Squire Car Manufacturing Company was a British auto manufacturer. It was established by Adrian Squire in 1934. The company began producing the Squire 1500 from 1935 to 1939. The Squire 1500 was one of the rarest prewar British supercars that rivals the likes of Bugatti Type 55 and Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 in the 1930s.
History
The Squire Car Manufacturing Company was a British automobile manufacturer based in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire in the 1930s. Adrian Squire, a former employee of Bentley and MG, founded Squire Motors Ltd when he was just 21 years old. The company later became the Squire Car Manufacturing Company and produced the Squire car, a Grand Prix car that was transformed into a road car. The company took advantage of an opportunity to use Anzani's R1 100 bhp (75 kW) 1,496 cc twin-cam engine after Frazer-Nash stopped using British Anzani. The car was highly regarded for its exceptional top speed and braking ability. Squire designed and built a rigid chassis in two lengths for two or four seat versions with Vanden Plas providing the attractive bodywork.
However, the Squire car was too expensive and production ended in 1936 after the company faced financial difficulties. Squire joined Lagonda and later worked for the Bristol Aeroplane Company before his death during an air raid in 1940. Two or three more cars were assembled from leftover parts by Valfried Zethrin in 1938 and 1939. There were plans to resume production after the war, but the lack of patterns to make the engine made it uneconomical. Zethrin pursued a new project called the Zethrin Rennsport, which was an updated and simplified attempt at the Squire concept, but it was doomed to fail. Lack of technical expertise, industry interest, and funds led to the project's demise.
