In 1889, two brothers, Édouard Michelin (1859–1940) and André Michelin (1853–1931), ran a farm implement business in Clermont-Ferrand, France. One day, a cyclist whose pneumatic tire needed repair turned up at the factory. The tire was glued to the rim, and it took over three hours to remove and repair the tire, which then needed to be left overnight to dry. The next day, Édouard Michelin took the repaired bicycle into the factory yard to test. After only a few hundred meters, the tire failed. Despite the setback, Édouard was enthusiastic about the pneumatic tire, and he and his brother worked on creating their own version, one that did not need to be glued to the rim. Michelin was incorporated on 28 May 1889. In 1891 Michelin took out its first patent for a removable pneumatic tire which was used by Charles Terront to win the world's first long-distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris.
The original Morris Cowley motorcar was first built in 1915 and being successful was developed into a delivery van, introduced in 1924. This van is characterized by its use of a slightly flattened version of the famous Morris "bullnose" radiator grill. It handled a load capacity of 900 pounds using a 4-cylinder engine of 1548cc, developing 11.9 hp and driven through a three-speed gearbox. In 1929 the capacity was increased to 1,120 pounds by lowering the bodysides.