeed almost synonymous and sharing adjacent premises. Their origins, however, go back much further being one of the early carriage makers in the 1820s. They occupied a cottage and outbuildings, which were part of the walled estate of Tickford Abbey. At this time they were known as Salmons & Sons Carriage Works and a photograph shows the yard -- presumably staged for the purpose -- filled with all manner of carts, buggies and formal carriages.

The company was founded by Joseph Salmons and he was succeeded by his sons Thomas, Joseph Jnr, and William who continued until 1909. Sons Lucas and George took over, finally selling in 1942 to Ian Boswell of Crawley, a wealthy car enthusiast. David Brown acquired the company in 1955. In turn Brown sold Tickford along with Aston Martin Lagonda to Company Developments in 1972. On December31, 1974 the company went into a much publicised liquidation and by June the following year Peter Sprague and George Minden bought the assets. Later Denis Flather and Alan Curtis joined the board. In 1981 Pace Petroleum and Victor Gaunlett and CH Industries took control, and a separate company, Aston Martin Tickford, was formed. So much for the potted history of the company, which has seen many owners, particularly since the war. I am indeed indebted to Clifford Pelts, who stared with the company in 1932 and retired in 1983, for much of the information and for the use of just a small part of a fascinating photographic archive he has gathered together for a history on the company he is compiling and which will, I am sure, be far more detailed than we have space for here. Clifford was a coach finisher apprentice for seven years, following, as so many did his father before him and even his father before that. Coach finishing was the trade term for the craft of producing decorative woodwork for car interiors. Clifford's last 15 years there were spent on body pattern making.

Grandfather Eli started-off as a body-maker but ended up as a draughtsman. Amazingly, he was completely sell-taught and, apparently, would be out walking with his wife, see a car pass by that attracted him and immediately rush home to start sketching it. Clifford's father Percy, on the other hand, went to night-school locally and entered the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers annual competition in July, 1913. Despite taking second prize and a certificate of merit in the two-seater motor body class open to youths under 21, Percy did not take up a design career. His brother Frank, who took first prize the year before, left Salmons to work for Short Bros at Rochester.

Labour intensive - It is hard for us today, when we are used to robots and machines, to realise how labour intensive such companies were. In 1913, for instance, Salmons had 31 bodies exhibited at Olympia during the annual Motor Show. At their Peak, just before the Second World War, up to 30 bodies a week were passing through the works with up to 450 people engaged on them. The factory was entirely self-contained with its own diesel powered generator, blacksmith's shop and so on. In the early days, of course, all the body frames were made from wood (usually Ash which was strong, light and easily shaped) and the trees arrived from local farms to be left in a field (where the service area is now) for several years to mature. A rack-saw was then employed to turn them into 3in planks, 15ft or so long. Even then, they were stored in open-sided sheds to mature naturally (not kiln dried) for up to three years. So one can readily imagine that a great deal of money was tied-up in raw materials. Even a relatively small department, such as the one where Clifford spent much of his working life, was pretty Labour intensive. Up to a dozen men would work from wood planks, cutting and shaping dashboards and other decorative woodwork. Veneers were bought-in, matched up and glued on with Scotch glue-- a hoof extract that had to be heated. The decorative wood item would then be sanded down ready for polishing which was carried out in a separate 'shop' or department. One lost coachbuilders' art was close-plating. This was an early process when brass was used decoratively for hood irons and the like. Contrary to popular myth such items were not always solid brass even then, and close plating was the method by which brass leaf was applied to cast-iron using soldering irons. Later, polished chrome plating took over and this and nickel plating was all done on site.

Diversity then as now was the name of the game, and Salmons certainly achieved this. In 1912 they opened a cinema near Newport Pagnell, run by Margaret Salmons, called the Elektra. During the First War they built ambulance bodies, many of which saw service in Russia. Salmons also made toys. In the early Twenties they set up the Priory Speaker Company to make wireless speakers. In 1923 they actually manufactured a complete car for two years as the Newport Pagnell Light Car Co. The NP, as it was invariably known, was a rather nicely produced light car using a Meadows 14-22hp engine. About 300 were built but none are known to survive. Any contradictory evidence would be warmly appreciated. They also acted as sole agents for the American marque, King, which was a luxury make with a V8 engine. Invariably they removed the existing bodies and substituted their own. During the Second World War, the factory, now employing 650 staff-mainly women -- made fire-fighting ladders, chairs, tables and camp beds.

Happy chance - The name change from Salmons to Tickford came about by happy chance. Landaulettes were formal car bodies with a folding section over the passengers at the rear. In these times it was not unusual to be out in the open air. The tops, however, were extremely heavy, being made of patent leather on the outside with wool head linings and wooden pillars and much iron-work. One day a blacksmith at Salmons by the name of Arthur Dalby Balls (known inexplicably as Tommy) had the idea of making the chauffeur's task easier when it came to opening and closing the roof section. Put simply, he devised a series of cogs, which were linked to the hood frame. By the simple expedient era handle which could be inserted into the mechanism at the rear three quarter position, this enormous structure could be wound up and down with ease. This was patented and became known as the Tickford All-Weather style because of its instant adaptability; previously, passengers probably just had to put up with a sudden shower. Salmons paid Tommy Balls a royalty of œ1 for the idea plus five shillings for the first 25 such devices sold and œ1 in excess of 25 such hoods as fitted to the car shown at Olympia in 1925, known as the Type A. Seven shillings was paid on another Type B. That this type of body became a staple Salmons line for many years must have been 'a nice little earner' for Mr Balls. The Autocar, commenting on coachwork at Olympia commented that it was a "striking development of adaptably designed bodywork" and "this remarkahle body should be seen by all visitors." The windows dropped down into the doors and the supports hinged down inside the body; when erecting, the hood automatically locked in to them via spring catches. The cars demonstrating this body style were a Minerva and a Bianchi. During the Thirties, Salmons were producing batches of standardised 'Tickford' open coachwork for manufacturers such as MG, Vauxhall, Rover and the Hillman Aero Minx coupe convertible. None of these were of the original 'Tickford' winding down top design, being tourers pure and simple. Saloons were made only rarely. Minx or MG bodies took about two weeks and drivers brought the chassis to the factory sitting on boxes and wearing goggles for protection. More expensive chassis came by rail and a Rolls-Royce body might take four weeks to build. In the mid to late Thirties, a measure of this was that a special self-contained workshop handled only cars carrying the sacred octagon. It was known as the MG Shop. As related earlier the Salmons family eventually sold the business and in 1942 it became Tickford Limited. But it was 1946 before, things started to get back to normal. Even then they relied on a Ministry of Supply contract to refurbish and convert vehicles back to civilian use after the war effort. And it was 1947 before Tickford built its first new car body for a manufacturer.

This was the Alvis TA I4 Drop head which was shown at Earls Court in 1948 and between, 50 and 75 of these were built. Then followed Daimler, Humber (notably a 'Woody' Estate) and some early Land Rover special bodies. It was a sad fact of life that post-war conditions were far from ideal for the independent coachbuilders and many closed during this period. Those that survived were those, as ever, who diversified -- picking up new methods and new contracts on the way. Tickford involved itself in making prototypes and low volume specials. The Healey sports car (before it became the Austin-Healey) prototype was one such order, and other Healey models were produced here. Alvis Grey Lady and TC21/100s came through the Tickford portals and also Lagonda bodies from David Brown's burgeoning empire. When Brown bought the works he stopped all outside work, despite the availability of it, and the sawmill closed. This irrevocably marked the end of the traditional ash and aluminium coachwork in favour of modern methods and steel construction. Aston Martin bodies were now the mainstay and to some extent the identities of the two companies merged. By 1958 Tickford had lost its design expertise to Touring of Milan with the first DB4. Today Tickford is once again a flourishing independent company, so the wheel has come full circle.