Lanchester Ten History

The Ten was Lanchester's first production car, following an experimental machine that ran on public roads in 1896. Six demonstrators were built in 1900 around a horizontal twin-cylinder, 4,033 cc engine — initially air-cooled — that used Frederick Lanchester's twin-crankshaft 'harmonic balancer' arrangement to run with then-unheard-of smoothness.

Unlike rivals adapting horse carriages, the Ten was conceived from first principles as a motor car: tiller steering, mid-mounted engine, and an epicyclic three-speed gearbox were all designed as an integrated whole. Water-cooled developments followed, and the basic twin-cylinder design underpinned Lanchester's earliest range before the company moved to four- and six-cylinder cars.