Full Steam Ahead  .....  

 .... for Ampthill's Pioneer

Albert Edward Grimmer

In 1902, in the earliest days of the motor car, an Ampthill man built by hand what is believed to be one of the county's first cars to be powered by steam.

Albert Edward Grimmer was born in Kent in 1877 but moved with his family to Ampthill in 1891. Shortly after he moved to the town, Albert, an enthusiastic cyclist, set up a repair shop in the garden shed of their house in Arthur Street.  

The family moved to Bedford Street, where he began to design and make bicycles. Still only 17, he decided to grow a moustache to make himself look older.  Nevertheless, despite his youth, the business flourished and Albert took over the adjoining cottage which he used as a workshop and shop.

A dream was born
Here he made racing cycles, tandems and his first engine, for a motorbike, under the name of  'Flitt Cycles' in honour of his new wife Annie, who had been born in Flitton and loved the village.  

Albert first read articles about the building of a steam car in The English Mechanic & World of Science in 1901.  At this time his cycle business was increasing rapidly and he was employing more helpers and apprentices. Albert enlisted their help and those of his father and brother to work in their spare time on the first steam car in Bedfordshire.

All of the parts had to be cast by hand, including the chassis, tanks and radiator. The body was made by a local cart builder and was able to seat eight people.

Teething problems
The car made its first trip in the direction of Bedford but, halfway through, trouble with the burner meant that the journey had to be abandoned.  Its early trips were blighted by problems with the burner and boiler but eventually the teething troubles were resolved and Albert and his team prepared for the car's first big run to the Motor Show at Islington, North London.

Although problems with the boiler again caused problems as far as Luton, from there they made London with a trouble-free run in under two hours.

A right Piccadilly!
Albert Grimmer described an incident on the return journey.  "We came back via Piccadilly Circus which at that time was a cross-road junction.  In the centre stood a big fat bobby who held us up.  As we could not drive fast in horse traffic the boiler got pretty warm, so when the policeman released our queue, I rather jerked the control open and the car jumped a bit more than its own length.  But I think that the bobby jumped further. He was surprised."

Albert Grimmer sold the car to a Mr Percy Gordon of Maulden for £150 —  the equivalent of more than two years wages for an engineer in 1902.  Mr Gordon then sold the car to a company in London.

There were no more steam cars for Albert Grimmer but he remained the pioneer.  In 1913 he acquired and rebuilt a Bleriot and a Deperdussin aircraft.

He taught himself to fly them at various fields near Ampthill and the Polo Ground at Race Meadow, Kempston, today the site of Interchange Retail Park.

Both machines are still airworthy and can be seen at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden.

He later went onto build a 'drive—in' petrol station in the town, a familiar idea now but an innovation at the time.  But his steam car built 100 years ago in the pioneering days of motoring was probably his greatest and most unique triumph.

Albert Grimmer died in 1960 and is buried in Ampthill churchyard.

From "Bedfordshire 2002 - Issue 19, June 2002"
By kind permission of Bedfordshire County Council, acknowledging the Editor Michele Smith.