Jack Sangster

Jack Sangster
Jack Sangster
Born	John Young Sangster 29 May 1896 Kings Norton, Birmingham, UK
Died	26 March 1977 Belgravia, London, UK
Nationality	British
Education	Hurstpierpoint College
Occupation	Motorcycle manufacturer
Years active	1918–1961
Children	Heather Sangster

John Young Sangster (29 May 1896 – 26 March 1977) was a British industrialist and philanthropist who became an important figure in the history of the British motorcycle industry. He was more commonly known as Jack Sangster.

Early life

Sangster was born in Kings Norton, Birmingham, the second of three sons of Charles Thomas Brock Sangster, an engineer, who since 1902 was the owner of Cycle Components Ltd, better known as the motorcycle brand Ariel. Sangster was educated at Hurstpierpoint College, Sussex. After leaving school he began an engineering apprenticeship which was interrupted by the First World War. During the war, Sangster served with the City of Birmingham battalion of the 14th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. His elder brother Fredrick Charles Sangster was killed in action during 1916.

Rover 8

The Rover 8 at Newport Quay

The all new Rover 8 light car was designed by Jack Sangster before he joined Rover and was built in a new factory in Tyseley, Birmingham and driven to Coventry to have its body fitted. It was a great sales success for the company.The air-cooled, side valve, engine was a horizontal twin and was originally of 998 cc capacity but this increased to 1135 cc in 1923. The original engine had a peak output of 13 bhp (9.7 kW) at 2600 rpm. Although there was a conventional looking radiator it was a dummy. Cooling was supplied through air scoops on the side of the bonnet and it was rumoured that after hard driving at night the cylinder heads could be seen glowing red through them, although this was likely to be an exaggeration. The three speed gearbox was in-unit with the engine and drove the rear wheels via a worm wheel type rear axle. A dynamo was belt driven from the propeller shaft. An electric starter was optional from 1923. The car was based on a simple perimeter frame with quarter-elliptic leaf springs all around. Unusually for the time, rack and pinion steering was used. Brakes were fitted to the rear wheels only with a separate set of shoes for the handbrake. The wheelbase was extended from 88 inches (2,200 mm) to 94 inches (2,400 mm) in 1924 to allow genuine four seat bodies to be offered including a fabric four seat saloon. Open two and four seat bodies were usual but some closed 2 seat coupés were also made from 1923 as well as light commercials. The car cost £230 in 1919, but was reduced to £139 by 1925. It could attain 45 mph (72 km/h) and could return 45 miles per gallon (imperial). The Rover 8 was made under licence in Germany, with a slightly larger engine, by Peter-und-Moritz between 1921 and 1923.

Career

In 1918 Sangster joined the Cycle Components Manufacturing Company, of which his father was managing director. Sangster designed a small low cost car which he began manufacturing. The design of the car was later sold to the Rover Company in Coventry, with Sangster joining Rover to manage the production of the car which became the Rover Eight model.

In 1923 Sangster returned to his father's company, and by 1930 was joint managing director with him. In 1932 Cycle Components went bust, and Sangster bought most of the companies assets from the receivers, to start a new company called Ariel Motors. Sangster rebuilt the company using the wealth of design and engineering talent employed by the company, which included men such as Edward Turner, Val Page and Bert Hopwood. In 1944 Sangster sold Ariel to the BSA company for a considerable profit.

Triumph Engineering logo

Sangster seized another business opportunity in 1935 when he bought the bankrupt Triumph Motorcycles company from the receivers renaming it Triumph Engineering Co. Sangster brought-in Edward Turner and Bert Hopwood from Ariel to improve Triumph's product range. The Triumph Speed Twin designed by Turner, with its parallel twin engine was the progenitor of a line of successful Triumph motorbikes that followed. In 1951, Sangster sold Triumph to BSA for £2.5 million, which was not a bad return on the £50,000 he invested in buying Triumph in 1935.

Sangster joined the board of BSA following their acquisition of Triumph. Sangster became chairman of BSA in 1956, following a series of board room battles which ousted the previous chairman Sir Bernard Docker. He then appointed Turner as Chief Executive of the Automotive Division (comprising BSA, Ariel, Triumph, Daimler and Carbodies – makers of London taxicabs). Sangster retired as chairman of BSA in 1961.

He took in two London evacuees, Gordon & Jean Rookledge, in 1944.

Jack Sangster died in Belgravia, London, from cancer on 26 March 1977.

File:Sangster coat of arms.gif

Sangster Coat of Arms

External Links

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Sangster, John Young by Barbara M.D. Smith.
• House of Names. Sangster Family Crest and Name History