The list below sets out the basic details of the key vehicle types built by the first Lea-Francis company, up until 1937. At the foot of the page is a description of the chassis numbering scheme(s) used by Lea-Francis during the period.

 

  • Lea-Francis Bicycles

    This is where it all started. The partnership of R H Lea and G I Francis was formed for the purpose of producing high quality bicycles.     The first cycles produced were sold under Lea’s name in 1896. In May of that year the limited company of Lea & Francis Ltd was established and from 1899 products were marketed under the Lea-Francis name. The cycles of Lea & Francis were excellent products, using round and oval tubes and a fully enclosed chain case. In 1897 a very neat tool kit was designed to...
  • Lea-Francis Motorcycles

      Lea & Francis started serious work on motorcycle development in 1911, and in 1912 a well designed machine, fitted with a V-twin 3¼ hp JAP engine, was launched. The motorcycle looked very smart, sporting full-length mudguards, long footboards and an enclosed chain drive.  Other features included a quickly detachable rear wheel that did not require the chain to be disturbed during tyre changes and a very neat two-speed gearbox. The motorcycles had good roadholding and brakes and were well...
  • The First Lea-Francis Motor Car - 1903

    Lea & Francis, having decided to enter the motor manufacturing business, set up a new company called Lea and Francis Motor Syndicate Ltd and engaged Alexander Craig to design them a motor car.
  • 1919 11.9hp Car

    Arthur Alderson had worked for Singer prior to being engaged by Lea-Francis in 1919 to design their first car since 1903.
  • Prototype Motor Cars 1919 to 1922

    Lea & Francis produced a number of prototype motor cars that never made it to the market place. Some were quite perculiar in design, although the work ultimately led to the first really succesfull Lea-Francis motor car, the C-Type
  • C-Type 1922-23

    When Charles M. Van Eugen joined Lea-Francis in 1922 his first task was to redesign the prototype C-Type so as to make it safe and suitable for production.
  • D-Type 1923-26

    A revision of the C-Type, the D-Type was significant because it was the first production Lea-Francis fitted with a Meadows engine.
  • E-Type 1924-26

    A new chassis design resulted in a car slightly larger and robust than the D-Type and was to be the basis for a number of varients. The E-Type was fitted with the same Meadows 4EB engine as the D-Type before it.
  • F-Type 1924-25

    The F type Lea-Francis was built on the same chassis as the E-Type with the same Meadows 4EB engine and was identical except for having a three-speed gearbox.
  • G-Type 1925-27

    The G-Type was Lea-Francis attempt to enter the market of low cost motoring
  • H-Type

    Built on the same chassis as the E-Type, the H-Type was fitted with the more powerful Meadows 4ED engine
  • I-Type 1925

    Built on the same chassis as the E-Type, the I-Type was, for the most part, fitted with the slightly more powerful Meadows 4EC engine
  • J-Type 1925-28

    The 1926 range of cars saw a revised chassis fitted with various engines. With the Meadows 4EC engine, the chassis was designated the J-Type
  • K-Type 1925-28

    The same frame as the J-Type, but fitted with the Meadows 4EB engine
  • Kirkstone 1926-28

    A Lea-Francis radiator and gearbox fitted to a Vulcan built car with an Anzani side-valve engine.
  • 1LFS 1926-28

    An early example of badge engineering, these cars were made by Vulcan Engineering of Southport, with whom Lea-Francis were associated. The motor cars looked impressive, but were a finacial disaster for Lea-Francis as the twin-camshaft 1LFS engine was poorly designed and unreliable.
  • L-Type 1926-27

    The first real sports car produced by Lea-Francis, the L-Type was was built on the same chassis as the J-Type and fitted with a Brooklands spec. Meadows 4ED engine.
  • M-Type 1926-1928

     Fitted with a Meadows 4ED engine, usually with a single Solex carburettor, the M-Type was significantly quicker than the J and K-Types with their 4EC and 4EB engines, but the additional power put significant strain on the transmission, often leading to failure, particularly of the rear axle.
  • N-Type 1926-1927

     Fitted with an Anzani side-valve engine, the N-Type was developed because Lea-Francis believed their supply of Meadows engines might not keep pace with the rate at which they were building and selling cars.
  • Lea-Francis Special (The Lobster)

     The first purpose built racing car by Lea-Francis
  • O-Type 1927-30

    During 1927 Charles Van Eugen convinced the directors of Lea-Francis to allow him to design a completely new chassis assembly. Fitted with a Brooklands specification Meadows 4ED engine the chassis was designated the O-Type
  • P-Type 1927-33

    During 1927 Charles Van Eugen convinced the directors of Lea-Francis to allow him to design a completely new chassis assembly. Fitted with a Meadows 4ED engine the chassis was designated the P-Type
  • 2LFS 1928-29

    An improved 2litre twin overhead-camshaft engine was designed by Vulcan in 1927 but very few cars were sold with this engine, perhaps due to the reputation of the previous Vulcan based model.
  • R-Type (200 Mile Race Cars) 1928

    These three racing cars were built for the 1928 200-mile race at Brooklands. They were built on a quarter-elliptic rear-spring chassis, similar to that of the J-Type and fitted with a supercharged Meadows 4ED engine.
  • S-Type (Hyper) 1927-32

    The S-Type was quickly branded the "Hyper" by Lea-Francis and is how it has been commonly referred to since. After experiements with a variety of superchargers, Lea-Francis adopted the Cozette for use in its competition cars, from which the S-Type evolved, to become the first supercharged British production car.
  • T-Type 1927-29

    During 1927 Charles Van Eugen convinced the directors of Lea-Francis to allow him to design a completely new chassis assembly.With semi-elliptic springs to the front and rear. The new frame was designed to take engines from Meadows range, but Van Eugen was persuaded to fit the Vulvan 14/40 six cylinder unit to it as well. Extended by 3" compared with the P-Type frame and fitted with the somewhat unreliable Vulcan built 1LFS engine the chassis was designated the T-Type.
  • U-Type 1927-30

     During 1927 Charles Van Eugen convinced the directors of Lea-Francis to allow him to design a completely new chassis assembly. Fitted with the Meadows 4EC engine the chassis was designated the U-Type
  • V-Type 1929-31

    The V type is essentially an S type, but with a twin port head and two carburettors instead of the supercharger, and with a Weymann Sportsman’s Coupé body like that fitted to some Hypers.
  • W-Type 1929-32

    Intended to rival the popular Riley Nine Monaco, the W type or Francis saloon had a light fabric body with a small boot on a slightly modified P type chassis with a 10 degree sloping radiator, and was generally lower-built and less ‘perpendicular’ than the earlier saloons.
  • Ace-of-Spades

    In 1929 Lea-Francis designed a six cylinder engine of their own called the Ace of Spades after the shape of the timing case cover. Used in two different chassis configurations the cars did not sell well and proved less than reliable when new due in no small part to poorly designed inlet and exhaust tracts and a poor choice of carburettor.

 

Lea-Francis Chassis Numbering - It is worth saying something here about the ambiguities of Lea-Francis chassis numbering

during this time. While the bicycle and motorcycle numbering schemes followed a reasonably consistent pattern, this was not exactly the case for the cars. Prior to February 1926 the model of a car was defined by its specification, regardless of its chassis number, so, while an attempt to keep sanctions for builds in groups this only meant models tend to be clumped together. This led to some anomalies when sanction numbers were small. For example, chassis 5700 was on the same chassis an an E-Type but had a Meadows 4ED engine, so was designated an H-Type, but car 5701 was an E-Type, it having a Meadows 4EB engine. We do not know the chassis numbers of the early 15hp cars, but after that, and given the caveats set out above, the numbering was approximately as follows:

 

Model

Chassis Number Range(s)

A Type

1 – 9

B Type

3200 – 3202, and 3300 -3331

C Type (first C type)  

unknown

C Type (2nd series)   

4997 – 5086 and 5088

D Type                 

5087, and 5089 – 5508

E Type                  

5509 – 5699 and 5701 – 5702 (maybe)

F Type                  

5710 – 5799 and 6130 – 6140

G Type                 

6150 – 6197 and 6675 – 6775 and 6800 – 6817

G Type (G4)          

6818 - 6825

H Type                 

5700 (plus others)

I Type                   

5800 – 6097 (give or take!)

Kirkstone            

800 - 896

J Type                  

6200 – 6399 and 6543 – 6661

K Type                 

6400- 6542 (arguably)

L Type                  

6662 – 6674 (arguably)

 From February 1926 the policy for numbering chassis and models changed and from this point, any car within a specific chassis number range was identified as the model associated with that number regardless of the specification. Therefore, we have a different type of anomaly than occurred prior to 1926. For example, the V-Type was catalogued as a Weymann two-door, sportsman's coupe with a twin-port Meadows 4ED engine and, while most of them were such, a few still numbered in the 17,000 range left the factory with different bodies and/or engine specs. The designations from February 1926 were as follows:

Model (from February 1926)

Chassis range(s)

J Type              

 7000 – 7999

K Type             

 8000 – 8208

L Type              

 9000 – 9160

M Type           

  10000 – 10235

N Type            

 11000 – 11055

LFS                 

 LFS1 –LFS386

2LFs               

 2LFS1 – 2LFS44

O Type          

 12000 – 12054

P Type            

 13000 – 13999 and 19000 – 19092

R Type           

 9161 – 9163

S Type           

 14000 – 14188

T Type           

 15000 – 15085

U Type          

 16000 – 16312

V Type          

 17000 – 17104

W Type         

 18000 – 18188

Ace of Spades (short chassis)       

 18500 – 18525

Ace of Spades (long chassis)       

 20000 – 20049

Ace of Spades (18hp)                

  21000

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