Editing Birmingham Small Arms Company (section)

===New ventures===
====Motorcycles====
{{Main|BSA motorcycles}} [[File:Vintage BSA motorcycle.jpg|thumb|Vintage BSA motorcycle on High Street in Honiton, England]]

In November 1919, BSA launched their first 50-degree [[V-twin engine|vee-twin]], [[BSA Model E|Model E]], 770cc side valve (6-7&nbsp;hp) motorcycle for the 1920 season.<ref>BSA Cycles Ltd 1920 ''Advertisement Suggestions for BSA Bicycles and Motor Bicycles'', The Birmingham Small Arms Company, no ISBN</ref> The machine had interchangeable valves, total loss oil system with mechanical pump and an emergency hand one. Retail price was £130. Other features were [[Amal (motorcycle)|Amac]] carburettor, chain drive, choice of [[ignition magneto|magneto]] or Magdyno, 7-plate clutch, 3 speed gear box with [[Kick start|kickstarter]] and new type of cantilever fork<ref>Ryerson, Barry 1980 ''The Giants of Small Heath - The History of BSA'', Sparkford, {{ISBN|0-85429-255-1}}</ref>

====Aviation====
{{Main|Daimler Airway}}
During the war Daimler had built enormous numbers of aero engines and aircraft and by the end was building 80 Airco de Havilland bombers a month. In February 1920 BSA amalgamated<ref>Air Transport Combine. Aircraft And B.S.A. Firms Unite ''The Times'', Monday, 1 March 1920; pg. 14; Issue 42347</ref> with what was the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, [[Airco|Aircraft Manufacturing Company (Airco)]], Airco's main plant at Hendon had employed between 7,000 and 8,000 people.<ref name=ObitTT>Mr. G. Holt Thomas. ''The Times'', Friday, 4 January 1929; pg. 14; Issue 45092</ref> The Airco group of companies had turned out a new aircraft every 45 minutes.<ref name=ObitDawes>Mr. G. Holt Thomas. Colonel G. W. Dawes. ''The Times'', Saturday, 5 January 1929; pg. 14; Issue 45093</ref>

Within days BSA discovered Airco was in a far more serious financial state than [[George Holt Thomas]] had revealed. Holt Thomas was immediately dropped from his new seat on the BSA board and all BSA's new acquisitions were placed in the hands of a liquidator. Some of the businesses were allowed to continue for some years, [[Aircraft Transport and Travel]]'s assets being eventually rolled into Daimler Air Hire to make [[Daimler Airway|Daimler Airway Limited]]. BSA failed to pay a dividend for the following four years while it tried to recover from its losses.<ref>''Dudley Docker: The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior'' R. P. T. Davenport-Hines 1984 Cambridge University Press</ref> Some relief was achieved when in March 1924 Daimler Airway and its management became the major constituent of [[Imperial Airways]].
[[File:BSA TB210HP Roadster 1922-26 V Twin.jpg|thumb|BSA 10 hp two-seater<br /> air-cooled V Twin engine]]
As well as the Daimler car range, BSA Cycles Ltd re-entered the car market under the BSA name in 1921 with a V-twin engined light car followed by four-cylinder models up to 1926, when the name was temporarily dropped. In 1929 a new range of 3- and 4-wheel cars appeared and production of these continued until 1936.

By the end of 1924 difficult economic conditions left the bulk of BSA profits coming from cars and cycles. There were no sales of arms for military purposes in spite of large new facilities built at Government's request. The shares in Pennsylvania's Jessop Steel Co were disposed of without loss.<ref>Birmingham Small Arms Company. ''The Times'', Wednesday, 8 Apr 1925; pg. 21; Issue 43931</ref> During 1928 there was a drastic reorganisation of the business of some BSA subsidiaries.<ref>City Notes. ''The Times'', Saturday, 5 Oct 1929; pg. 17; Issue 45326</ref>

By 1930 the BSA Group's primary activities were BSA cycles and Daimler vehicles.<ref>The Birmingham Small Arms Company ''The Times'', Saturday, 1 November 1930; pg. 20; Issue 45659</ref>

Car production under the BSA name ceased in the 1930s. BSA remained the largest manufacturer of motorcycles but the market was less than half the size of the late 1920s and production was unprofitable yet the value of BSA's motor cars and cycles was now more than half group turnover.<ref>Birmingham Small Arms Company. ''The Times'', Wednesday, 16 Nov 1932; pg. 21; Issue 46292.</ref>

====Lanchester====
{{Main|Lanchester Motor Company}}

In 1931 the [[Lanchester Motor Company]] at Sparkbrook was acquired<ref>"The Lanchester Company", ''The Times'', Tuesday, 6 January 1931; pg. 10; Issue 45713</ref><ref>"The Birmingham Small Arms Company A Difficult Trading Year, Important Transactions Effected" ''The Times,'' Saturday, 28 November 1931; pg. 17; Issue 45992</ref>{{efn|from Hamilton Barnsley, the principal shareholder, chairman and managing director. Negotiated shortly before his death during Christmas time 1930. The Lanchester Motor Company held adjoining factory premises at Sparkbrook. The purchase of the whole of the shares was completed in January 1931 for £26,000.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} }} and production of their cars transferred to Daimler's Coventry works. The first new product was a version of the [[Daimler Light Twenty]] or 16/20 and called [[Lanchester 15/18]].
<gallery caption="Badge engineering 1931" align="center">
Lanchester Type 1518 - 1932 5905514590.jpg|[[Lanchester Eighteen 15/18|Lanchester 15/18]], October 1931, 2504 cc 6-cylinder
Lanchester Ten 6-light saloon 1936 5917710821 3a71f2bf4b o.jpg|[[Lanchester Ten]], September 1932, 1203 cc 4-cylinder
Daimler 15 HP 1934 4860323967 .jpg|[[Daimler Fifteen]], September 1932, 1805 cc 6-cylinder
BSA 10 1185cc October 1933.JPG|[[BSA Ten]], October 1932, 1185 cc 4-cylinder
</gallery>

Economic conditions began to improve in the mid-1930s and BSA's activities and profits all grew sharply. International tensions added more activity. An aero engine shadow factory was built and entered production during 1938. Motor cycle sales shrank but BSA maintained its relative position. 1937's new British registrations fell from 57,000 to 46,500. Defence and military equipment including Daimler's Scout car were in heavy demand in Britain and in export markets.<ref>"The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited". ''The Times'', Wednesday, 2 Nov 1938; pg. 23; Issue 48141</ref>

====Armaments====
In the 1930s, the board of directors authorised expenditure on bringing their arms-making equipment back to use – it had been stored at company expense since the end of the Great War in the belief that BSA might again be called upon to perform its patriotic duty. In 1939, BSA acquired the blueprints for a submachine gun designed by Hungarian arms designer [[Pál Király]] and the rights to manufacture it. Examples were produced in [[9mm Mauser Export]] calibre. It was estimated that it would only cost £5 each to manufacture: by comparison, the [[Thompson submachine gun]]s bought after the start of hostilities cost around £50, while [[Lee–Enfield#Short Magazine Lee–Enfield Mk I|SMLE]] rifles and  the later [[Sten]] submachine guns cost £7. 15s and £2. 10s respectively in 1943. However the trials did not lead to acceptance; referring to the complex trigger mechanism, Frank Hobart said "no soldier could have coped with this watchmaker's dream",{{efn|With a simpler trigger mechanism the Kiraly design went into service as the [[Danuvia 43M submachine gun]]}}<ref>{{citation |url=http://firearms.96.lt/pages/BSA-Kiraly2.html |title=BSA-Kiraly machine-carbine |work=firearms.96.lt - Firearms Curiosa}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis|last=Clark |first= D.M. |title=Arming the British Home Guard 1940-1944|type= PhD |publisher=Cranfield University |date=2010|hdl= 1826/6164 |url=https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/6164 }}</ref>