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The Wallis family history

2007 marked a celebration for the family-run dealership, Wallis & Son Ltd, as the company was first established by the present fourth generation's great grandfather in 1937, making that year the firm's 70th birthday. The business has been operating from the same site since 1984, and Wallis and Son has gained an excellent reputation for providing high levels of customer care.

The Wallis family, who have managed the business from the very start of operations 70 years ago, enjoys a rich heritage of which they can be proud. The family has long established links with aviation in East Anglia. An ancestor, Percy Valentine, constructed and piloted the Wallbro Monoplane, the first aircraft to be flown in the Eastern Counties back on the 12th May 1910.

The Wallbro Monoplane

Percy and his older brother, Horace, regularly took part in motor cycle racing. By the turn of the 20th century they were manufacturing their own motor cycles in "Wallbro" Cycle and Motor Works establishing the Wallis family's association with transportation that has continued into the present day. They decided to diversify into aircraft manufacturing in about 1908 and constructed the "Wallbro" Monoplane. Being experienced with the use of steel tubing to fabricate motor cycle frames, they opted to use the same method and material for the framework of their aircraft. This project - to create the first 'All British Aeroplane,' which they hoped would be the lightest but strongest monoplane in Cambridge - took a great deal of their time. Assembly took place in a large shed situated at the rear of their parents' house. With the design, the brothers adopted some of the ideas used by two French aviators a few years before: Bleriot with his Blériot VII-bis and Levavasseur with his Antoinette. However, unlike the French aircraft, the Wallbro monoplane was constructed using steel tube framework.

The Wallbro monoplane's fuselage was twenty-five feet long and had a wing span of thirty feet. The robust undercarriage's twenty-four inch wheels were located well back as a pair of spring loaded wooden skids with upturned front ends were attached up front to assist the pilot when landing the monoplane on rough ground. A four-cylinder J. C. Prestwick petrol engine, producing 25hp at 1500 rpm, provided the propulsion and the overall weight of the aircraft was 830lbs. In May 1910, Percy and Horace unveiled the Wallbro monoplane for all to see, charging members of the public sixpence to view their machine.

When the aircraft was ready for testing, it was transferred to Abingdon for trials. On July 4th in 1910, during trials, the monoplane overturned during an attempt to take off but Percy remained unhurt by the experience. This did little to dampen their spirits but sadly this first trial was to prove their last as the shed accommodating the "Wallbro" was seriously damaged during a terrible storm. The plane too was nearly destroyed as the shed disintegrated around it. Percy and Horace's father, Samuel Banks Wallis, had been supporting the project providing £300 for the construction of the Wallbro's airframe and another £300 for the J.A.P. V-4 powerplant, which amounted to a great deal of money at the time. Samuel could see that he was unlikely to recoup his expenses, or indeed make any profit from his investment. After receiving a bill for £34 for repairs to telephone lines after the fierce storm, Samuel ordered his sons back to the family business, a highly successful grocery and team importer business based in Cambridge, and the 'Wallbro' monoplane was grounded never to fly again.

You can see a replica of the Wallbro monoplane at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum in Flixton where another member of the Wallis family, Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis MBE, was once President.

Wing Commander Ken Wallis and the Autogyro

More recently, Elliot's Great Uncle, Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis MBE, was a leading advocate of the autogyro, an aircraft popularised in 1967 by the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, in which Wing Commander Wallis piloted gyrocopter WA-118 in all the action sequences. The machine, called Little Nellie after music hall star, Nellie Wallace, was constructed by Ken who had to make more than 80 flights to capture the required exciting footage which, after editing, lasted minutes on screen.

Wing Cmdr Wallis was also the oldest pilot to set a world record when, on March 19th in 1998, he flew the fastest climb to 3,000 metres in an autogyro in the county of Norfolk when aged 81 years, just 28 days short of his 82nd birthday!

He was an outstanding pilot with a distinguished military career which started with flying patrols in Westland Lysanders for the RAF. In 1942 he flew Wellington bombers near Grimsby after being transferred to Bomber Command. After serving in Italy he became involved in research and development, still within the RAF, before retiring to Norfolk in 1942.

Back to the present day and pictures and accompanying articles relating to the Wallis family history hang in the Wallis & Son customer reception area for all to read. Wallis & Son has grown from strength to strength and the business continues to thrive.

Wallis & Son Ltd - The Dealership's History

Wallis & Son Ltd was first established by Percy Valentine Wallis, grandfather of the present Dealer Principal, Nigel Wallis, in 1937. The first dealership was based on Chesterton Road in Cambridge and the family owned company has been selling cars from sites in Cambridge, Newmarket and now Barton for more than 70 years Geffory Valentine Wallis ran the dealership until 1980 and the business grew in strength. By the time Nigel took over managing the firm in 1977, the company had become one of the most popular motor dealerships in and around Cambridge. When Nigel's son, Elliot,joined the business in 1999, four generations of the Wallis family have been involved in the running of one of Cambridgeshire's longest established motor dealerships. Elliot has special responsibility for managing the busy workshop operation and the fast-expanding Active Tyres subsidiary.

Over the years, Wallis & Son has represented many well-known motor manufacturers from the past and present. Those marques include Riley, Austin, Citroen, Vauxhall, Rover, Land-Rover, Triumph, Jaguar/Daimler, Rolls-Royce/Bentley and Lancia. Today, they concentrate on selling superbly prepared pre-owned cars, many of which are in the premium sector. Why not visit the car sales page to find out more.

Present Day

The original Chesterton Road site closed in 1986 and in 1986 the Newmarket dealership closed to allow the reinvestment in a magnificent purpose-built site located just three miles from the city centre in the village of Barton on the A603, close to Junction 12 of the M11 motorway. It's at this modern dealership where you will find a fine selection of high quality used cars, a state-of-the-art service workshop, Q8 petrol sales and one of the best convenience stores to be found anywhere in Cambridge.