Cannon
Page updated : 8 February 2008 Home > Cars > Cannon
The Wall Family's Cannon, seen here driven by Chris Wall on the 2007 Ebworth Trial,
is an excellent example of this type of car.
Photograph by Dave Cook
A brief history of the Cannon - by Nigel Brown
Michael Cannon was from Tasmania, came to England as a farmer, and is said to have started trialing in a ‘Cotton’ special before commencing building cars in his own name in the early Fifties. His first cars were initially referred to in the motoring press as Cannon One, Cannon Two etc., but when numbers went up that idea was soon dropped. Cannon production was based at Crooked Chimneys, West Peckham, in Kent. Between 100 and 120 cars are reckoned to have been built. Many were sold as body/chassis units to which owners then added the mechanical parts. It was common practice to transfer the registration number from the donor Ford onto the ‘new’ car.
The basic tubular frame had its main tubes fabricated from 1.75” o/d tubing and the smaller framework was 0.75” o/d tubing. There were also some short lengths of 0.75” square used in the cockpit area. The chassis was jig built and the jig still exists. Very early cars had a steel radiator cowling of the “trademark” Cannon shape, but at some stage Mike had a mould made and all later cars had fibreglass cowlings. A tiny number of these early cars also had a proper circular badge made of chromed and enamelled brass. Engraved on it were the words “Cannon Special” and “West Peckham”. Later cars had a much cheaper badge in the form of an elongated oval made from black Formica, with just the word “CANNON” engraved through the black top layer so as to reveal the white base layer.
Apart from the cowlings, the bodywork was all aluminium paneled. Another “trademark” feature was the black ribbed tubing used as the cockpit surround. Ribbed hose was split lengthways and fastened all around the cockpit edge with pop-riveted aluminium clips. A simple grab handle for the passenger was welded to the top section of cockpit frame above the passengers left knee. The dash panel was just a very simple 12” by 4” area with just an ignition switch, a couple of warning lights, sometimes a temperature/oil gauge and, on early cars, a small speedometer. This was because in the early years, the cars had to be road registered as road sections were used to link the hills. In later years NTF events became single-venue events with cars becoming totally unsuitable for road use and therefore being trailered to such competitions.
A typical (original) mechanical specification was:
- 1172cc E93A (and later 100E) Ford sidevalve engine. Engine tuning was down to the depth of the owners pocket. Some used just twin SUs and a tubular exhaust manifold giving around 35 bhp. Others bought full Aquaplane gear, had the crankshafts welded on the big-end journals and then offset ground to increase stroke and capacity. Along with bigger pistons this could take the 1172 up to around 1350cc.
- 3 speed Ford gearbox. The gearbox had a mod. at the rear to take an open Hardy Spicer propshaft – as opposed to the Ford torque tube. It was also possible to use some of the later 100E gears to achieve lower ratios in the E93A gearbox.
- Back axle was from an Austin 8 and was suspended on coil springs with telescopic dampers and a Panhard rod. A shortened Ford A-bracket was used, pivoting on a balljoint under the gearbox crossmember.
- Front axle, transverse leaf spring and A-bracket were taken from a pre-war Y-type Ford as these were lighter than the post-war Ford Popular version. Telescopic shockabsorbers were mounted on lugs protruding from the upper corners of the tubular rad. cowl frame.
- Steering box and column was also often from the Austin 8.
- Small diameter hydraulic drum brakes at the front were often from the 1950’s Standard Eight. Mike Cannon’s ‘works’ car, WKE 555, used Alfin brake drums at the front but most cars used standard iron drums.
- Twin upright handbrake levers operated independent rear brakes. These ‘fiddle’ brakes enabled a skilled driver to both improve traction by partially braking whichever back wheel was starting to spin and also enabled the car to be driven round tight corners by braking the inside wheel.
- Rear tyres and wheels were (in the Fifties) 5.00 by 18 Goodyear All Weather (sometimes referred to now as the ‘diamond pattern’). This same pattern was also produced by Homerton Remoulds and known as the ‘Mudplugger’. Wheels were pre-war 4 stud 18” Morris wire wheels. At the front, the very narrow 19” wire wheels were taken from the 1930’s vintage Morris Minor and usually fitted with motorcycle sidecar car tyres, 3.50 x 19.
- Narrow motorcyle type mudguards were used at the front, their stays being fixed to the brake backplates so they turned with the steering. At the rear, flexible black rubber mudguards were the norm – made from Dunlop rubber mudguards that were produced for small lorries and trailers in the Fifties.
Cannons were used to win RAC Trials Championships and literally hundreds of awards in their heyday. Ultra-light, ultra-simple and very effective.
Nigel also adds:
We have had a few Cannons in our time. Mine were:
- WKE 555 : This is a very early car that was used by Mike Cannon himself when it was new. Subsequent owners were: Jim Berry, who raced an ERA in the Fifties; Frank Wall who hillclimbed and raced the ex-Stubberfield Bugatti. I bought the car from Paul Dobson of Stroud and sold it on to Frank Noble of Nailsworth. It is now owned by Nigel Moss and fitted with an A-series BMC engine.
- LLH 80D : A genuine Cannon chassis/body but strangely fitted with all Ford Pop running gear, engine, gearbox, torque tube, back axle, wheels. I bought it in Croydon and drove it back to Gloucestershire (LH is a London registration). Sold to Colin Pook from Devon in the Seventies. Last seen back in the Gloucester area 15 or so years ago.
- “Standard” Cannon fitted with 1172cc Ford, 3 speed box, Austin 8 back axle. Was owned by Colin Hook, then Ian Moss, then myself. Sold back to Ian Moss in March 2006 for restoration.
Simons car:
- 355 LBK : Yet another “Standard” Cannon. Bought c.1980 from Bearsted, Kent. Specification as the "Standard" Cannon above. Simon started to convert it to take a Ford 1.3 crossflow engine/box, which I understand Chris Wall has completed. See photograph at the top of the page.
Cannon Miscellany
With thanks to Simon Woodall for providing this image from 'Motor'.
With thanks to Nigel Brown for providing this image from 'Motoring News'.