1938 Vincent Sequence-A Rapide

Numerous bike producers popped up within the Nineteen Twenties and ’30s in Britain, however one way or the other, none fairly as cool as Vincent. Excessive-end pace machines, combining old-school big-displacement twins, monochrome finishes and titillating names like Rapide and Black Shadow, a Vincent V-twin welcomes you into any roundtable of motorcycling, and it’s not onerous to see why. A seat hardly ever opens on the Vincent House owners Membership, much more so whenever you’re speaking about an ultra-rare first-series Rapide.

One in every of simply 79 constructed, the Sequence-A Rapide represents Vincent’s first foray into V-twins—an endeavor that established Vincent as the superbike of the day. There are quicker Vincents, and from time to time extra worthwhile ones, however the rarity and significance of the Sequence-A Rapide is tough to overstate. As such, this restored 1938 Rapide highlights Bonhams’ upcoming Spring Stafford Sale with an estimated hammer worth of $300,854 to $350,997.

Whereas Vincent didn’t pioneer the V-twin, their execution is no less than worthy of an honorable point out. Philip Vincent’s begin in bikes echoes a lot of his friends of the period, turning into concerned with bikes at a younger age and crafting a couple of ‘specials’ of his personal design within the late Nineteen Twenties. At age 20, Vincent filed a patent for a cantilevered rear suspension design, and with backing from his household, he bought the financially troubled HRD model from Howard R Davies in 1928.

After tacking his personal title above the HRD emblem, Vincent picked up the place Davies left off constructing single-cylinder machines with engines sourced from JAP and Rudge, and using his personal chassis and cantilever suspension. When the third-party engines proved unreliable on the Isle of Mann, Vincent and engineer Philip Irving determined to start out from scratch, ensuing within the 499 cc OHV Meteor engine used within the Comet and Meteor fashions.

However after all, it’s not the Comet or Meteor that made Vincent an icon, it’s the V-twins, and the powerplant within the Rapide is immediately descended from these early singles. Because the story goes, Irving allegedly noticed two stacked technical drawings of the meteor engine, and envisioned becoming a member of their cylinders on a standard backside finish. The ultimate design was a 47-degree V-twin displacing 998 cc, and featured two commonplace Meteor prime ends on new crankcase halves.

Because the present Meteor tooling was used, the entrance and rear cylinders are an identical, saving considerably on prices and resulting in each exhausts pointing ahead. Two Amal carburetors fed the mill, and dry-sump oiling equipped lubrication by varied exterior pipes and hoses, resulting in the Sequence-A’s nickname—plumbers nightmare.

Able to 45 hp at 5,500 rpm, the Sequence-A Rapide instantly established itself as one of many quickest bikes cash might purchase. Flat out, the Rapide would finest the Brough-Superior SS100’s prime pace at 110 mph. Regardless of Vincent’s revolutionary cantilever rear, each he and Irving believed within the Brampton girder forks, and the Rapide’s entrance finish reportedly supplied gentle and tight dealing with.

Bear in mind we’re speaking about triple-digit speeds within the Thirties, and as such, the braking items finest as much as the duty had been 7-inch, single-leading shoe drums—ooof. Counting on power in numbers, the Rapide used a pair of tiny drums up entrance and a single out again. With that in thoughts, it’s stunning that 60-65 of the 79 Sequence-A Rapides survive as we speak. But when the finished Rapide had a serious fault, it was positively the gearbox.

Contemplating a lot of the Sequence-A’s {hardware} got here straight from the single-cylinders (even the chassis was taken straight from the Comet with a couple of further inches within the wheelbase), it’s no shock that Vincent elected to maintain the Comet’s divorced Burman four-speed and triplex chain main drive. Sadly, the gearbox was removed from as much as the duty, and patrons had been suggested to keep away from WOT till the clutch was absolutely engaged.

Debuted on the 1936 Olympia Motor Cycle Present, only a few potential patrons had been prepared to signal the dotted line based mostly on a brand new producer’s claims—particularly one with a goofy rear suspension. The Vincent works group did their half to encourage confidence, most notably with ‘Ginger’ Wooden besting the lap report at Donington Park in 1938 and setting a standing quarter-mile time of 11.75 seconds on the Gatwick dash. Nonetheless, solely 79 Sequence-A Rapides had been bought earlier than the Stevenage manufacturing facility was retooled for arms in 1939.

Vincent resumed bike manufacturing after the battle with a very reworked Rapide, dubbed the Sequence-B, which employed unit building, revised cylinder geometry and the engine as a harassed member. Greater than 1,800 Sequence-Bs had been constructed, and, after all, the next Sequence C Vincents included the legendary Black Shadow and Black Lightning. Phil Vincent’s machines would go on to smash data and Rollie Free physique surfed his rear fender into the historical past books at Bonneville, besides, the final Vincent bike rolled off the road in December of 1955.

Vincent manufactured someplace north of 11,000 bikes between 1928 and 1955, however there are a number of causes this 1938 Sequence-A Rapide is predicted to carry such sturdy cash. To start out, there’s the aforementioned rarity being one in all simply 79 Sequence-A Rapides constructed, and most significantly, it’s a numbers-matching machine with its unique case halves and chassis. It additionally comes with a formidable quantity of documentation, together with complete possession historical past after 1955 that features a few high-profile collectors.

That’s to not say that this specific Vincent lived a charmed and pampered life, and when the present vendor bought the bike from Japan in 2002, it was by all means a basket case. Regardless of its matching numbers, the bike was largely disassembled, and had clearly been roughed collectively no less than as soon as up to now with varied incorrect parts. Complete efforts had been made within the restoration of V1017, too prolonged to checklist right here, however relaxation assured they’ve thought of each element all the way down to the right domed glass within the ammeter.

Using a mix of refurbished unique elements and essentially the most correct replacements out there, it might take essentially the most discerning Vincent knowledgeable to detect the few particulars that differ from the best way it left the manufacturing facility in 1938.

The Rapide’s proprietor dubbed it ‘Grunter’ on the completion of its restoration in 2017, and after using the bike 350 miles, he commented “Suffice to say that there’s benefit and substance to the legend these machines generate.”

This gorgeous Vincent Sequence-A Rapide is the star attraction of Bonhams’ upcoming Spring Stafford Sale and can cross the block as Lot 365 on April 21.

Photographs courtesy of Bonhams.