- Vale Special
Infobox Automobile
name = Vale Special
manufacturer = Vale Engineering Company
production = 1932-1935
approx 100 made
predecessor = none
successor = none
body_style = two seat tourer
four seat tourer (Tourette)
engine = Triumph 832 ccI4
Coventry Climax 1098 cc I4
Coventry Climax 1476 cc I6
transmission = 4 speed manual
length =
width = 55 inches (1397 mm)cite book |last=Culshaw |first= |authorlink= |coauthors=Horrobin |title=Complete Catalogue of British Cars |year=1974 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |id=ISBN 0-333-16689-2]
height =
weight =
wheelbase = 84 or 102 inches (2134 or 2590 mm
track = 46 inches (1168 mm)
designer = P.E. Pellew The Vale Special (sometimes just Vale) was a British sporting car made between 1932 and 1935 inMaida Vale , London. David Cox, "Ave Atque Vale - the story of the Vale Special" ISBN 0-9553010-0-9] David Cox, [http://www.valespecial.co.uk/company.html "Ave Atque Vale - the story of the Vale Special"] ]The Vale Motor Company was set up in 1931 by Pownoll Pellew (later the ninth
Viscount Exmouth ), as a 'gentleman's hobby' in a rented workshop behind the Warringtonpub in Maida Vale. It soon expanded with funding fromAllan Gaspar andRobert Wilcoxon , thanks largely to help from Pellew's then girlfriendKay Walsh .The cars were initially hand made and based on
Triumph Motor Company components. The first cars used the 832 cc side valve engine from theTriumph Super 7 fitted to a chassis bought in fromRubery Owen with semi elliptic leaf springs all round and the hydraulic brakes and axles from the Triumph. The top speed was only 65 mph (105 km/h)cite book |last=Georgano |first=N. |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile |year=2000 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |id=ISBN 1-57958-293-1] which was too slow for serious sporting events so from 1933 a 1098 cc, overhead inlet side exhaust, four cylinder,Coventry Climax engine was offered followed in 1934 by the 1476 cc six cylinder version of the same engine.Most cars were lightweight two-seater open bodies, with fold flat windscreens, but a four seat version on a long wheelbase chassis called the Tourette was available with the larger engined versions.
About 100 cars had been made when production stopped in 1935, though the actual figure is greatly disputed.
External links
* [http://www.valespecial.co.uk Ave Atque Vale] - A book on the history of the Vale Special.
References
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