Carter

Carter was an early Australian car manufacturing effort based in North Unley, South Australia, associated with H. C. (Clifton) Carter. Rather than establishing a formal company, Carter built cars and stationary engines on a personal basis over a number of years in the early twentieth century.

His first vehicle was a belt-drive cyclecar constructed on a wooden chassis and powered by a 7hp engine. This was followed by an 11hp car registered in 1916, and a roadster of similar power built for his own use in 1917. By 1920 he had also produced an 8.7hp car.

That same year, two 11.9hp cars built by Carter were exhibited at the first Adelaide Motor Show. These vehicles featured four-cylinder, 1525cc overhead-valve engines of monobloc construction, equipped with Dixie magnetos and Zephyr carburettors. They also had cone clutches, three-speed gearboxes, quarter-elliptic springs, and 710 x 80mm tyres, with wheelbases of 103 and 109 inches (2616 and 2768mm) respectively.

Carter's final car-making effort came in 1922 with another belt-drive cyclecar, built on a duplex tube chassis frame and powered by an 8hp air-cooled overhead-valve engine, described as a sturdy design.

Notably, Carter's mother was a cousin of the American car maker Charles W. Nash, whose father had emigrated to the United States from Adelaide.