McCurd Model C

Wallace Atherton McCurd was born in 1876 in Edinburgh but by 1901 was living in Newington, London. A civil engineer by trade he was also a second hand car dealer - a rare feat in 1901 as the used car market must have been severely limited! In 1905 he formed W. A. McCurd Ltd to buy, sell and manufacture vehicles. By 1908 McCurd Ltd was formed, buying out the former with premises in Bloomsbury and with a big overhaul and repair department.

In 1912 the company entered the commercial sector by manufacturing the 3 1⁄2 ton Model C built in new premises on the Edgware Road. The model was said to be of simple design and driver-proof. Various bodies could also be fitted, including a ‘bus with 28 seats, a lorry or a van. With a four-cylinder engine rated at (RAC) 40 horsepower it had a maximum speed of 12mph.

During the First World War, the company manufactured munitions, returning to commercial vehicles at the cease of hostilities. McCurd sought to enter the motor car market in 1922 with an advanced specification light car, utilising an engine of their own design and manufacture from a new factory at Hayes, Middlesex. It is thought a high price affected sales, and no known examples remain,

Commercial vehicles were made until 1942 when the McCurd name disappeared.

About this vehicle

This Model C 3 1⁄2 ton van is the only surviving McCurd. Registration, BC2365, and owned by F & E Beeden of Northampton it was found in a totally derelict condition.

Now restored as a box van in the livery of ‘Tate Sugars’, it has taken part in rallies and in the Commercial Vehicle London to Brighton run many times and appeared in the film ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. It is on loan to the Shuttleworth Collection from Tate & Lyle Sugar.