Beschreibung:

c.1923 NEW CARDEN FAMILY TOURER Registration No. PD 3235 Chassis No. 4/181 Engine No. Tba Light blue with blue interior Engine: two cylinder, two stroke, 707 cc, 7hp; Gearbox: two speed; Suspension: front, transverse leaf, rear, semi-elliptic leaf spring; Brakes: two wheel drum. Right hand drive John V. Carden was a prolific designer, and a passionate advocate of the cyclecar. His first design in 1913 was ultra-simple: a monocar with a single-cylinder engine, rear-mounted and centre-pivot steering. Improved, he later sold this design to Ward & Avey, who continued to make it as the AV Monocar. Another Carden cyclecar design created during the Great War was sold to Tamplin in 1918, and was successfully marketed for a short period. 1919 saw him produce yet another car, not unlike the Tamplin, which his company sold as a Carden, and which had a rear-mounted parallel-twin two-stroke engine built in unit with the gearbox and rear axle. This had 2 speeds and lacked reverse, but was cheap and effective and sold well. Carden left the firm in 1922, to follow a career in more general engineering. After having inherited a baronetcy, he lost his life in an airliner crash in 1935. Under new ownership, the company continued with decreasing success to make and sell his design, slightly altered, as the New Carden. With a dummy radiator and something of a bonnet, a longer wheelbase, but still a kick-start and no reverse, it was all over by 1925. As proclaimed on a plaque on the bulkhead, this car was manufactured by the New Carden Light Car Co. Ltd. of 22 Hythe Road, Willesden, NW10, the company being a product of Arnott and Harrison of Willesden. One of two New Cardens in the collection, this example would have been originally registered under the auspices of Surrey County Council, as designated by its 'PD' plate and sometime between July 1923 and February 1924, when this number was issued only. The car presents beautifully having recently been freshened and tided up.