Rudge-Whitworth

Rudge-Whitworth
PredecessorRudge Cycle Co, Whitworth Cycle Co
Founded1894 merger of predecessors
FounderDaniel Rudge, Charles H Pugh
Defunct1946
Headquarters
Coventry, Birmingham
,
United Kingdom
Key people
C H, C V and John Pugh
ProductsBicycles, motorcycles, wheels
Rudge Ulster 500 cc from 1937 in Ystad on its way to Rønne 2023
Rudge-Whitworth wire wheel on a Jaguar
Bicycle chainring with the Rudge-Whitworth hand logo on it
Preferred Share of the Rudge-Withworth Ltd, issued 25. July 1911
Rudge Multi from 1914
A poster for Rudge-Whitworth wire wheels and their prize for the 1923 24 Hours of Le Mans

Rudge Whitworth Cycles was a British bicycle, bicycle saddle,[1] motorcycle and sports car wheel manufacturer that resulted from the merger of two bicycle manufacturers in 1894, Whitworth Cycle Co. of Birmingham, founded by Charles Henry Pugh and his two sons Charles Vernon and John,[2] and Rudge Cycle Co. of Coventry (which descended from a bicycle company founded by Daniel Rudge of Wolverhampton).

Rudge motorcycles were produced from 1911 to 1946. The firm was known for its innovations in engine and transmission design, and its racing successes. Their sales motto was "Rudge it, do not trudge it."

The company also produced the first detachable wire wheel in 1907,[3] and was known for its knockoff wheels on sports cars; that brand continued well into the 1960s.

  1. ^ Rudge Whitworth.
  2. ^ Driver, Hugh. The Birth of Military Aviation: Britain, 1903–1914 Royal Historical Society, Boydell Press, Suffolk UK, Rochester NY, 1997, p.14. ISBN 978-0-86193-234-4
  3. ^ Georgano, G.N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985)