Thrupp & Maberly was a British coachbuilding

Coachbuilder

A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...

 company based in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Origin

This business was created by a merger in 1858 of the carriage builders Joseph Thrupp, who established his business in George Street (near Portman Square) in 1760, and George Maberly.

As far back as the 1880s Thrupp & Maberly began its move from making horse-drawn carriages to making car bodies watching developments in electric cars, fitting Immisch motors in carriages to order and in 1896 supplying an electric car to the Queen of Spain. By the spring of 1897 Thrupp & Maberley held the British licence for the Duryea Motor Wagon

Duryea Motor Wagon

The Duryea Motor Wagon was among the first standardized automobiles and among the first powered by gasoline. Fifteen Motor Wagons were built by the Duryea Motor Wagon Company company of Chicopee, Massachusetts, between 1893 and 1896....

. More commissions followed and the business grew, leading to large numbers of bodies for staff cars being made during World War I.

Rootes Group

After the war Thrupp & Maberly produced a range of bespoke bodies for up-market British and European marques. In 1924, they moved to new premises at 108 Cricklewood Lane, Cricklewood

Cricklewood

Cricklewood is a district of North London, England whose northeastern part is in the London Borough of Barnet, western part is the London Borough of Brent and southeastern part is in London Borough of Camden.-History:...

, London, but kept a showroom in North Audley Street in the West End of London, which in 1925 was bought by the remarkable salesmen the Rootes brothers.

The Rootes brothers interests were then in distribution and repair and not manufacture. Thrupp & Maberly remained a prestige coachbuilder, concentrating on luxury bodies for Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce Limited

Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....

, Daimler

Daimler Motor Company

The Daimler Motor Company Limited was an independent British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in London by H J Lawson in 1896, which set up its manufacturing base in Coventry. The right to the use of the name Daimler had been purchased simultaneously from Gottlieb Daimler and Daimler Motoren...

 and Bentley

Bentley

Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...

 automobiles. In 1929, they built the body for Sir Henry Segrave

Henry Segrave

-External links:* * * * *...

's land speed record car, the Golden Arrow

Golden Arrow (land speed racer)

Golden Arrow was a land speed record racer. Built for Major Henry Segrave to take the LSR from Ray Keech, Golden Arrow was one of the first streamlined land speed racers, with a pointed nose and tight cowling...

.

The Rootes brothers bought Humber

Humber (car)

Humber is a dormant British automobile marque which could date its beginnings to Thomas Humber's bicycle company founded in 1868. Following their involvement in Humber through Hillman in 1928 the Rootes brothers acquired a controlling interest and joined the Humber board in 1932 making Humber part...

, and with it Hillman

Hillman

Hillman is a British automobile marque created by the Hillman Motor Car Company, founded in 1907. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had built bicycles...

 in 1928, and from 1932 some bodies were made for the top of the range Humbers.

Additional premises were obtained in 1936 in the old Darracq

Darracq

Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes...

 works in Warple Way, Acton

Acton, London

Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...

, London, adjacent to a company called British Light Steel Pressings

British Light Steel Pressings

British Light Steel Pressings Ltd was a company in Acton, London producing bodies for the vehicle industry.British Light Steel Pressings Ltd was formed in 1930. In its early years it made pressings for various purposes. In 1937 it was taken over by the Rootes Group, to make body shells for Sunbeam...

, with whom they merged in 1939. During World War II, they again built staff cars on Humber chassis.

Humbers and Hillmans

When peacetime production resumed after the end of World War II, the Acton works was disposed of and as the market for luxury coachbuilt vehicles was in major decline, they concentrated on special bodies for Rootes Group vehicles, including making all the open-top models. By the mid-1960s, this work was declining also, and the Cricklewood factory closed in 1967.