Calthorpe grew out of a Birmingham cycle business run by George Hands, which traded as the Minstrel Cycle Company from 1901. Its first car, a 10 hp four-cylinder, was announced in 1904, and early cars used engines from the Alpha works in Coventry. By 1909 car production had moved from Barn Street to a works in Cherrywood Road, Bordesley Green, while cycles and motorcycles stayed at Barn Street.
After some larger models Calthorpe specialised in light cars with proprietary White and Poppe engines, and raced them in France in the Coupe de l’Auto. The 10 hp Minor, announced for 1914 with a three-speed gearbox and shaft drive, was described as a real large car in miniature. It returned after the war with a 1,261 cc engine, with fine bodywork from Calthorpe’s coachbuilding subsidiary Mulliners, and Woolf Barnato was among those who raced Calthorpes at Brooklands.
By the mid-1920s the market for expensive light cars was shrinking. A receiver was appointed in 1924 and the Bordesley Green factory closed; a six-cylinder 15/45 of 1925 came too late, and by 1928 sales of the remaining cars had virtually ceased. About 5,000 cars were made after the war, and fewer than ten are thought to survive. Calthorpe motorcycles continued until 1938.
