Douglas (motorcycles)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motorcycle and automobile manufacturing |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Founder | Douglas family |
| Defunct | 1957 |
| Fate | Acquired by Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company Ltd |
| Headquarters | Kingswood, Bristol , United Kingdom |
Area served | United Kingdom |
Key people | William Douglas, Edwin Douglas, Joseph F. Barter |
| Products | Motorcycles, automobiles, generator engines |
| Owner | Douglas family (until acquisition) |
| Parent | Bond Aircraft and Engineering Company (from 1935), Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company Ltd (from 1957) |
Douglas was a British manufacturer of motorcycles operating from 1907 until 1957, headquartered in Kingswood, Bristol, and owned by the Douglas family. The company became well-known for its horizontally opposed twin-cylinder motorcycles and was a significant producer of speedway bikes. Additionally, Douglas manufactured automobiles between 1913 and 1922.
History
The Douglas Engineering Company was established in Bristol in 1882 by brothers William and Edwin Douglas, initially specializing in blacksmithing and foundry operations.
Light Motors Ltd., led by Joseph F. Barter and a client of Douglas, created the Fée bicycle engine system featuring a 200 cc flat-twin engine. Production started in 1905, with the name Fée soon adapted to Fairy for English markets. Douglas supplied castings to Light Motors and took over production rights when Light Motors ceased trading in 1907.
Starting in 1907, Douglas marketed a 350 cc model resembling the Fairy but equipped with a belt-driven final drive. At the 1907 Stanley Show, they displayed a V4 motorcycle engine incorporating automatic inlet valves and a two-speed transmission; however, this design never reached production. By 1908, attention shifted back to an improved inline twin engine that was positioned lower and lighter. In 1912, automatic inlet valves were replaced by mechanically operated ones.
During World War I, Douglas provided approximately 70,000 motorcycles for military service. By 1916, two flat-twin engines were available: a 2.75 hp (350cc) and a more powerful 4 hp (544cc) variant featuring advanced engineering such as an oil sump with an inspection window and side-by-side valves atop the cylinders. From 1912 onwards, Douglas also manufactured the Williamson flat twin engine rated at 8 hp (964cc) for use in cyclecars and motorcycles, offered in both water- and air-cooled configurations.
In the 1920s, Douglas was at the forefront of innovation by introducing the first disc brakes on motorcycles and earned a Royal Warrant as suppliers to Princes Albert and Henry.
Douglas established a strong reputation in dirt track racing beginning with the 1923 RA model equipped with disc brakes. This success led to specialized dirt track motorcycles such as the DT5 and DT6 models powered by 500 cc and 600 cc hemispherical head engines with forged crankshafts. These machines dominated dirt track competitions for roughly three years. In its peak year of 1929, Douglas sold around 1,200 Dirt Track motorcycles.
The Endeavour model introduced in 1934 featured a shaft-driven flat-twin engine mounted transversely across the frame—a significant departure from earlier designs. Facing economic difficulties, Douglas was acquired by Bond Aircraft and Engineering Company (BAC) in 1935.
Throughout World War II, motorcycle production persisted alongside diversification into generator engines. After the war, financial constraints led to concentrating on the 350 cc flat twin models by 1948. The T35 model incorporated an innovative swingarm rear suspension combined with a longitudinal torsion bar.
The final motorcycle produced was the 1955 350 cc Douglas Dragonfly, which retained the flat-twin engine mounted across the frame but switched to chain-driven rear wheels instead of shaft drive.
In 1957, Douglas was purchased by Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company Ltd, marking the end of its motorcycle manufacturing. Following this transition, Douglas began importing Vespa scooters into the UK and later imported and assembled Gilera motorcycles.
Douglas gained notable recognition when Robert Edison Fulton, Jr. completed a global circumnavigation on a 6 hp Douglas twin fitted with automobile tires during 1932–1933, chronicling his expedition in One Man Caravan.
Cyclecar
In 1913, a two-seater cyclecar was equipped with a variant of Joseph Barter's 1,070 cc water-cooled, horizontal twin-cylinder engine. This model featured a shaft-driven system transmitting power from the front-mounted engine to the rear wheels and was priced at £200. The rear suspension incorporated a horizontal coil spring positioned above the differential, while the front utilized a beam axle supported by semi-elliptic leaf springs.
Automobile production was halted during World War I but recommenced in 1919 with an upgraded 1,224 cc engine. The cost increased to £400 and later to £500, making it prohibitively expensive and resulting in sales limited to several hundred units. Although no original vehicles have survived, a replica has been constructed using some authentic components.
Motorcycle racing
Douglas earned significant acclaim in motorcycle racing and trials events. At the 1923 Isle of Man TT, twelve Douglas motorcycles participated across the Junior and Senior TT categories, with an additional three competing in the Sidecar race. This event marked Douglas’s inaugural senior Isle of Man TT triumphs, supplementing their earlier Junior TT victory in 1912. Tom Sheard secured first place in the 500 cc Senior TT, while Freddie Dixon piloted Douglas to victory in the first-ever Sidecar race. Jim Whalley recorded the fastest lap during the Senior TT under wet conditions, achieving nearly . A Douglas machine also attained third place in the Junior TT.
Later that year, Jim Whalley claimed victory at the French Grand Prix covering , and Percy Flook won the Durban-Johannesburg Marathon riding a 2.75 hp model with an average speed of over for . Additional successes included Whalley’s win in the Spanish 12-hour race and Alec Bennett’s triumph at the Welsh TT. The late 1920s featured Rudolph Runtsch’s win at the 1929 Austrian TT. Following World War II, Douglas experienced limited success in road racing but notably won the 1950 Bemsee 'Silverstone Saturday' event with a Mark 3 model outperforming competitors from Velocette, Norton, and BSA Gold Star.
| Isle of Man TT Douglas performance summary |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finishing Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Frequency | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Influence on other manufacturers
The distinctive flat-twin engine design by Douglas, characterized by cylinders aligned parallel to the frame, inspired various manufacturers throughout the 1910s and 1920s. The Williamson Flat Twin (Coventry, produced between 1912 and 1914) incorporated Douglas engines, forks, and gearboxes. In America, both Indian with its lightweight Model O (1917–1919) and Harley-Davidson with their middleweight Model W (1919–1923) adopted this engine layout.
German companies embraced this configuration following BMW’s introduction of their own flat-twin M2B15 engine in 1920, which was developed by reverse engineering a Douglas power unit. This engine was supplied to brands such as Victoria and Bison, thereby extending Douglas’s technological impact within European motorcycle manufacturing circles.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- Vintage vehicles
- British motorcycle manufacturers no longer operating
- Cyclecars
- Scooter producers
- Motorcycles with flat engines
- Companies formerly based in Bristol
- 1907 establishments in England
- 1957 closures in England
- British firms closed in 1957
- British firms founded in 1907
- British companies disestablished in 1957