Founded: 1885
Douglas headquarters: Kingswood, Bristol, England
The company, which later became the basis for the factory for the production of the famous British motorcycles brand Douglas (Douglas), was founded by V.J. Barter (W. J. Barter) based on the company Light Motors Ltd. (Light Motors Ltd.). In 1907, the original company went bankrupt and was safely handed over to the hands of the Douglas family, which at that time owned a nearby foundry that supplied various parts for Light Motors Co., Ltd..
In the early 20-ies of the XX century, the company began to install disc brakes on the Douglas motorcycles for the first time. At that time, the Douglas motorcycle was even in the garage of King of England – George V.
1934 was marked by the beginning of the production of a model with an engine capacity of 494 cubic meters. cm.
As for most motorcycle manufacturers of those years, the production of motorcycles was not the only field of activity of the company Douglas. In addition to motorcycles, engines for aircraft, as well as tractors, Vespa scooters, trucks and cars were manufactured at the company at various times.
In 1935, due to financial difficulties, the brand and the Douglas logo became the property of another company – BAC. The change of owner did not change the focus of the company’s activities. The production of motorcycles remained the focus of the company. During World War II, the Douglas company produced generators and motorcycles.
In 1948, Douglas realized the new economic crisis, after which all efforts were made to produce a series of motorcycles with engines of 350 cubic meters. cm.
The last model of the company Douglas was released in 1955 and that was the “Dragonfly” model. After that, the Douglas brand was acquired by Westinghouse Brake & Signal, which did not interest the production of original motorcycles.
Manufacture of motorcycles of the Douglas brand was stopped in 1957. Instead, the factory began to assemble the Vespa scooters and later, the Gilera motorcycles from imported parts.