1902-1918 Brothers Thomas and Joseph Hampson had built an experimental car in
Bolton in 1899. In 1902 they set up a factory in Yellow House Lane in
Southport, trading as the
Vulcan Motor Manufacturing & Engineering Company Ltd. In 1903, this grew to 6.5 hp with
shaft drive and the chassis was now "armoured ash". Twin-cylinder 1.5 L models followed in 1904 now with steel chassis and in 1905, 2 and then 3 L four-cylinder types appeared and the company moved from Yellow House Lane to Hawesside Street, both in Southport. The company continued to grow and a van version of the twin was introduced in 1906 along with large 4.8 L six-cylinder models. This model saw use as an ambulance in Britain, India, Belgium, Russia, and Portugal. During the war, the factory concentrated on production of trucks, munitions and aircraft parts, in particular for
Airco DH.9 biplanes.
1919-1930 In 1919,
Harper Bean acquired 75% of the company under a complex cash and shares deal and formed the British Motor Trading Corporation with the intention that Vulcan be responsible for commercial vehicles; nevertheless, car production continued. The group also included the
Swift Motor Company and a number of components manufacturers. With peace the first new car launch was the 16 with 2.6 L
Dorman engine. The cars now had a flat radiator replacing the pre-war "bullnose" type. although the 1½ and 2 ton models were the mainstay of truck production until the 1926 introduction of heavier four ton units, with four-cylinder engines and also a six-cylinder Dorman bus chassis. Commercial vehicles began to supplant automobiles as Vulcan's main product around this time, with buses and light (¾ ton) military vehicles alongside the trucks. During the early 1920s, Vulcan bus models had been based upon commercial vehicle chassis. Early users included the local municipal authority, Southport Corporation, whose first bus in 1924 was a Vulcan VSD with a toastrack body, for use along the seafront. From 1927, purpose built bus and coach chassis were introduced to the range. These included several single deck models (such as the Prince, Duke and Duchess models Customers for Vulcan buses included
Crosville,
Gloucester Corporation, further vehicles for Southport Corporation, In 1928, Vulcan opened a new depot and service facility in
Cricklewood, north west London. However, in the same year financial problems led to C. B. Wardman being replaced as chairman by William R. Challinor, M.B.E., with the decision being taken to end car production at that time (although some badged as Lea-Francis were made up to 1930 and
dustbin lorries. By 1931 the company was in compulsory liquidation, although they continued trading in their more profitable fields for several years, building small volumes. renaming the factory as Brockhouse Engineering (Southport). In 1951 Tilling-Stevens were taken over by the
Rootes Group. Rootes, however, had their own established commercial makers in
Commer and
Karrier and as those brands introduced their own heavier trucks both Vulcan and Tilling-Stevens were squeezed out. The two brands vanished finally in 1953. ==Factory buildings==