Victa is an Australian manufacturer of outdoor garden equipment, including petrol, electric, and battery-powered lawn mowers, edgers, trimmers, and chainsaws. The brand is best known as a manufacturer of rotary lawn mowers. In the early 1960s the company also built light aircraft, notably the Victa Airtourer, and project homes.
From 2008 to 2025, the Victa brand was owned by the American engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton. In 2025, ownership returned to Australia with the Queensland based company Roy Gripske & Sons[1]. In Australia and New Zealand, Victa products are sold through major hardware chains and specialist dealers, and some products are available through dealers in other countries.
History
The Victa company was founded by Mervyn Victor Richardson[2] in 1952.[3] The name was derived from his middle name.[4]
Lawn mowers
Mervyn's son Garry mowed lawns to earn money in university holidays. Garry borrowed Mervyn's Victa 14" cylinder-based power mower which was heavy to transport and to operate. Mervyn wanted to design a new mower for his son's business. Mervyn had seen Lawrence Hall's "Mowhall" rotary lawn mower demonstrated in 1948. The heavy Mowhall was not a very successful invention because it required two people to use it, one to push and one to pull.
The Victa rotary lawn mower was developed in August 1952 by Richardson, in his backyard at Concord, New South Wales.[5] Although not the first of its type, it was cheaper, lighter, and easier to use than earlier models.
Company
In 1953 Richardson gave up his job and became full-time manager of Victa Mowers Pty Ltd. In 1958, the company had moved to a new factory at Milperra, New South Wales, and its 3,000 employees were building 143,000 mowers a year for export to 28 countries.[2]
From the outset, the company used marketing and advertising effectively. It was a pioneer in Australian TV advertising, and also advertised extensively in newspaper and print media. Victa set up a network of distributors, who were thoroughly trained in promotion and sales.[6]
In the 1960s, Mervyn's son Garry Richardson started playing a more important role in the company, becoming chairman in 1965.[4]
In 1970 Victa was acquired by Sunbeam Corporation Ltd.[16][4]
Legacy
The Victa Lawnmower regarded by many as an Australian icon, and it was included in the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.[4] A retro advertisement for Victa is on permanent display at Museum Railway Station in Sydney.[24]
The Richardson radial aero-engine, the Victa prototype lawnmower (1952),[4] the Victa Peach Tin prototype, and other important Victa lawn mowers were donated to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.[25] The Powerhouse held an exhibition entitled Victa – 70 years turning grass into lawns in 2023.[26]
The archive of Philip Larkin's work at University of Hull includes the blue Victa lawn mower involved in the incident that inspired his famous poem 'The Mower
See also
- City of Canada Bay Museum
External links
- (Australian website)
- Victa Lawn Mower patent at IP Australia website
- Cartoon drawing of "First Victa Lawnmower and First Ear Muffs" at the National Museum of Australia
References
- https://www.victa.com.au/about-victa^
- Richard V. Wood. Richardson, Mervyn Victor (1893–1972) Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2021-12-30^
- Marina Williams. Victa mows through the ages Murray Valley Standard, 12 Jan 2015^