About Sheffield-Simplex
Sheffield-Simplex was a British car and motor cycle manufacturer opaerating from 1907 to 1920 based in Sheffield, Yorkshire and Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.
The company received financial backing from the coal magnate Earl Fitzwilliam. The first few cars were called Brotherhoods and were a continuation of the Brotherhood-Crocker cars made in London in which Earl Fitzwilliam had been an investor. Brotherhood sold the London site in 1905 and moved to Peterborough but could not get permission to build a car factory so the Earl suggested a move to Sheffield where he built a new factory in Tinsley.
In 1908 the first cars to bear the Sheffield-Simplex name appeared designed by Percy Richardson ex Daimler and Brotherhood. The LA1 had a six cylinder 6978 cc engine and three speed gearbox. It was joined in 1908 by the LA2 intended for lighter open bodies which did without a conventional gear system, having three crown wheel and pinion sets on the rear axle to give different ratios.
Four smaller cars joined the line up in 1910. The LA3 and long wheelbase LA4 were the babies of the family with a four cylinder engine of 2882 cc, while the LA5 and LA6 had six cylinder 4324 cc power units. These cars lasted only one year and in 1911 were replaced by the LA7 with a six cylinder 4740 cc engine allowing the company to boast that only one other British maker made only six cylinder cars. Sheffield-Simplex considered their only rival to be Rolls-Royce and even opened a London showroom in Conduit Street very close to theirs.
