Leslie M Ballamy

 

In 1933 Leslie Ballamy split his first beam axle, it was for an Austin Seven, but it was very soon afterwards that  his swing axle was put in production for  Ford Eight, Ten and V8 as well as the Austin. Les also converted cars at the other end of the price range such as Bugatti, Delage` and Bentley. But  as is the theme of this site I will concentrate on the Ford Ten parts that Les offered.

 

"They call it understeer, My Lord". 
A 1959 LMB advert showing the advantages of Les's independent front suspension unit.
Of course LMB Components main seller was his IFS which was also complemented with a softer spring and stabilizer bar on the rear axle.

Ballamy Split Beam Front axle plus rear axle with stabilizer
But running a close second and probably more desirable to a special owner today are the wheels he had made by Rubery Owen.

These were used in conjunction with a high ratio crown wheel and pinion. Besides these LMB offered a wide range of equipment including, hydraulic brake conversions, worm and peg steering, 8.1 compression ratio cylinder heads, over sized inlet valves, tacho drive assembly's, wheel spacers, seats etc etc etc.

LMB Chassis

Towards the end of 1959 Les offered his own chassis for Ford Ten components which used a semi- swing axle with 2CV style leading arms. It was also available for engines with a conventional prop shaft.

LMB Debonair

Shortly after this Les did a deal with Edwards Brothers of Stoke, to supply their Debonair body shell which' when mated to his chassis, he sold as the LMB Debonair.
In April 1962 Les retired from the automotive industry and in 1991 he died. Apparently towards the end of his life he was working on a new chassis which still retained transverse springing.

Les's Supersprung, supercharged Pop. Beating the pants off the rest of the field.

Les's son Mark who worked at LMB from 1957-1960, pictured at the Historic Specials Day 2002 taking a photo of one of the two remaining LMB chassis. The other being under the Debonair 6 VPB.