ABC Motors

Last occupied by Ian Allan Publishing as Hersham's Riverdene Industrial Estate, the factory was demolished around 2017-2018 and redeveloped as a Lidl supermarket (opened February 2019) with flats above.

• Name — ABC Motors • Fate — Absorbed into Vickers • Founded — 1912 • Defunct — 1951 • Hq Location — Hersham, Surrey, England • Industry — Engineering • Key People — Ronald Charteris (Founder) Granville Bradshaw (Designer) • Products — Cars, motorcycles and aero engines

• Illustration — Lt. Ronald Charteris (7th from left, standing) with fellow officers of the Royal Flying Corps c 1913 The ABC radial aero engines of the World War I period were extremely advanced for their time, and were initially thought to be very promising indeed. Unfortunately they were all more or less plagued by problems – and although a number of types for the Royal Air Force were designed around ABC engines (especially the ill-fated Dragonfly) none saw squadron service with the RAF. ABC also made a large number of engines for electrical generators and other purposes – mostly with a flat twin cylinder layout and unusual exhaust-over-inlet valve configuration. These smaller ABC engines have the distinction of being possibly the first airborne APUs- the Coastal class blimp (first flown in 1916) had a 1.5-horsepower unit installed to provide electricity for the onboard wireless set, whilst a similar engine was used to power the searchlight of the sole Supermarine Nighthawk 'Zeppelin killer' of 1917.

• Illustration — The Wasp engine • ABC 6 hp Midge (1951) National Archives Kew (AIR 10/7172) • ABC 8 hp (1923) • ABC 30 hp (1912) • ABC 60 hp (1912) • ABC 100 hp (1912) • ABC Dragonfly (1918) • ABC Gadfly (1920) • ABC Gnat (1916) • ABC Mosquito (1916) • ABC Hornet (1929) • ABC Scorpion (1923) • ABC Wasp (1918)

• ABC Robin

• ABC (1920 automobile) • ABC Supersports • ABC Skootamota • ABC motorcycles