whiteandpoppe
White and Poppe
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White and Poppe
Alfred White first met Peter Poppe in August 1897 when visiting a small arms factory in Austria. They became friends, and White suggested to Poppe that he moved to Coventry to set up an engine business. Supported financially by White’s family, the resulting Company was registered in 1899. White’s family owned 337 shares in the company, Alfred White, 250, and Peter Poppe, 1 share. The company initially worked on the design of a single cylinder engine but this was interrupted by manufacture of munitions for the Boer war (1899-1902). The first engine produced was for a motor bike in 1903 (80mm bore 85mm stroke, air cooled).
Example of 80x85 W&P Engine (ca. 1904)
In 1905 they introduced 80mm bore 90 mm stroke engine in 2, 3, 4 cylinder versions (7-14 hp).
Example of 80x90 two cylinder water cooled engine (ca. 1906)
Example of 130mm stroke engine (ca. 1908)
Example of 120x130mm four cylinder engine (1911)
In 1900, White and Poppe filed various patents for machine tools they had designed for their production line. They pioneered interchangeability of parts in automotive engines from their experience in the munitions industry. Their advanced carburettors mechanically controlled the proportion of fuel to air to achieve a consistent proportion throughout the operating range. When the first German airship was shot down (Schutte-Lanz SL11) on 3rd September 1916 it was fitted with a White and Poppe carburettor.
White and Poppe were a proprietary engine manufacturer and became a preferred supplier to Dennis Bros in 1906 at which point White and Poppe were supplying 22 different motor manufacturers.
On 5th November 1919, in the post World War I recession, Dennis Bros purchased White and Poppe (by exchange of shares to the value of £204,365.00), White and Poppe having produced nearly 12000 engines in total, including ca. 5000 for Dennis Bros.
Alfred White was offered a knighthood after World War I but turned it down because Peter Poppe was not eligible, being a foreign national.
Users
Vehicles using White and Poppe Engines
Academy
Arno
Burgess
CCC
Chalmers
Clyde
Critchley-Norris
Dixpi
Heron
Horley
Morris
Petromobile
Pullcar
Siddeley-Deasy
Tarrant
Withers
Achilles
Baguley
Calthorpe
Caltic
Clement
Cole-Wiedman
Deasy
Fairfax
High Tension
Lotis
MP
Pilot
Quadrant
Singer
Thrige
Ariel
Bridgwater
Canterbury
Century
Climax
Cotton
Globe
Horbick
Mobile
Nameless
Premier
Rothwell
Swift
West
Numbers
White and Poppe engine production prior to Dennis takeover
Sorry, Google sites has messed up the layout by dropping tables.
Bore
(mm)
63.5
80
80
85
100
80
80
60
65
69
69.5
80
80
80
80
80
85
85
90
90
100
100
100
110
110
115
120
127
127
127
80
127
127
140
Stroke
(mm)
76
85
90
85
110
90
90
90
90
100
102
90
120
130
142
149
90
110
110
130
110
130
150
130
150
150
130
130
150
180
90
130
150
150
Cylinders
1
1
1
1
1
2
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
6
6
6
6
v8
Capacity
(cc)
241
427
452
482
864
905
1357
1018
1195
1496
1548
1810
2413
2614
2855
2996
2043
2497
2799
3308
3456
4084
4712
4942
5702
6232
5881
6587
7601
9121
2714
9881
11401
13854
BHP
(normal rpm)
3
3.5
8
9
13.5
16.4
18
18
24
24.5
24.5
32
32
40
44
50
59
74
27
85.5
110
150
Comments
Air cooled
Mototcycles
Light car, marine and stationary.
Mototcycles
Marine and stationary
Clyde, Horley, Horbick, Singer, Swift
Exclusively for Morris Oxford
Proposed for 4 seat Morris Oxford
Experimental Morris Oxford
Academy, Calthorpe, Climax, Clyde, Globe, Horley, Horbick, Rothwell, Singer, Swift & West
Proposed W&P car
Siddeley-Deasy, Singer, biplane and airships
For 1912 Singer
Dennis
Dennis, Singer & Withers
Dennis and Singer
Singer
Singer and Dennis
Dennis & Withers
Subsidy Dennis (1913-1916)
Subsidy Dennis (1915 on)
Dennis & Withers
Dennis
Dennis
Calthorpe, Climax, Heron, Horbick & West
Dennis
Dennis and Railway Locomotives
Delta Airship
Aero Engine
Production
1907-1919
4
35
525
3
50
26
1530
0
188
0
643
1
2
152
468
649
38
160
4
442
493
4591
209
190
843
233
7
12
50
11
unknown
If you have further information, early W&P engines, spare or drawings please email benjamin.p.hawkins@gmail.com