Rhode

The Rhode was a British car made from 1921 to 1930. Mead and Deakin Ltd had started in business making cycle and motor cycle components. They also made the "Canoelet" sidecar. In 1912 they made at least two cyclecars under the name of Medea with 1244cc Chapuis-Dornier engines but these did not go into series production. In 1921 they decided to return to car making and created a subsidiary company called the Rhode Motor Co with a factory at Blythswood Road, Tyseley, Birmingham. The name was taken from Cecil Rhodes. In 1926 it was claimed that 50 cars a week were being made. In 1928 the company was taken over by Thomas McKenzie and H. B. Denley who had been in charge of sales. Production was moved to smaller premises at Hall Green, Birmingham. No engine making facilities existed and the last few cars had Meadows engines. The last cars were made in 1930 or possibly 1931 but were still listed until 1935.