imported>Mwsmith20: Added trolleybus & bus info, with reference. Also various minor grammar/typo corrections.

2025-09-29T10:14:02Z

Added trolleybus & bus info, with reference. Also various minor grammar/typo corrections.

New page

{{Short description|British motor manufacturer}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
[[File:Alldays & Onionslogo.jpg|thumb|The Alldays & Onions logo]]
'''Alldays & Onions''' was an [[England|English]] engineering business<ref name=TT41063>Alldays & Onions. ''The Times'', Friday, Jan. 14, 1916 Issue: 41063</ref> and an early [[automobile]] manufacturer<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/september-1995/74/alldays-onions|title=The Alldays & Onions {{!}} Motor Sport Magazine Archive|date=2014-07-07|website=Motor Sport Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-12-30}}</ref> based at Great Western Works and Matchless Works, [[Small Heath, Birmingham]]. It manufactured cars from 1898 to 1918. The cars were sold under the Alldays & Onions name. Alldays also built an early British built tractor, the ''Alldays General Purpose Tractor''. After the First World War, the cars were sold under the name Enfield Alldays. Car production seems to have ceased in the 1920s, but the manufacture of many other items continued. The company became part of the [[William Cotts|Mitchell Cotts Group]].<ref>''The Times'' Saturday, Jan. 9, 1960 Issue: 54664</ref>

==History==
[[File:Alldays Matchless 4 pk (557 cc) 1914.jpg|thumb|Alldays Matchless 4 pk (557 cc) 1914]]
Engineering businesses John C. Onions Ltd. (formed by John Onions in 1650) and William Allday & Sons Ltd. (formed by William Allday in 1720) joined in 1889 under the ownership of Alldays & Onions Pneumatic Engineering Company Limited.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Alldays_and_Onions#cite_ref-1|title=Alldays and Onions - Graces Guide|website=www.gracesguide.co.uk|access-date=2019-12-30}}</ref> They made engineering and blacksmithing equipment. Like many such companies at the time they turned to bicycle manufacture and sold a range under the Alldays name. They also started making motorcycles in 1903 under the Alldays-Matchless name; these had no connection with the London-based [[Matchless]] company, and in 1915 presumably following representations from them, the name was changed to '''Allon'''. Manufacture of these continued until 1927.

Alldays and Onions produced its first car in 1898. The Traveller, a quadricycle made in private and commercial forms, was steered by a wheel. It had an unsprung rear end, power generated by a 4 hp De Dion single-cylinder motor. However, series production did not start until 1903/4 with the 7 hp model. Larger commercial vehicles of up to 5 tons were also made in the years preceding the first World War and saw service during the conflict.
[[File:Alldays & Onions 1905 Witham.JPG|thumb|Alldays & Onions 1905]]
Alldays achieved commercial success with the 1.6-litre, vertical-twin side-valve 10/12, which was made from 1905 to 1913. It was popular with commercial drivers and did well in period formula events and hill-climbs. A 16 hp 4-cylinder joined the lineup in 1906, and in 1908, the Enfield Autocar Co. was acquired. Shortly afterward, the range was rationalized, with most models being sold under both brand names. The Alldays contribution to the equation was the well-established twin- and four-cylinders that put out 14 and 20 hp, always shaft-driven. A 30/35 hp six-cylinder was listed from 1911 to 1914, compressed-air starters being optional in 1911. In 1913, the 990 cc V-twin Midget cyclecar was introduced, featuring air cooling and shaft drive, selling at £138.10s. (about £{{inflation|UK|138.5|1913|fmt=c|r=-2}} today). An 1100 cc 4-cylinder version with a bullnose radiator appeared in 1914, popular at the price of £175 (about £{{inflation|UK|175|1914|fmt=c|r=-2}} today). Pair-cast side-valve four-cylinders rated at 12/14, 16/20, and 25/30 hp filled out the immediate pre-war offerings.
[[File:Enfield-Allday 10-20 HP light car (1922).jpg|thumb|1922 Enfield-Allday 10-20 HP light car]]
Alldays & Onions had merged in 1908 with the short-lived Enfield Autocar Company, which had been formed to take over the car making interests of the [[Royal Enfield|Enfield Cycle Company]]. They produced cars called [[Enfield-Allday]] until 1925.<ref name="automobile_mag">{{cite journal |last=Worthington-Williams |first=Michael |title=The Enfield-Allday story Part 2 |journal=The Automobile |volume=7 |pages=10–14 |date=October 1989}}</ref>

Alldays & Onions also manufactured railway inspection cars for the Great Eastern and London, Brighton and South Coast Railways. At least one of these found its way to Australia for use on the Wolgan Valley Railway. Another was built in 1906 for the extensive three-foot gauge system of the [[County Donegal Railways]] in Ireland. It later went into passenger service and became their Railcar Number 1. Although small, its success led to larger vehicles being built and contributed to the introduction of internal combustion railcars and multiple units across Ireland. It is preserved at the [[Ulster Folk and Transport Museum]].<ref>The County Donegal Railways Companion, Roger Crombleholme, Midland Publishing, 2005, {{ISBN|1-85780-205-5}}</ref>

In 1911, Alldays & Onions produced six four-wheeled [[trolleybus]] chassis. Two of these worked in [[Trolleybuses in Bradford|Bradford]], with the other four seeing service in [[Trolleybuses in Leeds|Leeds]]. These were made under contract from the Railless Electric Traction Company.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lockwood |first=Stephen |title=A-Z of British Trolleybuses |date=2017 |publisher=Crowood |isbn=9781785002885 |pages=23}}</ref>

Alldays & Onions also produced a small number of buses, including seven open-top double-deckers constructed in 1915-16 for [[West Bridgford]] UDC in Nottinghamshire.<ref name=":0" />[[File:Ulster Transport Museum, Cultra, County Donega Railways Joint Committee Railcar No 1 (03).jpg|thumb|Ulster Transport Museum, Cultra, County Donegal Railways Joint Committee Railcar No 1 (03)]]

==Product range==
On flotation as a public company in 1916 the following products were manufactured: motor lorries, cars and vans, cycles and motorcycles, complete outfits for foundries, engineers' and railway workshops, pneumatic power hammers, drop and lifting stamps, oil, gas and fuel furnaces, hardening shop equipment, Roots blowers, blacksmiths' shops, exhaust and blowing fans, smiths' hearths, portable forges, anvils and vices, cranes, pulley blocks, bellows, etc.<ref name=TT41063/>

== Main Car Models==
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Year
! Model
! Engine
! Bore x Stroke
! Wheelbase
! Notes
|-
| 1898–1904
| Traveller <ref>{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015047399863&seq=71&q1=Alldays+&+Onions |title= Alldays & Onions Traveller (p.37)|date=1955-01-01|publisher= Historical motor scrapbook Floyd Clymer|access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
| 4 hp [[De Dion-Bouton|De Dion]] single 500 cc
|
|
| Quadricycle type. Two-seater - passenger in front of driver. Wheel steering. Rear "suspension" unsprung.
|-
| ?–1904
| Traveller
| 4 hp [[De Dion-Bouton|De Dion]] single 500 cc
|
|
| Quadricycle type. Swing-seat tonneau. Wheel steering. Rear "suspension" unsprung.
|-
| 1903–1908
| 7
| Flat twin 7 hp
|
|
| Rear-engined. Four-seater. Although not put into production until 1903 this car had actually been shown at the 1900 [[National Show]]. Described as being of "novel construction" with a mixed shaft, gear and belt transmission, combined with great inefficiency.
|-
| 1903–1907
| 7 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015047399863&seq=116&q1=Alldays+&+Onions |title= Alldays & Onions (p.82)|date=1955-01-01|publisher= Historical motor scrapbook Floyd Clymer|access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
| 6.5 hp single (7 hp)
|
|
| Shaft drive
|-
| 1906-1907
| 8 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435030303895&view=1up&seq=192 |title= The automobile; a practical treatise on the construction of modern motor cars, steam, petrol, electric and petrol-electric. Based on Lavergne's "L'automobile sur route". Edited by Paul N. Hasluck V3 (p.162) |date=1906-09-01|publisher= Paul N. Hasluck |access-date=2025-06-15}}</ref>
| eight hp single 1173 cc
| 114.3 mm x 114.3 mm
| {{convert|1829|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} on request {{convert|1981|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| Shaft drive
|-
| 1905
| 10
| 10 hp twin 1448 cc
| 95.25 mm x 101.6 mm
| {{convert|1829|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} on request {{convert|1981|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| Three speed gearbox. Shaft drive.
|-
| 1906–1913
| Model 02; Model 221; Model 222; Model 223; Model 40; 10/12 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/1233073162.pdf |title= Alldays & Onions 221,222, 223 (p.15-17)|date=1927-01-01|publisher= Alldays & Onions; revsinstitute.or |access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
| 1629 cc twin
| 95.25 mm x 114.3 mm
| {{convert|2438|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| Three- (early) or four-speed gearbox. Shaft drive. Van version from 1906.
|-
| 1906
| 16
| 3402 cc pair-cast four-cylinder
|
|
|
|-
| 1906–1911
| 20/25
| 3261 cc four-cylinder
|
|
| Chassis also used with chain drive for a 1-ton commercial vehicle.
|-
| 1908-12
| Model 19; Model 191; Model 18; Model 181; Model 31; Model 614; Model 41; Model 35; 14/18 <ref>{{cite web|url=https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/1233073162.pdf |title= Alldays & Onions 19, 191, 18, 181, 31 (p.19-21)|date=1927-01-01|publisher= Alldays & Onions; revsinstitute.or |access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
| 3077 cc four-cylinder
| 95.25 mm x 107.95 mm
| {{convert|2743|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
|
|-
| 1911-
| Expressodel
| 7/8 hp
|
|
| Tri-van. Chain drive.
|-
| 1911-14
| Model 130; Model 230; Model 330; 30/35 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/1233073162.pdf |title= Alldays & Onions 130, 230, 330, (p.26-28)|date=1927-01-01|publisher= Alldays & Onions; revsinstitute.or |access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
| 3670 cc six-cylinder
| 82.55 mm x 114.3 mm
| {{convert|3200|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| Compressed air starter from 1911.
|-
| 1912-16
| Model 112; Model 212; Model 312; Model 412; Model 512; 12/14 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/1233073162.pdf |title= Alldays & Onions 112, 212, 312, 412 (p.17-19)|date=1927-01-01|publisher= Alldays & Onions; revsinstitute.or |access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
| 2201 cc four-cylinder
| 76.2 mm x 120.65 mm
| {{convert|2743|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
|
|-
| 1912-16
| Model 116; Model 216; Model 316; Model 416; Model 516; 16/20 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/1233073162.pdf |title= Alldays & Onions 116, 216, 316, 416, 516 (p.21-23)|date=1927-01-01|publisher= Alldays & Onions; revsinstitute.or |access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
| 3012 cc four-cylinder
| 85.82 mm x 130.175 mm
| {{convert|2896|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
|
|-
| 1912-16
| Model 125; Model 225; Model 325; Model 425; Model 525; Model 42; 25/30 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/1233073162.pdf |title= Alldays & Onions 125, 225, 325, 425, 525 (p.23-25)|date=1927-01-01|publisher= Alldays & Onions; revsinstitute.or |access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
| 4221 cc four-cylinder
| 101.6 mm x 130.175 mm
| {{convert|2896|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}
| Chassis also used with Chan drive for a 2-ton commercial vehicle. <ref>{{cite web|url= https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/1006405308.pdf |title= Alldays & Onions 253, 254, 255, 256, (p.18-19)|date=1912-01-01|publisher= Alldays & Onions; revsinstitute.or |access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
|-
| 1912
| Model 403; Model 405; 30/40 <ref>{{cite web|url= https://revsinstitute.org/WMS/1006405308.pdf |title= Alldays & Onions 403, 405, (p.10-11)|date=1912-01-01|publisher= Alldays & Onions; revsinstitute.or |access-date=2025-06-20}}</ref>
|
|
|
| Truck 3 t, Truck 5 t
|-
| 1913-14
| Midget
| 990 cc V twin
|
|
| Cyclecar. Van version in 1912.
|-
| 1914
| 8/10 (Light Four)
| 1094 cc four-cylinder
|
|
| Bullnosed radiator
|}

==Tractor Models==
[[File:Alldays General Purpose tractor 1917-18.jpg|thumb|Alldays General Purpose Tractor, built 1917–1918)]]
* The ''Alldays General Purpose Tractor'' - only a couple of examples survive in the UK of this early internal-combustion-engined model.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120913120939/http://www.steel-wheels.net/alldays.html www.Steel-Wheels.net - pre 1930 tractors] - has photos of surviving examples</ref> The tractor had advanced features such as sprung axles, enclosed engine and a basic canopy for the operator.

==See also==
* [[List of British cars]]
* [[List of former tractor manufacturers]]
* [[List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]

==References==
[[File:Alldays & Onions 1916.jpg|thumb|Share of Alldays & Onions Pneumatic Engineering Co Limited, issued 1916]]
*Michael Sedgwick, "Alldays", in [[G.N. Georgano]], ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885-1968 (New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1974), pp. 35–6.
*Norman Painting, "Alldays & Onions" {{ISBN|1-84306-047-7}}.
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.svvs.org/genpics12/1914_Alldays_&_Onions_12'14_Tourer.jpg Alldays & Onions 12-14 tourer 1914]
* http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Alldays_and_Onions

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alldays and Onions}}
[[Category:Veteran vehicles]]
[[Category:Vintage vehicles]]
[[Category:Cyclecars]]
[[Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:Tractor manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]

Alldays & Onions - Revision history

imported>Mwsmith20: Added trolleybus & bus info, with reference. Also various minor grammar/typo corrections.