1916 WW1 Crossley RFC 20/25

Description

Extremely rare Crossley RFC rolling chassis; one of perhaps 10 surviving; great project with huge potential for the military WW1 enthusiast; find another!

Originally winning fame for their engine building skills (they were the first company in Britain to make engines using the Otto principle), Crossley Brothers of Gorton, Manchester, built their first complete car in 1904. But the model that really put them on the map was the AW Reeves-designed 20hp, introduced in 1909, which became the 20/25 in 1912 and continued until it was replaced by the 25/30 in late 1918.

As with all Crossley cars, it was of very high quality, refinement taking priority over performance, although this was still impressive by the standards of the day. Notable customers included King George V, the Kings of Spain and Siam and Emperor Hirohito of Japan but the 20/25’s finest hour came in World War I when it became famous as the Royal Flying Corps Staff Car.

Known to Crossley as the WO and to the War Office as the Type J, the 20/25 staff car had an impressively large tourer body but most chassis were actually used as ambulances, mobile workshops and tenders.

Every squadron in the Royal Flying Corps was supposed to be equipped with nine tenders and one staff car but it seems likely that most never had the full complement. The vehicles saw service in France, Belgium, Mesopotamia, Salonica, Egypt, Russia, India and Africa.

All of the military 20/25s had twin rear tyres with the two rims fastened by spokes to a single hub. With the standard RFC specification body, the weight was 37cwt. The tender had room for eleven men, three in front with the remainder facing each other on bench seats down each side of the rear. Weather protection was by two hoods, one for the front and one for the rear. In War Office tests at Brooklands, a fully loaded tender covered the flying half mile at just under 50mph.

At the war's end all government orders were cancelled. Some 20/25s went straight into store, others remained on duty with the newly formed RAF in Iraq, Persia and India and many others returned from France. Some of these were rebuilt to the new 25/30 specification and stayed with the military, the remainder were gradually sold off by the War Office. Many of these were bought back by Crossley, refurbished in the newly acquired AVRO factory and sold on as bare chassis or with truck or bus bodies, a fair few seeing service with London’s Metropolitan Police.

Exact production numbers are hazy but it is thought that between 6,000 and 10,000 were made for military use and perhaps 2,100 for civilian use. Chassis numbers were not segregated by model type and those produced during WW1 range up to c.12000, sales continuing with different chassis numbers until 1924.

According to the Crossley Register, this particular car, chassis number 7307, was made for the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 by the Gorton factory, most likely as a tender. It was discovered in a scrapyard in 1981 as a rolling chassis with a 1918 X-Type 4,531cc four-cylinder engine (as fitted to the more powerful 25/30).  

The chassis appears substantially complete and in good shape. The engine is fitted with a 5-jet Smiths carburettor and the gearbox is also present with transmission brake. One of the two semi-elliptical swan neck springs is present and this can be copied and several more trunnions made to complete. The rear axle with crown-wheel and pinion and one of the two half shafts are also present. A number of other useful parts are present, including a rear brake drum, spare diff casing, brass windscreen surround etc. Basically, what you see is what you get.

Documentation includes a V5C; Crossley Register correspondence; technical drawings of the engine and gearbox etc; two AO size copies of official RFC 1918 plans for the Crossley tender body and the aerobody; detailed drawings of the rear suspension.

Remarkably few of the thousands of 20/25's made have survived which reflects their hard lives in war and in peace time. The Register knows of around 10 survivors in various states of completeness, including a tender on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon, London, an ambulance in the Australian National Museum and several examples in New Zealand in the collection of film director Sir Peter Jackson. 

Altogether a rare and exciting project for the Edwardian car collector or the military WW1 enthusiast.

For more information contact James on 07970 309907 or email james.dennison@brightwells.com