After working with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during the last years of the second world war, David Copeland had discovered a passion and a skill for vehicular engineering. Frustrated with the lack of affordable, fun to drive basic sports cars availle for recently de-mobbed armedforces personel he set out to develop his own 2 seat 2 door drop top sports car. The emphasis should be on econonmical fun but with a high degree of drivablility. Key to this was a light weight, small capacity short stroke 4 cylinder power unit.
Copeland enlisted the help ex-REME collegaues and set about designing the first engine, with a view to building the car around that. What transpired was the first in the series-1 four cylinder powerplants - the 454NA.
The compact 1100cc engine had a short stroke of just 60.0mm which despite its standard cast iron construction allowed a red-line of 6000rpm and peak power output of 50.7Kw (68Hp) with solid reliability. The engine now needed a chassis and Copeland went back to his REME routes once again. Many of the pre-war automotive engineers found themeselves drafted into the REME during the conflict and Copeland had become friendly with many of them. One inparticular Copeland knew had been keen to start a new project once the war had finished and in short order Michael Sterrin, formally of Nash and Armstrong came on board.
What followed was a car true to Copeland’s core desire. In a little over 1 year, the team had not only refined the engine but produced the first complete chassis - the CR.
A compact 2 door sports car the CR hit the market with the disgnation CR150. With a length of 3.7m and a wheel base of 2.34m the CR was good looking, compact and fun to drive. With a view on the budget the CR was constructed on a standard steel ladder chassis with steel panels and a longitudinal front engine/rear drive layout. There was money spent however, but carefully. To ensure the car was fun to drive the CR was supplied with double wishbone suspension front and rear - an extravagence for sure but one that would pay dividends later. Weighing just under 850Kg the car was an immediate hit, though Copeland noted that moany customers were tinkering with the beloved 454NA power plant. Feed back was that the chassis could handle more than the 50Kw the 4 cylinder unbti was produceing so the design tem went back to the drawing board.
The result was the reworked 454NA60 engine (the original engine remained in production and was designated the 454NA50), producing a peak power output of 62.3Kw (83Hp).
With the revised engine Copeland found themselves offering two models - the CR150 and the new CR160. The CR was now getting a reputation for sublime drivability but still owners felt the car could cope with more power. Copeland however feared that they were pushing the 1100cc motor as hard as they dared with the 454NA60. When Robert ‘bobby’ Singer bought a CR160 for his wife he was so impressed with the car he wrote to Copeland and requested a high power version for himself. Again, initially Copeland was reluctant but when one of the engineering appretices suggested simply adding two in line cylinders to the exisitng engine eventually the project was agreed.
In spring 1946 the 456NA75 power plant was ready for testing.
Since this engine had only been developed for performance the cost was increased but everyone felt there was a market for it. Producing 75Kw (102Hp) the new 6 cyclinder power unit retain the signature short 60mm stroke and red-line was dropped form the 454NA60’s 6400rpm to 6200rpm, with peak power prodcued at 5900.
The CR was also given a number of tweeks to meet the new power (not to mention higher price) - though mostly these are hidden in the geometry set up and internal workings. A CR175 can be identified by those in the know however by the Chrome surround grill (body colour on the 50/60) and additional body colour twin vents under the scuttle panel to help the bigger engine breath.
Copeland now had an established customer base with three varients of the CR all selling well. The most popular was the CR160 as it represented and excellent balance of performance and cost, though the CR150 was not far behind. The CR175 sold in suffciient numbers to ake the project worthwhile, but Copeland recognised the need to diversify the range to maximise his engines and keep the company growing…
