X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Birmingham Small Arms Company


2009 Manx Grand Prix

The musician Jake Drake-Brockman, a former member with the Liverpool group Echo & the Bunnymen, was involved in a fatal road traffic accident near Orrisdale North while visiting the Isle of Man for the Manx Grand Prix when the vintage BSA motorcycle he was riding was in collision with a converted ambulance.

Economy of Birmingham

Famous brands from the "city of a thousand trades" include Bird's Custard, Typhoo Tea, the Birmingham Wire Gauge, Brylcreem, Chad Valley Toys, BSA, Bakelite, Cadburys chocolate, HP Sauce, Epsc and the MG Rover Group; although no Rover cars are set to be produced in the future, with Nanjing Automobile Group to focus on the MG cars.

Hupmobile

In 1912, Hupp would be one of two automakers pioneering the use of all-steel bodies, joining BSA in the UK.

Orrisdale North

The musician Jake Drake-Brockman, a former member with the Liverpool group Echo & the Bunnymen, was involved in a fatal road traffic accident at Orrisdale North on 1 September 2009 while visiting the Isle of Man for the Manx Grand Prix when the vintage BSA motor-cycle he was riding was in collision with a converted ambulance.


British shadow factories

The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited alone during the war controlled 67 factories from Small Heath, employing 28,000 people operating 25,000 machine tools.

Daimler Dingo

Alvis had been in partnership with Nicholas Straussler and provided armoured cars to the Royal Air Force, Morris had participated in trials and production of armoured cars, and BSA Cycles -whose parent Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) was involved in armaments - had a small front wheel drive vehicle in production.

Edward Manville

In the automobile industry, as chairman of both Birmingham Small Arms Company and its wholly owned subsidiary The Daimler Company, he personally brought about the introduction of the Knight sleeve-valve engine and its acquisition by Daimler, and the incorporation of the fluid flywheel and epicyclic transmission system throughout Daimler's full range of vehicles.

Wasp Motorcycles

A Wasp/BSA motocross sidecar outfit ridden by former world motocross champion Dave Bickers was used in the 1979 World War II film Escape to Athena, disguised to look like a German military BMW R75.


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