- Marlborough (automobile)
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Marlborough is a make of car built in Blenheim, New Zealand. The first one was constructed by John North Birch between 1912 and 1919.[1][2] It was a touring car, had a four cylinder engine with a four-inch bore and seven-inch stroke, five main bearings, and full force feed lubrication. Valves were two and a half inches across the face, cam lift was half an inch. The Marlborough was thought to be capable of over a 100 miles an hour on a good straight road with a good set of tyres.
Birch was born Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England in 1867 and trained as an engineer. Before Birch migrated to New Zealand in 1905, he built a push bike in about 1888 which he named the Foleshill. His second in 1898 he named the George Eliot. About 1900 he built his first motorcycle which he also named the George Eliot.
After making his first car in Blenheim Birch moved to Gisborne where he built three more. These were renamed Carlton and built after 1922. Both the second and third cars were extensively damaged by fire, but the second car was redesigned and sold as a three-ton truck and the third car was used as spares by the owner of the truck. In the 1950's the truck, was recoved from a swamp and rebuilt as a car by the Gisborne Vintage Car Club. Birch's forth and final car, the baby Carlton, was completed about 1928. The great depression ended his Carlton Car Company and he built no more cars after that.
Birch died at Gisborne in 1945.
References
Categories:- Motor vehicle manufacturers of New Zealand
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