Raleigh Bicycle Company of bicycles is currently owned by the Dutch corporation Accell. In 2006, the Raleigh Chopper was named in the list of British design icons in the Great British Design Quest organised by the BBC and the Design Museum. The history of Raleigh bicycles started in 1885, when Richard Morriss Woodhead from Sherwood Forest, and Paul Eugene Louis Angois, a French citizen, set up a small bicycle workshop in Raleigh Street, Nottingham, England. In the spring of that year, they started advertising in the local press. The "Nottinghamshire Guardian" of 15 May 1885 printed what was possibly the first Woodhead and
Electra Bicycle Company inspired by the Southern California hot rod "kustom kar" culture. The lines of the bike frames became more exaggerated, chrome plating was applied liberally, and paint jobs became much more elaborate with flames, metal flakes, and wild colors. "Chopper" style elements like shortened rear fenders, racing "slik" tires, and elongated forks were introduced. Models carried hot-rod names like "Rockabilly Boogy" or "Rat Rod". The company even offered balloon tires with flame-patterned tread. In a more explicit tribute to the car culture, Electra brought out a "Rat Fink" model, licensed by the estate of legendary hot-rodder 'Big Daddy" Ed Roth. "We