Historic Car Brands

The Star Motor Company was a British car and commercial vehicle maker, started by the Lisle family and active from 1898 to 1932. At its peak Star was the UK’s sixth largest car manufacturer and produced around 1000 cars a year.

Edward Lisle built his first bicycle in the early 1870s and had enough success racing it that he began to build bicycles to order. In 1876, he partnered with William Sharratt to increase production, but that partnership only lasted three years. 

Edward Lisle then founded the Star Cycle Company and by 1899, production had reached 10,000 cycles per year. By 1904, Star was the largest Wolverhampton based bicycle manufacturer, but  severe downturn in bicycle sales after 1905 saw the Star Cycle Company change its product lineup. 

Planning for the Star car had begun in 1897, when the company acquired a 3.5hp, single-cylinder Benz car and used it as the base for their own design. As a result, the 1898 Star 3.5 was essentially a copy that was soon referred to as the ‘Star-Benz’. It had two speeds, chain drive, wire spoke wheels, acetylene lighting, electric ignition and pneumatic tyres, for Stg£189. 

Star then purchased the rights to produce Star-Benz cars, but adopted a policy of building as much as possible in-house. 

By 1900, the cars were selling for Stg£168 and the company made its first export sale, to Auckland, New Zealand. Exports became a major part of Star’s business, particularly to Australia and New Zealand. 

Star production had expanded by 1900 and a two-cylinder, three-speed model appeared that year. As with most car brands of the time, Stars were entered in: “every test or competition for which they were eligible”. 

In 1901 came the 7hp and 10hp models, with vertical twin De Dion engines and in 1902 a 20hp four-cylinder appeared. 

Star car badge on 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup Racer – In Vitrio

In 1891 Lisle had adopted a six-pointed star as the company logo and that led to a successful suit against the Daimler’s Mercedes brand in 1902. Daimler had adopted a seven-point star that closely resembled the Star logo and its Mercedes-brand cars had a four-point star.

The court case result was Mercedes’ adoption of a three-pointed star that became a motoring icon. (The four-pointed star was applied to Deutsche Aerospace AG (DASA) in the 1980s.)

In 1903, Star introduced a smaller 12hp four that set a record of 39mph (63km/h) on a two-mile (3.2 km) run in County Cork, Ireland, under the auspices of the Irish Automobile Club. In addition, two Stars ran in the Isle of Man qualifying races for the Gordon Bennett Cup but neither car worried the scorers. 

1905 Star Gordon Bennett Racer – Tap Tapzz

Star had planned to produce only four- and six-cylinder models, but the 1905 downturn in the bicycle industry changed those plans. Also, there was a growing demand for smaller, cheaper cars.

The Star Cycle Company, run by Lisle’s son, had continued building bicycles and motorcycles, but in 1905 entered the car industry in its own right. Star’s cheaper car was called the ‘Starling’ and, later ‘Stuart’  and it sold from Stg£110. There was a 1296cc single and a 1531cc twin, with chassis from Hopper, a Barton-upon-Humber cycle maker. This company also sold the machines, as Torpedoes. 

Production of these ‘mini-Stars’ continued until 1909, after which the Briton Motor Company was formed and the products were badged as Britons. Briton took control of production of the ‘Starling’ and ‘Stuart’ and the first two cars were a 2282cc, 12hp twin and a 2413cc, 14 hp four. (The 14hp car became available as a Star model in 1910.)

For 1906, there was a new Star 3261cc, 14 hp four, as well as a new 30hp, 6227cc six. The six was increased in displacement to 6981cc in 1909 and lasted until 1911. A new 2862cc, 15hp model that was actually 19.6hp, debuted and stayed in production for three years.

The main Star company continued to make well-engineered models, adding a range of vans and trucks. It became the sixth largest British car maker.

Stars acquitted themselves well in the 1909 Irish Reliability Trial and a 12hp model won its class in all the hillclimbs of the Scottish Automobile Club trial, where Star saw racing success in South Africa, when a 14hp model won the Transvaal Automobile Club hillclimb and a Star also won the New Zealand national hillclimb championship. 

1914 Star 20hp tourer – Tony Hisgett

For 1913, there was a 1743cc Briton, which became the 10/12 in 1914.

In 1912, Star introduced the torpedo-bodied 15.9hp, powered by a 3016cc four and with a new ‘bullnose’ radiator. The radiator had been adopted for warm-climate export markets, but was adopted for all models. This cart ran an RAC trial over 801  miles at Brooklands, at an average 66.75mph (107.42 km/h) that year. The 15.9 remained in production until 1922.

Like many companies during the First World War Star came under control of the government, devoting their output to the war effort. Commercial vehicles were made for the British, French and Russian armies but Star’s main contribution was the production of aircraft wings and parts for mines. In 1918 the company accepted an order to produce 400 V8 Renault engines but had only built 12 by the time the war ended and military contracts were cancelled.

Following the War, prices in the car market fluctuated greatly. Post-war inflation pushed prices up with the cost of some Star cars reaching above Stg£1000, making them effectively unsaleable. However, as the economy entered recession, prices dropped dramatically and Star was able to introduce a new range of models at cheaper prices. The 11.9 hp model performed well, selling at a rate of 20 a week for the next few years.

Star Mercury – Wolverhampton City Archives

Post-war car production resumed in 1919 with the pre-war 15.9hp and 3815cc 20.1hp Stars, and the 10/12 Briton.  

By the early 1920s, Star was producing 1000 cars a year in its cramped workshops. 

The death of founder Edward Lisle in 1921 was a major blow for Star. At the time Star had been attempting to bail out the ailing Briton Motor Company, but it couldn’t survive the post-War slump, going under in 1922 and being bought by C A Weight. A more up-to-date Briton, with a 1795cc engine, was introduced in 1921. The last four Britons were exported to Australia in 1929.

Development continued and Star entered two 11.9hps in the Scottish Six Days’ Light Car Trials, placing first and second in the hands of R. Lisle and G G Cathie; the winner was sold to New Zealand, where it proved dominant in local racing. Another 11.9 won the Australian 1000 Mile Alpine Test.

1926 Star two-seater – Wolverhampton City Archives

The 11.9 developed into the 1945cc 12/25 in 1924, followed by a pushrod overhead valve 12/40 with four-wheel brakes (then a rarity) and four-speed gearbox. The 12/40 was capable of 80mph (129km/h) and was joined by an 18/40 six.

Lorries of 25cwt, 34-40cwt and 50-60cwt were powered by the 12/25 engine.

Despite producing at record levels between 1921 and 1925, Star was still not making much of a profit. The company continued to release upgraded new models, but outdated production techniques meant that Star cars were more expensive than Austin and Morris. The mass production techniques embraced by these companies allowed them to produce their cars more cheaply prices, so Star found itself being squeezed out of the market. 

1926 Star Scorpio – De Facto

Star production was only 105 cars in 1927, so the end was nigh. In 1928, fellow Wolverhampton manufacturer Guy Motors took control through an exchange of shares. 

Star continued to exist as a separate company, operating under the name of the Star Motor Company Limited. Production was moved to one of Star’s sites, near the Clyno factory. Star cars were now built entirely under one roof and the workforce was reduced to 250. The range of models was reduced in order to reduce competition with Guy products.

Under the management of Guy, Star continued to produce quality cars, although they proved to be far too expensive for ordinary people. Star’s new 18/50, 2470cc six model boasted wet cylinder liners, duralumin connecting rods, aluminium pistons and seven bearing crankshaft.

1931 Star Comet 18 – Elliott Brown

The Comet, Planet and Jason models were introduced in 1930, with the 18/50hp Jason proving the most popular, at a price of Stg£595. Various versions of these models were released, including coupés, limousines and tourers. 

However, Stars continued to be a loss proposition and by then Guy, along with almost every other car maker, had its own financial troubles and could not afford to modernise Star’s Bushbury plant, to recuse production costs. 

With no way out of this bind for Guy, a receiver was appointed for Star in March 1932. Parts and manufacturing rights of the company were sold off to McKenzie and Denley, which continued to have Star parts catalogued in 1962.

Star – USA

Star was an American brand that was assembled by the Durant Motors Company between 1922 and 1928.  Durant Motors Inc was established in 1921 by former General Motors CEO William ‘Billy’ Durant, following his termination.

Also known as the Star Car, Star was intended to be a competitor for the Ford Model T and Chevrolet. In the United Kingdom, it was sold as the Rugby, to avoid confusion with the British Star marque.

Like other products of the Durant Motors Company, the Star was an ‘assembled car’, built from parts supplied by various outside companies. Originally, Stars were powered by four-cylinder Continental engines. In 1926, came a six-cylinder engine.

Star cars were first produced in Durant’s Long Island City plant before production moved to the new factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Star was also manufactured in other Durant factories in Lansing, Michigan, Oakland, California and Toronto, Ontario.

Star undercut Chevrolet prices and matched Ford prices, starting in 1922 at US$348 for a touring car. Ford slashed its model-equivalent price by US$50 in mid-1923, which Durant could not match, but Star was able to match Chevrolet prices during most of its life.

1923 Star Four Station Wagon – David Berry

In 1923, Star became the first car company to offer a production station wagon. Instead of shipping a chassis out to a custom builder, who added a wooden wagon body, the wagon body was delivered to the Star factory and fitted to the chassis there. (We’ve covered this landmark Star product in our History of the Woodie story.)

For the early part of the 1928 model year, the Star was known as the Durant Star and was only available with a four-cylinder engine. The car was replaced in the latter half of the 1928 model year by the Durant 4.

Production from 1923 to 1928 totalled 358,689 vehicles

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