Another article from the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper dated 20th December 1909.

Referenced from http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238239139

THE 15-H.P. “NAPIER.”
The motoring representative of “The Daily Telegraph”
was taken out on Saturday by Mr. Peter M’lntosh, of
Alick M’Neil and M’lntosh, Ltd. (agents for the “Na-
pier” cars), for a trial run in a new 15-h.p. 4-cylinder
noiseless “Napier.” The car was only landed on Thurs-
day afternoon. The run was through the congested
traffic of the city, thence along Oxford-street, to the
Centennial Park and out to Coogee. Through the traf-
fic the flexibility of the engine was demonstrated. After
leaving Coogee, the long hill towards Long Bay was
taken in good style with, four passengers aboard. The
hill, with its two turns, was negotiated in 1min.
40sec. on top speed, to within 50 yards of the summit.
After negotiating the hills to La Perouse a return
was made to the city, via Bunnerong-road, where a
turn of speed up to 45 miles an hour was shown. The
easiness of control was very marked. The car has a
splendid lock, allowing it to be turned in a very short
space (a necessary point in our narrow streets). It
has an excellent clearance, and is well tyred, also
fitted with an English touring body to seat five people.
Yesterday’s run in every way demonstrated the reputa-
tion of the car as the noiseless “Napier.” Messrs,
Alick M’Neil and M’lntosh, Ltd., have several 15-h.p.
cars to arrive shortly, .and also have in stock a 30-h.p.
6-cylinder “Napier” car.

The following is from the Trove archive of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper dated 19th February 1910. Ref: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15144106

The small article was presented in a column titled “New Motor Car – Trial on a 15-H.P. Napier”

The content has been copied here after I corrected the scanned text. I have retained the column format with the hyphenation as it originally appeared.

Sat 19 Feb 1910
Page 19

NEW MOTOR CAR.
TRIAL ON A 15-H.P. NAPIER
Now that there is talk of 300 new taxis arriving in
Sydney and corresponding numbers to be landed shortly
in the principal Australian cities, it is interesting to
note that the coming vehicles are of British manufac-
ture. The Napier Company, the maker, is one of the
oldest English firms, and its cars have, owing to the
enterprise of a Sydney man, Mr S T Edge, who is
the managing director, attained world-wide reputa-
tion. Although the Napier taxis will not reach Syd-
ney until April, several chassis for touring cars have
been landed. At the invitation of Messrs. Alick McNeil
and Mcintosh, Ltd., of Market and Castlereagh streets,
the local agents for this make, the “Herald” repre-
sentatlve had an opportunity of testing the latest
15- h.p. Colonial Noiseless Napier. The recent importa-
tion has many noteworthy features. The large radiat-
ing surfaces and water capacity, the svstem of forced
lubrication to ensure equal flow to all bearing sur-
faces, the good road clearance, almost complete sil-
ence of engine, powerful brakes, great flexibility and
ease of control-all will appeal to anyone wanting a
reliable and up to date motor. The chassis itself is of
special deep channel steel, and the axles are excep-
tionally strong. The springing is almost perfect, and
there is a complete absence of jarring or jolting even
over fairly rough roads.
On Wednesday aftemoon, with Mr. J. McNeil at the
wheel a party of four made a delightful trip of about
30 miles, the route being via Kensington, turning off
to Cook’s River-road, then to Rockdale, down to
Brighton, along a beautiful run to Sandringham and
home by Tom Ugly’s Point. Throughout the trip the
car behaved in an exemplary manner. Its silence, speed
on the level and up hills, and great power over stiff
pinches were most apparent. Even in the densest traf-
fic the flexibility of the engine was wonderful.

The interesting point for me are that this article suggests that many of the Napiers were imported as taxi’s. I also note the reference to Mr. S.T. Edge when Mr. S.F. Edge is more commonly associated with Napier. Possibly a typo from the author, or was there a relative linked to the agency in Australia ?

I have an interest in Napier motor vehicles from the period 1900 to 1920(ish).

The company started making cars in the UK in 1900 and continued until sometime in the 1920’s.

This is only my first post on this topic but if you are reading this and have any information on Napier motor cars imported from the UK or the USA to Australia in the early 1900’s, I would be grateful if you would contact me.

I’ve started my research by reviewing, and listing, newspaper articles that refer to Napier motor vehicles and spending some time helping to clean up the text scanning on the National Library Trove website.

Thanks.