The company that produced this was already decades-old when the owner - a wise man whose name belies his smarts - saw the automobile business as a growth industry.
I have been reading some old book articles about steam-powered cars, and one happened to mention that the Managing Director of the Turner Manufacturing Company, which made Turner-Miesse steamers in the UK, was a gentleman by the name of J. Burns Dumbell, who sounds like the guy we're looking for.
Turner produced petrol-engined cars in the years leading up to WW1, and the puzzle motor is their 10hp four cylinder unit introduced in 1912 according to most sources, though one I have seen puts it as early as 1909.
