A
superb and rare photo of the magnificent and legendary Charlie Salt, photographed in the paddock of the 1957 Isle of Man T.T. races. It shows Salt with a 500cc Velocette
racing bike.
Velocette
is the name given to motorcycles that were made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England.
One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham,
Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling far fewer hand-built motorcycles
than the giant BSA, Norton or Triumph concerns. Renowned for the quality of its
products, the company was 'always in the picture' in international motorcycle
racing, from the mid-1920s through the 1950s, culminating in two world
championship titles (1949–1950 350 cc) and its legendary and
still-unbeaten 24 hours at 100 mph
(161 km/h) record. Veloce, while small, was a great technical innovator and many
of its patented designs are commonplace on motorcycles today, including the
positive-stop foot shift and swinging arm rear suspension with hydraulic
dampers. The company was founded by John Goodman (born Johannes Gütgemann and
later known as John Taylor before formally changing his name to Goodman) and
William Gue, as "Taylor, Gue Ltd." in 1905. Its first motorcycle was
the Veloce. Later that year, John Taylor set up Veloce Limited, to produce
cycles and related products and services. Veloce Ltd initially produced
four-stroke motorcycles. The first two-stroke, built in 1913, was called a
Velocette. This name was used for all subsequent models. He was joined in 1916
by his sons Percy and Eugene Goodman. Between 1913 and 1925, Veloce only
produced expensive, high-quality two-stroke motorcycles of (nominally)
250 cc, which gained an excellent reputation, and which were entered in
competitions, such as the Isle of Man TT, with some success. The
single-cylinder machines had many advanced features, such as a
throttle-controlled oil pump, which set them apart from other manufacturers'
products. The factory gradually developed this machine from the 'A' series and
variants (A, AC2 - coil ignition, two-speed gearbox, AC3 - three speed gearbox,
etc.), then the 'H' series, the model U and variants, culminating in the model
GTP in 1930, which was produced until 1946. The GTP was a reliable lightweight
motorcycle with good steering and power delivery. In the early 1920s, Veloce
realized that in order to grow as a company, it needed a new machine of
advanced specification and developed an overhead camshaft (OHC) 350 cc engine,
which became known as the 'K' series, introduced in 1925. After a year of
teething troubles with this new design, Veloce entered the model KTT into
racing events such as the Isle of Man TT and Brooklands races, and the
reliability and sweet running qualities of their new engine led to a long
string of racing successes. The roadster models developed from this initial
model K were the Velocette KSS (super sports), KTS (touring sports), KTP (twin exhaust ports), KN
(normal), and a few variations. The OHC engine series continued for roadsters until 1948, when the final KSS versions were produced,
with rigid frames and Dowty air-sprung telescopic forks. Accurate valve timing
was accomplished through the pioneering use of stroboscopic lamps (see timing
light). The 'K' series showed an excellent turn of speed and reliability and
soon the factory developed racing models to compete in the Isle of Man TT. In
1933, the company decided to introduce a new line of overhead valve (OHV)
machines, in order to cut production costs and make a more affordable
motorcycle. The K series was expensive to produce, requiring selective hand
assembly of the shaft-and-bevel camshaft drive; it was determined that a
simpler OHV design would be quicker to build and require less skilled labour to
assemble. The first of these new machines was the MOV, using a 250 cc
engine of 'square' dimensions (68 mm
bore x 68 mm stroke). It was an immediate sales success, having lively performance
for the time (78 mph), and proved a reliable machine with excellent road manners. From this
machine, by lengthening the stroke of the crankshaft, the Velocette MAC 350 cc was
introduced in 1934. It proved even more popular than the MOV, and became a real
money spinner for the company, bringing much needed capital into the firm. In
1935 an entirely new machine was introduced, based on the two previous OHV
models, the Velocette MSS of 500 cc. A new, heavier frame was utilized with the intention
that the machine could serve as a sidecar hauler. This new frame was developed
from the mkV KTT racing machine, and was shared with the KSS MKII of 1936-48. The MSS also proved very
popular and profitable for Veloce. After the Second World War, the company
sought to capture what it saw as a developing need for personal transport and
created (with the help of Phil Irving of Vincent fame) the model LE. This was a
192 cc watercooled flat twin with side-valves, a pressed steel frame and
telescopic forks and swingarm. It was sophisticated and expensive.
Unfortunately it proved less successful than the firm had anticipated and
although it became Veloce's best selling model ever, the massive tooling costs
for this all-new machine were barely recouped. It did see widespread adoption
by British police forces for urban patrol. At the time Metropolitan Police
Officers on foot patrol were required to salute Sergeants and Inspectors. With
the introduction of the Velocette LE, this became dangerous, requiring the
officer to take his hand off the handle bars, and so the rider was to allowed
to show his respect with a smart inclination of his head, or to put it another
way, to give a smart nod and the bikes became known as 'Noddy Bikes'. At the
1947 TT, the company won the first four places in the Junior race, and in 1950
they were the 350cc World Champions. In 1960, Velocette introduced the Viceroy,
a very unusual 250 cc opposed twin two-stroke scooter. Unique to the
Viceroy was the front mounted twin-cylinder engine, and the fuel tank mounted
under the front legshield. The engine itself was extremely compact, and
connected to the rear-mounted clutch and transmission by a drive shaft from the
engine-mounted flywheel. With electric start, 12 volt electrics, a very
low centre of gravity, power over 15 hp and a reported comfortable cruising
speed of 65 MPH
(105 km/h), performance, handling and features of the Viceroy were first class.
Unfortunately the scooter came as market forces and rider preferences were
changing, and the Viceroy was not a sales success. The late 1960s were the last
years of production for Velocette motorcycles, production for the Velocette
Viper and Vogue ending in 1968, "Special", Scrambler and Endurance in
1969, and MSS Venom and Velocette Thruxton in 1970. Veloce Ltd. closed in February
1971.
This
is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of
1930s motorcycle history in wonderful
way. This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed
in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 10" (ca. 20 x 26 cm). It
makes it perfectly suitable for framing!