Tyneside Cars: Atkinson and Phillipson

Atkinson and Phillipson, who had built coaches in Newcastle from 1774, and built the first railway carriages in 1825, advertised a steam-powered 'horseless carriage' in 1896 - although it is not clear how many were actually produced. Other local fin-de-siecle local cars were the Martyn of Hebburn (1898), the Tyne of Gateshead (1901), the Elswick of Walkergate (1907-c1910), the Toward steam van of Byker, and the semi-mythical Redhead Rover of South Shields. Two foreign types were made under licence: the famous American Stanley Steamer (called a Gentleman's speedy roadster") was built in Gateshead around 1912-1914 (illustrated), and the French DFP (Doriot, Flandrin, Parnat) (which sported an aluminium body and mahogany interior) in Darlington. Back in Newcastle the locomotive engineers Hawthorn Leslie built heavy steam waggons.