Private company

Wilson-Pilcher

English car company

Wilson-Pilcher was an English car company founded in 1901 and acquired by Sir WG Taken Armstrong Whitworth & Co., Limited in 1904.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1901Founded1
  • Industryautomotive industry1
  • HeadquartersLondon1
  • Founded inLondon1
Wilson-Pilcher 1904
Photo: Buch-t, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Wilson-Pilcher was an English car company founded in 1901 and acquired by Sir WG Taken Armstrong Whitworth & Co., Limited in 1904.2

The story

The company Wilson-Pilcher was founded in 1901 by Walter Gordon Wilson in London to produce automobiles. In 1904 it was acquired by Sir WG Taken Armstrong Whitworth & Co., Limited and production moved to Newcastle upon Tyne. Percy Pilcher had died in a gliding accident in 1899, and Wilson had been working with him on the engine for an attempt at powered flight. According to Bonhams there is photographic evidence of a wooden mock-up of the car in 1899, and a photo of a working car taken at Stanhope Hall in 1900.

Production stopped in 1907.

From Wikipedia’s article on Wilson-Pilcher, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

  • car

Listed on Wikidata.1

The first model had a 9 hp four cylinder flat engine of 2400 cc displacement. In 1903 this was replaced by the 12/16 hp engine of 2694 cc capacity. In 1904 a six-cylinder 18/24 HP engine of 4041 cc capacity was added to the range. In April 1904 The Automotor Journal gave a detailed report on the Wilson-Pilcher car, which was by then being built by Armstrong Whitworth in Newcastle. This report states that the cylinders of both models were of 3.75inch bore and stroke. This gives capacities of 2715cc for the four-cylinder engine and 4072cc for the six-cylinder engine.

A 4-cylinder example of this car survives, registration number "BB96", and has been displayed in various museums, and was sold at auction in 2012 for £203,100, having previously been on display in the Coventry Transport Museum. The auctioneer's description of the car states that photographs exist showing a wooden mock-up in 1899, and a complete car at Stanhope Hall in 1900.

From Wikipedia’s article on Wilson-Pilcher, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1904Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1901Founded Founded in London1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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