Gurney Nutting Ltd

While many old established coach building houses which survived into the era of the motorcar could trace their roots to the industrial revolution of the late eighteenth century, and earlier, by no means all of them did. The mood of post- armistice optimism which made 1919 a boom year for the motor industry persuaded several already established companies (some of which had no direct links with the industry) into motor manufacture and its associated activities.

Among those who saw their future in the bespoke motorcar was J. Gurney Nutting, a Croydon builder and joiner, but unlike most of the newcomers his company prospered.

No small credit for this must be taken by his talented stylist and designer A. E. ‘Mac’ McNeil, and within a decade the company had established a reputation quite equal to that of firms which had already been in business for over a century.

Initially the works were located in Oval Road, Croydon, but when fire destroyed the premises in 1923 the company - at that time titled J. Gurney Nutting & Company Ltd - moved to premises in Elystan Street, Chelsea. Two years later the first Rolls-Royce body was built, and it was not long before the company was supplying coachwork to the Duke of York, Prince George, and other members of the Royal Family. A Weymann fabric saloon on a new Phantom Rolls-Royce for Edward, Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VIII ) followed, and by the early thirties the company held the Royal Warrant.

In 1931 the company secured the contract for the streamlined all-enveloping body of Sir Malcolm Campell’s Land Speed Record car, ‘Bluebird’.

By 1945, Gurney Nutting was a sick man nearing the end of his life, but he was anxious to ensure in those days left to him that not only should his company recommence production of bespoke coachwork, but that it should do under the aegis of a suitable parent. He had lost McNeil to De Havilland aircraft upon the outbreak of war and although the designer had returned to the motor industry on the cessation of hostilities, his services had been secured by Jack Barclay for James Young Ltd.

Following his death in 1946 the company was renamed Gurney Nutting Ltd, and the premises were mainly employed in the refurbishment of Barclay-owned Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars which had been laid up for the duration of the war.

Following the removal of Jack Barclay (Service) Ltd to Merton and the demolition of Lacland Place, Gurney Nutting Ltd. were also accommodated there and production of bodies recommenced on a limited scale. After McNeil had been appointed Chief Designer to both companies, this activity proceeded in close collaboration with James Young Ltd. Timbers were cut in the latter’s Bromley wood mill and transported to Merton for assembly and wings were manufactured both at Bromley and Merton.

Other activities during this period included the construction of a number of composite bodies for long-distance passenger coaches and a batch of delivery vans for The Evening Standard.

Post-war Gurney Nutting production was never on a large scale, however, and with the introduction of Rolls-Royce factory bodywork and later the integral construction of both bodies and chassis, the demand for coachwork of composite construction gradually dwindled. The company did exhibit at the first post-war Earl’s Court Motor Show in 1948, but Merton gradually concentrated upon service and repair work and by the time this department was moved back to Danvers Street, Chelsea, all new coachbuilding activity under the Gurney Nutting name had ceased.

Taken from the “Dark Force” website.