Tyneside cars: Smith's Electric

After 1927 no more cars were made in the North East (until Nissan), although some specialist vehicles have been. Vickers built the Armstrong-Saurer lorry in the 1930s. The Caterpillar Tractor Co. of Birtley made road-making rather than road vehicles. Northern General made buses in Bensham off and on from 1934, and Nothern Coachbuilders of Newcastle built bus and trolley-bus bodies for the Corporation. The story ends with Smith's Electric Vehicles of the Team Valley, the oldest (since 1920) and largest manufacturer of electric vehicles in the world (illustration).