If you asked someone what Borehamwood was famous for in the 1950s, it would be very surprising if they started to talk about motor car production.

But, at a time when the village was known around the world for its movie studios, a local engineering company did begin making its own vehicles.

SE Opperman Ltd, which had a factory at Stirling Corner, produced around 200 Unicars, which were designed to be inexpensive family saloons.

Although the Unicar was not a great success, the company did win acclaim for its Motocart, an industrial vehicle which was used around the world.

John Whittington worked at Opperman's, where he was a stores supervisor, for nine years and he remembers the Unicar being road-tested.

He said: "One chap took it over the mountain roads in Wales to test it out when he came back he said: 'Never again!'."

The Unicar, made in Borehamwood between 1956 and 1959, was a lightweight vehicle with a fibre glass body, and a top speed of 60mph.

At a price of £399 10s 0d, the car offered little in the way of comfort, with canvas, deckchair-like seats, but it was economical to run.

Sadly, the introduction of the Mini in 1959 signalled the end of the road for the Unicar, and Opperman's turned its attention to other projects.

The Motocart was developed by Opperman's , which specialised in precision engineering and, in particular, the building of gearboxes, in 1945.

It was a three-wheeled motorised transporter designed to carry out many of the jobs which had traditionally been done by a horse and cart.

A person could drive a Motocart by walking alongside it, to do 'stop-start' jobs, or they could climb on board and drive it as a road vehicle.

Although the Motocart could only reach a top speed of 12mph, it was cheaper than a van to run and more convenient in many situations.

Fitted with a four-stroke motorcycle engine and a four-speed gearbox, the Motocart was 14ft long and could carry a load of 1.5 tonnes.

Mr Whittington, a Mill Hill resident who joined Opperman's in 1950, said: "The Motocart was widely used in Canada and North America it was very popular."

In the 1950s around 500 people were employed at Opperman's red-brick factory, which was built in 1939 on the site where Currys now stands.

The company specialised in commercial gearboxes, but it also made the pieces for a well-known children's engineering kit, called Juneero.

Among the many machine parts manufactured at Opperman's were the hinges for the wings of war planes which were based on aircraft carriers.

November 9, 2001 17:07

By MARK FOY