Luton, Bedford Road 1924

Photo ref: 75592

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With business looking good, and the founder long gone from Vauxhall's, the company sought room to expand and happened upon Luton, where the council welcomed them with open arms. The company took large premises in Kimpton Road, and was restructured as the Vauxhall and West Hydraulic Company, with car making separated out as Vauxhall Motors Limited. Percy Kidner shared the managing directorship with Leslie Walton. Vauxhall aimed their products at a high- class market in class-conscious Britain. Wealthy customers put quality before price, and Vauxhall's engineers approached car making along similar lines to Rolls Royce. Before the First World War, a 35hp Vauxhall was expensive at £600. Company leadership was hands-on: the young director Percy Kidner enjoyed endurance driving, competing in the 1908 RAC 2,000-mile reliability trials among other events. The company's competitive spirit soon ranged further afield, even as far as Russia and Australia. Building and driving cars were very expensive activities, with motorists making up the rules as they went along. There were no formal requirements on how to drive, though the British School of Motoring was founded in 1910, over 20 years before driving tests were required. Though some might earn a living building them, ordinary working people could not afford cars, and public transport was urgently required. Luton's noisy tramway opened in 1908, taking up a lot of road space; the council owned 5.25 route miles, with services operated by a private contractor. The system was vital in getting the growing army of workers back and forth to their jobs each day.