240:. The 34-year-old Watson and his mechanic completed the 337-mile race in less than seven hours, averaging 50 miles per hour. Before the event there had been an outcry that motor racing on public roads was too dangerous but the event took place without serious casualties. His 5.8-litre Hutton, race number '2’, started in pole position. The ex-champion racing cyclist kept his engine from overheating on the Manx hills by coasting down hills in neutral, a tricky procedure when brakes were only fitted to the rear wheels. He said that the steel studs on his solid rubber Dunlop tyres caused skidding until they wore down. It was his first victory on the racetrack. The winner's RAC medal was inscribed 'W Watson – Hutton', the words 'Napier car' being added later.
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department featuring its own glass cylinder petrol pump. Next, the entrance to the fully functioning blacksmith shop housed in the basement of the main building. The Main doors where a little further up the street which allowed access to the
British Motor Corporation (BMC) floor. Here Morris, Austin, Wolsey and MG makes received their complete servicing. All of these models, with the steering wheels on the left, were also serviced for shipment to the USA. On the same floor was the original machine shop with machinery dating back to the war years were armaments were made. One large stationary engine provided the power through a series of belts and pulleys for some fifteen lathes, grinders, shapers and various other machines in the workshop.
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British Leyland and a flurry of new service managers over the years, the commitment to training was always held in the highest regard. The Aitkin Brothers, Bill and Jack, provided the everyday management on the shop floor with foremen such as Bill Roberts, Jack James, Norman Lees and Alan Duvall providing the hands on direction for their respective staffs.
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took a week of timetabled driving, accompanied by a different observer every day, with a daily hill climb. He came second on the 40 hp
Berliet in the 1907 Graphic Trophy Race on the Isle of Man. In the 1907 Tourist Trophy Race he drove a Berliet, No 189, but retired after running short of petrol on the 5th lap. This was his first of three drives in the event.
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Starting in the 1950s, Watson renewed his childhood acquaintance with cattle and dairy farming, buying farms in
Cheshire, Caernarvonshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey, amounting to about 1500 acres in all. He also took an interest in hotels, acquiring the Chain Bridge Hotel in Llangollen around 1960.
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At the far end of the BMC floor was an elevator that connected the lower BMC floor to the two floors above namely the Jaguar on the second floor and the auto body shop on the top floor. The Jaguar department shared the space with Rolls-Royce and the other exclusive cars like Alfa Romeo. This unwanted
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A staff consisting of management, reception, mechanics and apprentices numbering in the fifties made the ground floor a hive of activity. The recent introduction of the Mini with its accompanying 'Cooper' and 'Cooper S' added to the workload of the shop floor. A technological breakthrough was made in
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because Edge had been successfully promoting the merits of six cylinder
Napiers and did not want to be associated with a four cylinder car. Hutton, a young motor dealer, had been allowed to form a separate company to run the four cylinder Napier-made cars. Three Huttons were in preparation for the
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In the 1960s the W. Watson
Company Limited premises filled the both sides of Oldham Street Liverpool with the used car department fronting on Renshaw Street. The main showrooms were located two minutes away on Bold Street. As one faced up the cobblestoned Oldham street to the right was the used car
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on 5 July 1913, Watson achieved the fastest time in both the standing kilometre and the flying half-mile, averaging 64 mph, on a 20 hp
Vauxhall. At the Club's 1920 speed trials, held at Storeton near Birkenhead, Watson won four classes driving a 23.8 hp 30–98 Vauxhall and came second
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Watson entered the 1906 Graphic Trophy Race, Isle of Man, and came third on a 40 hp
Berliet. He entered the 1907 Scottish Reliability Trial, winning a gold medal on the 40 hp Berliet, averaging 22 mpg fuel consumption. The event, for more than a hundred cars, covered over 1000 miles and
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The Watson workshop premises were further extended in 1936 on three floors at Oldham Street, Liverpool. Morris servicing was on the first floor; Morris spare parts operation, body building and repair on the third floor; servicing of other cars on the second floor (including Talbot, Alvis, Jaguar,
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race at Dieppe on 25 June, Watson's A-type
Vauxhall, in the 3-litre class, was forced to retire in the second lap with a broken gudgeon pin. In the next year's Coupe de l'Auto he was forced to retire in the 12th and final lap, after 'a bad skid'. Mechanical failure again caused Watson to retire,
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cars and the service ran for about a year, introducing motoring to a large number of people, but it suffered from the unreliability of all cars at the time. The
Daimlers were also hired from the Liverpool depot by touring parties to visit places as far afield as Devon and Cornwall. Later he used
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The Company provided employment for many including an annual intake of apprentices from the Liverpool area. Twenty plus 15- and 16-year-old indentured apprentices were dispersed throughout the many departments where they received training under the supervision of journeymen craftspeople. Although
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On the left of the street starting at the lower end saw the Commercial Vehicle Dept. Watson's was the main distributor for all BMC trucks and heavy duty vehicles as well. The parts, radiator and battery departments took the remainder of the space on Oldham Street with the Rolls-Royce new facility
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From 1921 Watson expanded his company in several directions: Chester (Grosvenor Motor Company, Foregate Street, acquired 1921); London (Chelsea embankment, service facilities and a fleet of taxis); and Birkenhead (Hamilton Square, opened 1924, enlarged 1926). During the 1920s and 30s the firm
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William Watson was married twice, first to Maude Taylor with whom he had a daughter Agnes Mildred, born 1900. They divorced and in 1916 he married Georgina Lilian Cooper, with whom he had two daughters, Barbara born 1918 and Joyce 1921. The family home from 1927 was Gayton Wood, at
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the early 60s when it was discovered that the removal of the mini's engine was far easier and more time efficient if it was extricated through the bonnet opening rather than lifting the entire body over the power unit and suspension assembly. A Watson innovation? Possibly.
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Rolls-Royce, Bentley, AC); and chassis work in the basement. The second-hand car stock had overflowed from the Renshaw Street premises into an old German church next door. Watsons had showrooms and workshops at Chester, Colwyn Bay and Birkenhead.
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petrol engines to make powered tricycles, and by 1900 was producing and selling the two-seater "W & D Quad". In 1901 he founded W Watson & Co, cycle and motor car manufacturers, and acquired additional premises in Vine Street, Liverpool.
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the previous year, been impressed by its quietness and performance and having immediately applied for the franchise. Privately in Wales he demonstrated it to Selwyn Edge, who had believed that there was no better car than the Napier.
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81:(6 November 1873 – 5 August 1961) was a Liverpool-born racing driver and motoring pioneer. A champion cyclist as a young man, he founded W Watson & Co, cycle and motorcar manufacturer, in 1901. He won the epic 1908 Isle of Man
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When William Watson died in 1961 he was still responsible for the destiny of his firm, which had become the largest distributor of motor vehicles in the north-west of England, serving 80 motor dealers and employing 600 staff.
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During World War I, the Watson workshops manufactured shell cases, shrapnel noses, aeroplane propellers and fuselages. After the war Watson took an interest in American cars, importing several hundred
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To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1908 race, at the 23rd Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood on 13 September 1958 the 83-year-old Watson drove a lap of honour in his winning car, the Hutton-Napier
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cars. He expanded Watson & Co from Liverpool to Chester, Colwyn Bay, London, Birkenhead and Crewe, creating the largest car distributing organisation in the North of England, specialising in
121:, then became a Solicitor's Clerk, but abandoned the legal profession for cycle racing and manufacture. He was an active member of the Liverpool Wheelers Cycling Club. After earlier outings on
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During World War II, Watsons repaired Anson fuselages, then became principal repairers of Mosquito aircraft, and in Bootle undertook assembly and repair work for the US armed forces.
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cars thanks to his cycling connection with Selwyn Edge. He later wrote that he considered Napiers to have been the best British cars for about the first seven years of the century.
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union was to end when a new facility was built that would house the Rolls, Electrical and Lubrication departments as W. Watson saw greater expansion on Oldham Street.
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In 1931, a motor show known as "Liverpool's Olympia", the second of its kind, was held at the Watson Renshaw Street premises. About 100 cars were on display.
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The company moved to larger premises at 56–58 Renshaw Street, Liverpool in 1907. Watson became one of the first Rolls-Royce agents in 1908, having tested a
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William Watson was born in 1873, the youngest child of Timothy Watson, a milk dealer in the West Derby area of Liverpool. He won a scholarship to
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licence for a motor vehicle, the first in Chester and one of the earliest in the country. He acquired six-second-hand chain-driven
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In the late sixties while the name remained W. Watson & Co Ltd. the Oliver Rix Motor Group took over ownership of the company.
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Present day, 2017, the building(s) on Oldham Street are still there with the Main build serving as a car park.
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and broke many local speed records. He established Watson & Dickinson, builders of racing bicycles, at 30
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models, by taking the train to Paris and driving them to Dieppe for shipment to Liverpool. Later he imported
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organised an exhibition at their Ashwell, Hertfordshire, headquarters on the history of the Isle of Man
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Gibson Martin, W A, 1 July 1936, "W Watson & Co's Progress: Liverpool Firm’s extended premises”,
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Watsons became a public limited company in 1953 and in 1957 acquired Slack & Mickle in Crewe.
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Scott-Moncrieff, David, Sept 1958, “Sixty Years of Motoring – Some Memories of William Watson”,
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gained a reputation for building special bodies on Morris and Rolls-Royce chassis. In 1930 the
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cars. The Paris connection led to his being granted the Berliet concession in England in 1904.
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In 1901 he set up a Chester-to-Farndon public hire service, after successfully applying for a
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Hutton-Stott, F and Bird, A, (date uncertain, 1960s) "The 1908 'Tourist Trophy' Hutton",
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Davis, S C H, 23 March 1934, "Races that Made History, No 8: The 1908 Four-Inch Race",
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Pellett, N, April 2008, "The 1908 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race", in three parts,
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Details of the 1960s provided by Frank Hitchmough, former apprentice and mechanic.
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He had more success locally. At Liverpool Motor Club's first speed trials at
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racing team from 1912 to 1914, which had mixed success. A fellow driver was
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at Lyon his Vauxhall retired with a carburettor problem on the second lap.
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In 1902 Watson started importing French cars, initially 10 and 12 hp
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Heal, A S, Sept 1958, “Edwardian TT winner – the 1908 Four-Inch Hutton”,
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this time with a broken crankshaft, on the first lap of the Isle of Man
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Obituary, 7 August 1961, "Merseyside pioneer of motoring dies at 87",
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in 1914. It was his third and final appearance in that event. In the
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Anon, 16 June 1914, "Personalities in the TT; Mr Watson (Vauxhall)",
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Who's Who in the Motor Industry, 1960, R.C.Bellamy Publications.
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Watson Golden Jubilee Supplement, 7 June 1963, (four articles),
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Radcliffe, L N, April 1961, “One of the two best Drivers...”,
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The company became agents in 1913 for Morris cars, made by
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The 2008 centenary exhibition of the Veteran Car Club
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To celebrate the centenary of the race in 2008, the
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643:Anon, 12 July 1913, "Speed Trials at Colwyn Bay",
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220:his 1907-built four cylinder racing car known as
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314:cars. The company held franchises for Essex,
701:The Veteran Car Club of Great Britain Gazette
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280:in two others driving a 17.9 hp Essex.
236:("Four Inch") Race on 24 September, driving
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212:William Watson at the 1908 Tourist Trophy
405:Anniversaries of the 1908 Four Inch Race
133:, Liverpool, in 1897. He then imported
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204:Victory in the 1908 Tourist Trophy Race
159:strawberries to Chester and Liverpool.
595:Watson Golden Jubilee Supplement, 1963
261:1912 French Grand Prix/Coupe de l'Auto
368:finishing off the top of the street.
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788:People educated at Liverpool College
85:Race driving a Hutton-Napier named
216:In August 1908 Watson bought from
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430:Veteran Car Club of Great Britain
16:British racing driver (1873–1961)
715:The Veteran and Vintage Magazine
680:The Veteran and Vintage Magazine
288:In 1905 Watson became agent for
351:W. WATSON CO LTD IN THE 1960s.
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783:Businesspeople from Liverpool
37:William Watson in about 1942
758:British automotive pioneers
743:The A-type Vauxhall 1908–15
248:Watson was a driver in the
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155:the cars for transporting
673:Liverpool Evening Express
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505:Scott-Moncrieff 1958 p 7
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89:. He also raced in
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666:The Autocar
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645:The Autocar
384:Family life
218:Selwyn Edge
107:Rolls-Royce
752:Categories
638:References
277:Colwyn Bay
229:big race.
49:1873-11-06
717:, pp 6–8.
687:The Motor
682:, pp 4–5.
659:The Motor
652:The Motor
59:, England
57:Liverpool
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95:Vauxhall
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259:In the
189:Berliet
181:Panhard
157:Farndon
152:Daimler
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696:, p 7.
328:Jaguar
316:Hudson
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440:Notes
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312:Essex
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