Thornycroft (vehicle manufacturer)

Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer that built coaches, buses and trucks from 1896 until 1977. It began when the naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company in 1896 to build steam vans, and it built its first petrol vehicle in 1902 before completing the move to internal combustion engines in 1907. Its Basingstoke factory supplied nearly 5,000 motor vehicles for the First World War effort and made engines for the Admiralty and other government departments, and in the Second World War the company designed the Terrapin and other war-related vehicles. In 1948 the company name was changed to Transport Equipment (Thornycroft) Ltd to prevent confusion with the shipbuilding Thornycroft company. It was well known for fire engine chassis and for heavy models such as the Antar tank transporter. Thornycroft was taken over by Associated Commercial Vehicles in 1961, which Leyland took over in 1962, and vehicle production at Basingstoke ceased in 1969, with production moving to Scammell at Watford.