In 1896 Alexander Govan, a Scottish engineer, was working for the Scottish Cycle Manufacturing Company of Hozier Street, Glasgow. From these premises he sold, and later assembled Renault, De Dion-Bouton, and Darracq. Govan built his own first, prototype car in 1899, and in the following year the Hozier Engineering Company was founded to make cars seriously, to Govan's design. The first run, of about 100 vehicles, were clearly of Renault derivation, with their front engines driving by cone clutch, sliding-pinion gear-box, and shaft drive to a live rear axle. Govan's gear-box, of his own design, was noted for being ex-tremely difficult to operate, even in an age when sliding-pinion gear-boxes were the reverse of refined. It called for combined fore-and-aft and sideways movements of the lever. The first ninety or so cars had handle-bar steer¬ing, and 2|-h.p. engines of 326 c.c. bought from the Motor Manufacturing Company, who built them under licence from De Dion-Bouton. Only the cylinder-head was cooled. The car illustrated, which is preserved by the Department of Technology of the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, has the later, larger, 5-h.p. M.M.C. engine, fully water-cooled, and wheel steering.
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