William Walmsley

Walmsley was good with his hands and had learned basic principles of coachbuilding as part of the family coal transporting business.

[2] He began refurbishing ex-WD bikes and building sidecars in his garden shed at the rate of perhaps one a week, the trimming being done by his wife.

The Swallow Sidecar Company of Blackpool was the result, the partnership officially beginning a week after Lyons' 21st birthday for legal reasons.

The octagonal Model 1 was very popular, and soon Walmsley and Lyons were riding Brough Superiors with their sidecars to the November 1922 Motorcycle Show in London.

They built many Austin Swallows, and also bodied Wolseley, Morris, Swift, Alvis and Fiat chassis.

[7] Sales were good, and at the 1931 London Motor Show their SS-I coupe sports car on a specially designed Standard chassis was exhibited.

The SS-I and SS-II were produced with open top and enclosed four seat versions, and Swallow bodywork on other chassis was discontinued, but sidecar production continued into the 1940s.

Walmsley was content with the company's modest success and saw little point in taking risks by expanding the firm.