Coventry Victor was a British motorcycle and car manufacturer. Originally Morton & Weaver, a proprietary engine manufacturer in Hillfields, Coventry, founded in 1904, the company changed its name to Coventry Victor Motors in 1911. The company closed in 1971. Morton & Weaver Thomas Morton and William Arthur Weaver formed Morton & Weaver Limited in Coventry in 1904 as engineers and toolmakers. In 1911 they formed a new company, the Coventry Victor Motor Company, to continue their interest in motor engineering while the original company continued as tool makers. Coventry Victor aero engines Weaver was a pioneer in designing and building aircraft, and by 1905 Weaver was designing and building his first ornithoplane (monoplane) utilising a nine-horsepower engine built by Johnson, Hurley and Martin Ltd. Although it was claimed it flew at Hampton-in-Arden in July 1906, it was just "short hops", and it was reported that "the machine more or less failed due to lack of engine power". The Weaver Ornithoplane No 2 was built from No 1 but with a more powerful engine and was towed on its own wheels behind a motor car to Hampton-in-Arden (the wings being strapped to the sides of the car), and was assembled and flown on 17 May 1910. In a series of four tests the Ornithoplane achieved a steady flight for a quarter of a mile, becoming the first monoplane to fly in Britain. The construction was of aluminium and bamboo, with an aluminium propeller driven by a 20 hp engine, and a wing span of about 45 feet. The four cylinder engine was also made by Johnson, Hurley and Martin at their Alpha Engine Works in Gosford Street, Coventry. In 1955, Weaver, then managing director of the company, converted one of the company's air-cooled flat four industrial engines for aircraft use and a Piper Cub fitted with the engine completed 50 hours flight trials at Southend in July 1955. The engine, referred to as the 'Flying Neptune', was found to be a little heavy and a little low on power, but otherwise performed admirably. Coventry Victor motorcycles In 1919 Coventry-Victor, using their 688 cc flat-twin engine, started making motorcycle and sidecar combinations, many of which were used as commercial outfits and became one of England's leading producers of horizontally opposed twins. They also had a factory in Brussels, and in 1922 they sold one of their motorcycles to "H.M. King of the