Until last year, I had never heard of the Meadows Frisky before seeing them at the NEC Classic Motor Show, and then a few weeks ago at this year’s show, I had a chat with John Meadows – grandson of the founder of the Meadows Engineering Company, Henry Meadows – who regaled me with so many interesting snippets of information about these tiny cars that I thought I had to dig deeper…and I found a story so full of what ifs, if onlys and sheer bad luck that I thought it worth letting ViaRETRO readers know more about it.
First, a basic chronology.
Originally founded as Henry Meadows Ltd. on April 15th 1919, the company was initially focused on the mass production of gearboxes for various vehicles and vehicle manufacturers, as it became clear that demand was on the rise in the post-WW1 years, and within a few years, engine manufacture was added to the product line so that the company could supply complete engine and gearbox units.
Among the early famous names to utilise Meadows engines were Frazer Nash and Lea Francis, followed by Invicta and Lagonda; an Invicta powered by a 4.5-litre Meadows 6-cylinder engine won the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally.
Later, Meadows expanded into commercial and marine engineering, in collaboration with T.E.Shaw, otherwise known as “Lawrence of Arabia” (yes, that one!) who was involved in the development testing of big twin engine boats.
T.E.Lawrence a.k.a Lawrence of Arabia
By the time of his early death in 1937 at the age of just 57, Henry Meadows had built a major engineering and manufacturing company in Wolverhampton, on a site that included a 16,000 ft2 factory, but during the years of the Second World War, the company and its factories grew larger still, with 430,500 ft2 of production capacity at Fallings Park in Wolverhampton churning out Meadows engines for use in all manner of military vehicles, particularly tanks.
In the years following the war, Meadows expanded into diesel engines and, after becoming part of the Associated British Engineering Group, their engines were utilised in an ever-wider range of applications, from commercial vehicles to power generators, tractors to trains.
1955 was when the company turned its attention to motor car manufacture, and here the story gets even more interesting.
By this time, the UK – and Europe in general – was emerging from the post-WW2 years of rationing, the economy was recovering, and affordable transport was a significant goal for many, so for a short while, microcar production – and sales – showed great promise. Microcars from the likes of Heinkel/Trojan, Bond, Goggomobil and especially the BMW Isetta brought budget motoring within the reach of many thousands of families, and the management at Meadows decided this was a market worth entering.
THE FRISKY SPORT
Following an approach from racing driver Raymond Flower with the idea of building a lightweight peoples’ car, the first prototype – known as The Bug for obvious reasons – was ready by the end of 1956 and on December 6th of that year The Bug , complete with gull-wing doors -underwent a seven day, 9,000 mile, proving trial at the Oulton Park circuit, where it was driven continuously by a team of drivers including Raymond Flower himself. The car acquitted itself well and it was its performance during this trial that led to it being given its name, after being described as “a frisky little car”. A few months later, in March 1957 the Meadows Frisky was shown at the Geneva Motor Show, where it caused quite a stir, for this little car, like a Mercedes 300SL Coupé, had retained the prototype’s gull-wing doors. It was designed by none other than Giovanni Michelotti and built by Vignale of Turin, who had until then been designing and building Ferrari’s and Maserati’s such as the beautiful Ferrari 225 Sport!
The doors were not the only advanced part of this tiny – 9feet 8 inches long – car. A tubular chassis for lightness, hydraulic brakes, and room for up to two adults plus two small children, outstanding visibility, and capable of 50mph and up to 75mpg, despite an engine of just 249cc. This was the first time an Italian coachbuilt car sported these dramatic doors, but sadly, the doors made production too expensive to keep within the target sale price of £400, so they had to be dropped and a redesigned Frisky was presented at the Earls Court Motor Show later that year, called the Meadows FriskySport – an addition to the name that was going to have some relevance later.
It was at that Earl’s Court show that Stanley H Arnolt proposed he handle the Frisky franchise for the East Coast of the United States, and he ordered 20 cars as a first step. Arnolt was also one of the organisers of the Indianapolis 500, which led to a FriskySport being used around the track as a runabout! That car is now in France after having been fully restored.
The West Coast was also targeted and a Californian importer ordered 100 FriskySports. Unfortunately, the initial deliveries had problems and further payments were suspended until the difficulties were fixed, something which turned out to be caused by the fuel used in the US, which was dissolving the fuel tank lining. This would require the additional time and expense of designing and building new fuel tanks, and combined with complications with the Board at Vickers, little was going right for the Frisky project.
The FriskySport, a four-wheel soft-top, took things in another direction, while maintaining the small size and with Michelotti’s early involvement, the FriskySport ended up being modified in-house. A slightly larger – 325cc – engine was used and installed ahead of the rear axle, making the FriskySport a mid-engined coupé and the car eventually went on sale in March 1958. Some special LHD FriskySports were exported to the USA, but the car was not a success there – not helped by the fuel tank corrosion issue, but can you imagine the driver of late 1950’s Cadillac or Chevy looking down to see one of these minute cars alongside him at the lights?
To publicise the new FriskySport, an open-top version – registration number UUK421 – covered the 831 miles of the London to Monte Carlo Rally route of 831 miles in under 24 hours driving time – quite an achievement. A special tweak to this car – to improve traction on the snow and ice – was the fitting of twin rear wheels – a six wheel car many years before Tyrell tried it!
THE MEADOWS FRISKY IN EGYPT
August 1958 saw a change of ownership – Frisky production was acquired by The Marston Group of Companies to become Frisky Cars Ltd., and the following month the FriskySport was officially launched at The Arnston Motor Co. in London, in the presence of no less than Stirling Moss, and in a road test, Autocar praised the Frisky’s “appearance, performance and economy.” Things were looking good…and then we come to another intriguing twist to the Frisky tale, one that involves the President of Egypt, no less!
By 1959, two years after the Suez Crisis, Anglo-Egyptian relations were improving, and within Egypt there was a desire to develop their own motor industry, and Raymond Flower – due to his involvement with the Cairo Motor Company, received an approach regarding Frisky Cars being built in Egypt, and a red FriskySport, with logo and speedometer converted to Arabic, was sent to Egypt’s President Abdel Nasser – himself an engineer – for inspection. After requesting some modifications, he gave the project his blessing, and the car would be called the Ramses. A factory was built close to the Pyramids and components for 10,000 cars were ordered.
25 cars were shipped to Alexandria and displayed in Liberation Square in Cairo for the 23rd July 1959 celebrations. They were hailed as “The All-Arab people’s car” and a company, “Egyptian Automotive”, was formed to build the Ramses…
…and then it all went wrong as politics interfered. The British Board of Trade vetoed the shipment and the end result was that Egypt’s first home produced car became a disguised NSU Prinz, which continued to be made for many years
THE FRISKY FAMILY THREE
The first three wheeled Frisky – with two wheels at the front and a single wheel at the rear and driven by a 197cc single-cylinder Villiers (not Meadows) engine – a set up that enabled it to be driven on a motorcycle licence – was the “1959 Family Three”, by Frisky Cars Ltd – this was announced at the Earls Court Motor Show of 1958 and went into production in October 1958. Sales began in the following January, but within a few months a Mk2 version was under development. However, production ceased just a few weeks later in July 1959 due to financial problems that put the company into liquidation. In August, a new company, Frisky Cars (1959) Ltd was formed under the control of a local businessman production of the Frisky Family Three Mk2 would re-start at the Meadows Fallings Park works.
THE FRISKY PRINCE
At the Earls Court Motor Show in October 1960 the Frisky Prince, a three-wheeled 2+2, became the last car to be developed and launched under the Frisky name, but despite a successful promotional tour where five European capitals were visited in four days on just £5-worth of fuel, sales failed to take off and the company was sold to Petbow Ltd. Manufacturing moved to their base in Sandwich on the Kent coast in January 1961 but a combination of problems resulted in the whole venture coming to a close shortly afterward
As of today, only one complete Frisky Prince is known to exist
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN – THE FRISKY SPRINT
The Frisky Sprint was intended to be a lightweight competition car affordable to the enthusiast. Here there is another connection with Stirling Moss – Gordon Bedson and Keith Peckmore, the duo behind the concept, had previously been with Kieft Cars Ltd – in fact, Bedson designed Stirling Moss’s famous 500cc Formula Three car.
The Sprint was designed and built entirely in-house and was launched on 22nd October 1958 at the Earls Court Show along with the Frisky Coupé and the Frisky Family Three. The Sprint had a GRP resin body mounted on a parallel-sided ladder type 2 ¼ inch tubular chassis with independent suspension to all four wheels. It was powered by a specially modified three-cylinder air cooled Excelsior 492cc two stroke engine that developed 36 bhp at 5600 rpm located at the rear.
Of all the models launched under the Frisky name, it was without doubt the Sprint which generated the most interest, particularly in the press. However, the bright future that seemed to beckon was derailed by financial problems, and Bedson and Peckmore left the company to work on a new lightweight car in Australia – The Lightburn Zeta Sport.
POSTSCRIPT – THE FRISKY GRAVEYARD
In 1982, John Meadows received information that Petbow Ltd were having a clear out and that there were a number of Frisky bodies about to be destroyed. On arriving at Petbow’s site, John and some friends arrived to find a group of Nissen huts in swamp-like conditions, outside which were rows of Frisky Family Three body shells, pointing nose down and some with trees growing through them. There were also FriskySport body shells with no doors and even the damaged original buck for the 1957 gull-wing car lying about (the Frisky Register has this buck in safe keeping).
John and company rescued what they could, and most of these shells have since been used to restore remaining examples, but towards the end of the 1960’s, whatever was left on site was destroyed – deliberately – in a fire.
For cars that were built for such a short time, numerous modifications were made, far too many to go into here, but the Frisky website (http://www.meadowsfrisky.co.uk/home) is chock-full of detailed information on these intriguing and characterful little cars.
In total, some 75 Frisky’s are known to exist around the world, in the UK, the USA, Australia, France, Germany and other countries. Meadows Frisky cars have developed quite a following, in large part due to the enthusiasm of John Meadows, who has run The Frisky Register since 1978 and played an invaluable part in preserving both the fascinating history and the present of these quirky little cars and that enthusiasm remains undimmed even as he has entered his 80th year.
Our thanks to John Meadows for sparking this article in the first place, and for his freely given knowledge and co-operation by fact-checking and providing many of the photographs used to illustrate this piece.