The Godiva and the Loryc

The Godiva and the Lox,

The Godiva mentioned by Nigel Mills in the May issue (Vintage Postbag) may be the sole survivor of the marque, but is certainly not the only Payne & Bates car extant. A circa 1899/1900 Stonebow 16 h.p. Raleigh-type Dos-a-dos Dogcart with horizontal twin-cylinder 2,865 c.c. engine, made by Payne & Bates (but marketed by R. M. Wright & Co. of Lincoln) survived in totally original, unrestored condition in Sussex until 1980. I believe that the car has now been restored by the son of the second owner (who bought it secondhand from a Dartford laundrv proprietor in 1904). It was registered 0345 under the Motor Car Act of 1903 and still retains that number. Even in unrestored state, the engine ran noisily but healthily.

Roderick Taylor asks about the Loryc. Georgano’s “Encyclopaedialists the make as the only car to have been made in the Balearic Islands (1920-1924). It was made by Talleres Lacy y Ribas SRL, of Palma de Mallorca, utilised a 904 0.0. four-cylinder Ruby engine and was based on the French EHP in its original guise. A Loryc was entered for the Armangue Trophy Race in 1922, driven by Frederick Armangue. The Loryc made the fastest lap, and it is this car which illustrates the entry in the “Encyclopaedia”.

Incidentally, T.A.S.O. Mathieson, author of “Racing Cars 1919-1939” (Motor Racing Publications) states that the Loryc engine was 55 mm. x 110 mm. — 1,045 c.c. (not 904 c.c.). Who incorrect? M. WORTHINGTON-WILLIAMS Newcastle Emlyn