Fred was an entrepreneur as well as an inventor and designer and was involved in many companies (not always successful ones) during his lifetime.
Like many companies we know as car manufacturers today, Fred’s first venture was a bicycle component company ‘The Lanchester Brothers’ that made things like pedals and ball-bearings. It was short-lived however and closed in 1894.
The ‘Lanchester Engine Company Limited’ was founded in 1899 to produce the first of Fred’s designs for the road, He was made General Manager, Works Manager, and Chief Designer and was paid £350 a year.
In 1904 this company was declared bankrupt but was reformed as the ‘Lanchester Motor Company Limited’. It still exists today as a dormant company having been owned by BSA and then Daimler, which itself was taken over by Jaguar and now ultimately owned by Jaguar Landrover.
