Racing Recognizing the value of publicity gained from
racing, which no other British marque did, in spring, Edge entered an Napier in the Thousand Miles (1,600 km)
Trial of the
Automobile Club on behalf of
Mary Eliza Kennard; driven by Edge, with Kennard along, on a circuit from Newbury to Edinburgh and back, it won its class, being one of only thirty-five finishers (of sixty-four starters) and one of just twelve to average the requisite in England and in Scotland. By June 1900, eight "16 hp"s had been ordered, and Edge entered one in the Paris-
Toulouse-Paris race, with
Charles S. Rolls (co-founder of Rolls-Royce) as
riding mechanic. The ()
sidevalve suffered problems with its ignition coils and cooling system, and failed to finish. For 1901, Montague designed a car sure not to lack speed, having a () sidevalve four capable of at 800 rpm, on a wheelbase of with four-speed
gearbox and chain drive. Called the "50 hp", only two or three were completed, including one for Rolls. In the concurrent
Paris-Bordeaux rally, it retired with clutch trouble. For the
1902 Gordon Bennett, three entrants (the Charron-Girardot-Voigt, a
Mors and a
Panhard) contested for France, with Edge in a Napier and two Wolseleys. The Napier was a three-speed, shaft-drive 6.44-litre (392.7 cu in) four ( of (though described as a 30 hp). Piloted by Edge and his cousin, Cecil, it wore what would become known as
British racing green, and won at an average ; although by default, since all other entrants retired during the race. It was the first British victory in international motorsport, and would not be repeated until
Henry Segrave took the
French Grand Prix in 1923. Annual production reached 250 cars in 1903, overwhelming the Lambeth factory, so a move was made to a new plant at
Acton, in west London. On 16 October of that year, Napier announced a six-cylinder car for 1904 and became the first manufacturer to make a commercially successful six, a "remarkably smooth and flexible" vehicle Napier's 1902 win brought the Gordon Bennett hosting duties to the United Kingdom, and the 1903 event was held south of
Dublin, with three shaft-driven Napiers defending the British honour, all in the (later famous) racing green: two 470 cubic inch (7708 cc) fours for
Charles Jarrott and
J. W. Stocks, with McDonald, the Genoa plant manager, his riding mechanic, and an 80-horsepower (838 cubic inch, 13,726 cc), the Type K5, for Edge. Jarrott and Stocks crashed, and Edge was disqualified. It was a bad year for Napier's racing programme; a 35 hp in the hands of Colonel
Mark Mayhew in the
Paris–Madrid rally lost its steering and hit a tree. Edge, again with McDonald, fared no better with the K5 in the 1904 Gordon Bennett in Germany, but a new 920 cubic inch (15-litre; 158.7 × 127 mm, 6.25 × 5-inch) six, the L48, with an external radiator reminiscent of the
Cord 810, set the fastest time at the Velvet Strand speed trials at
Portmarnock, Ireland, in September, piloted by McDonald. In January 1905, the L48, again with McDonald in the seat, took the mile (1.6 km) record at
Ormonde Beach at ; although this was shortly broken by Bowden's
Mercedes, the run was disallowed. The versatile McDonald ran the L48 in the 1905 Gordon Bennett qualifying event at the
Isle of Man, taken over for the race by works driver
Clifford Earp, who placed ninth. Edge's secretary,
Dorothy Levitt, drove a development of the K5 at the
Blackpool and
Brighton Speed Trials in 1905, and the next year ran the L48 at the Blackpool Speed Trials, showing talent by equalling Edge's speed and setting a women's record in the
flying kilometre of . The L48, nicknamed
Samson, became famous there in the venue's first two years; in 1908, Napier's
Frank Newton covered at in a stroked (178 mm, 7-inch) L48. At the
French Grand Prix, officials showed the perverse reasoning for which they later became notorious by claiming that removable wire wheels were an unfair advantage. In October 1903 Levitt won the Championship of the Seas at Trouville, and the French government bought the boat for £1,000. The Lion came into service shortly before the end of the war. During the First World War the company was also contracted to build 600 aircraft at the Acton factory (50
Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.7, 400
Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 and 150
Sopwith Snipes). Together with the engine work, this required enormous expansion of the company.
Interwar period By the end of the war, military production had tailed off and the Lion was still barely in use. In 1919 civilian car production was recommenced. The T75 motor car would be Napier's last. Designed by
A. J. Rowledge (who left for
Rolls-Royce in 1921), its engine was a 40–50 hp ()
alloy six with detachable
cylinder head,
single overhead camshaft, seven-
bearing crankshaft, dual
magneto and
coil ignition, dual plugs, and Napier-
SU Carburettor. Coachwork was by
Cunard, by then a subsidiary. Last of the great Napier internal combustion engines was the
Nomad, a complex "turbo-compound" design that combined a diesel engine with a
turbine to recover energy otherwise lost in the exhaust. The advantage of this complex design was fuel economy: it had the best
specific fuel consumption of any aircraft engine, even to this day. However, even better fuel economy could be had by flying a normal
jet engine at much higher altitudes, while existing designs filled the "low end" of the market fairly well. First run in 1949, the Nomad I underwent radical redesign for the Nomad II but was largely ignored by the market and was cancelled in 1955. Along with every major aero engine company in the post-war era, Napier turned to the jet turbine. Seeing a niche not yet adopted up by the larger vendors, Napier developed a number of
turboshaft designs which saw some use, notably in
helicopters. Its first design, the
Naiad and Double Naiad was developed for various Royal Navy
Fleet Air Arm projects, but did not enter production. The smaller models developed later, the 3,000-hp-class
Eland and 1,500-hp-class
Gazelle did somewhat better, notably the Gazelle which powered several models of the popular
Westland Wessex helicopter. Production ceased when a deal was struck with Rolls-Royce in 1961. At the same time, the
ramjet was showing promise for high-speed supersonic flight. From 1951 Napier developed a successful large-diameter experimental engine, the Napier Ram Jet (NRJ). Napier continued in ramjet development for several years, typically working alongside the English Electric aircraft design team.
Napier Aero Engines Limited In 1961 a new company
Napier Aero Engines Limited was formed by D. Napier & Son and
Rolls-Royce, to take over the Napier aero-engine business and the Acton engine factory. It was to continue to market the Gazelle, while the completion of existing Gazelle contracts and the Eland remained the financial responsibility of the old company. But it closed only two years later, in 1963. Following the move of the aero engine business, D. Napier & Son continued as a subsidiary of English Electric. Early in 2013 Napier Turbochargers became part of
Wabtec. Napier Turbochargers currently produces turbochargers for the marine, power, and rail industries, employing around 150 people. ==List of Napier aero engines==