"Tickford has a proud heritage of independence, confidentiality, high quality and high-performing people. This is as true today as it was in the days of the bespoke vehicle building that impressed David Brown so much that he bought the company"

Salmons & Son to Tickford via David Brown & Prodrive

Tickford can trace its roots back to the coachbuilding firm of Salmons & Sons, which has its works in Tickford Street in Newport Pagnell in the 1820s. After passing from family control after the advent of the motor vehicle, Tickford Motor Bodies provided specialist services to car-makers through the early 20th century, including: Alvis, Aston Martin, Austin, Daimler, Hillman, Hudson (USA), Humber, Invicta, Land Rover, Lagonda, MG, Rolls, Royce, Rover and Standard. David Brown (already the owner of Aston Martin (1947) and Lagonda (1948) purchased the business in 1955 and then consolidated all his car manufacturing on the Newport Pagnell site and Tickford became dormant.

When Aston Martin Lagonda sought to offer external engineering services in 1981, it chose to revitalise the Tickford name with the same philosophy as before - a specialist resource available to all manufacturers. The company rapidly grew and moved into a new Milton Keynes facility as Tickford Ltd. in 1984 as it became independent again. Engine projects were won in Detroit and the Far East and Tickford set up liaison offices in the USA and Germany. After a Worldwide search, Ford of Australia selected Tickford as its engine development and joint-venture partner and Tickford opened offices in Melbourne and in Thailand. The Milton Keynes operations amalgamated BICERI (British Internal Combustion Engine Research Institute) in 1999.

High profile projects in the public domain include the turbocharged Tickford Capri, MG Maestro, Rover 820 Turbo, Jaguar XJS Cabriolet, Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, the road-going Ford RS200, Ford RS Focus and the all the powertrains for the XR range of Ford cars in Australia. Tickford also developed on its engine performance heritage with racing engines for Aston Martin (V8 in Nimrod and EMKA chassis) and developed Cosworth engines for Ray Mallock Racing and Ecurie Ecosse, powering Aston Martin to third place in the World Endurance Championship in 1983 and Ecurie Ecosse to second place in the WEC C2 class in 1987. It went on to design, develop and produced a unique, high power, 5 valves-per-cylinder F1 engine for Camel Team Lotus in 1990.

Tickford has carried out many confidential mainstream engine projects for major manufacturers and component companies worldwide and created worldwide patent technologies for cylinder head and induction system designs.

The Tickford Group of companies was purchased by Prodrive in May 2000 and after a number of years as Prodrive Test Technology, the powertrain operations were the subject of a management buy-out in late 2006 to form the present company.

For more information please contact the Tickford Owners Club Tickford Owners Club