Landing with a thud!
A battered 1956 motorcycle show issue of The Motor Cycle reminds Pete Kelly of just what an amazing time for motorcycling the mid-1950s were – and a trawl through Mortons’ Motorcycle Archive soon rekindles all the excitement of those big fat special editi
While thumbing through a pile of old bike magazines at home recently, I came across a coverless, yellowing issue of The Motor Cycle’s London Show Guide issue of November 8, 1956. With a perfect-bound spine and containing no fewer than 168 pages (twice as many as normal, and comprising a staggering 124 pages of advertisements against 42 of editorial) it looked and felt more like a book.
Exactly the same effort went into show issues of Motor Cycling, with meticulous editorial including full stand-by-stand guides in both cases – and these were weeklies, remember!
How on earth the teams of those legendary publication managed to put it all together in the time – especially during that long-forgotten age of hot-metal printing, with not a computer in sight – I’ll never know, but it must have been relentlessly hard work, and in the ‘all hands on deck’ rush to make the deadlines, even the cartoonists got into the act with mildly amusing show-based themes!
Whether you were a big bike enthusiast or a ride-to-work commuter, these very special issues, embracing motorcycles large and small, sidecars, scooters and mopeds and even, in 1956, economy two-stroke three-wheelers such as the Bond Minicar, AC Petite and Messerschmitt KR200 Kabinenroller (scooter with cabin) were rare treats not to be missed.
The bright and colourful front cover of The Motor Cycle’s 1956 show issue was followed by no fewer than 47 pages of unbroken advertising until the reader finally reached the opening page of editorial, which in itself was a revelation, for while the mid-1950s was indeed a great time for two and three-wheeled travel, everything in the big wide world was far from hunky-dory.
Squeezed
Only days before the issue was published, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had ordered his tanks into Hungary and once again the Cold War-weary world held its breath, while here at home, at a time when people were itching to buy that new moped, scooter or motorbike, Britain had to suffer a credit squeeze, and buying on the ‘never-never’ was much more difficult than it needed to be.
In view of all the above, Harry Louis struck a surprisingly sombre note in his editorial, in which he wrote: “With its sparkle and activity, the London Show which opens on Saturday will prove as strong a draw as ever. Thousands of enthusiasts will forgather to examine and admire the latest machines, to question and discuss, to decide on the new models they will buy – or those they would buy if circumstances permitted. It is a safe prediction that, in spite of the troubled international situation, the Show will attract its usual audience of the most knowledgeable riders in the world.
“The array will be larger than for some years, and habitués will be impressed by the fact that, instead of occupying only the ground floor, stands are erected on the balcony as well.
“Size alone is not the criterion of success, but adequate space is an essential part of displaying products to the best advantage. Furthermore,
the additional space is certain to be appreciated as much by the public as by the exhibitors.
“In one respect the Show is likely to pinpoint a clear problem for the industry. In common with many other products, sales of two- and three-wheelers have declined in the past 12 months. The reason is associated not only with the restrictions on hire-purchase but also with the credit squeeze which has adversely affected commerce generally and reduced the size of pay packets. The industry has had to grapple with a keen buyers’ market which built up unexpectedly rapidly.
“As would be anticipated, the effect has been more marked in the medium and large-capacity classes than in the lightweight, scooter and moped fields. It would be wrong, however, to deduce that there is, or is likely to be in the near future, any sweeping change in the popularity in various classes and types of machine – that small-capacity motorcycles, scooters and mopeds will sell almost to the exclusion of bigger machines as occurs in European countries. In broad terms, the traditional British machine is more popular today than ever before, but the greater increase in registrations has been in the other categories.
“It is this aspect of the growth of registrations to the current record level of over one-and-a-quarter million that raises the query. The number of exhibitors is largely chiefly because of the influx of imported scooters and mopeds.
Very few British manufacturers have entered these two markets as yet, and the problem is to know whether such machines have the long-term future in Great Britain that would justify the expensive equipment necessary for production at a competitive price. Most manufacturers have not decided one way or the other, but the direction in which interest is focused by visitors to Earls Court may well give the lead they seek.”
As a matter of interest, the UK population in 1956 was 51,265,880 compared with 67,886,011 today, and despite the uncertain note in Harry’s missive, jobs were plentiful and living standards on the up – and the frustration of wanting things yet still not feeling confident enough to embrace the HP option meant many opting for the cheap second-hand buys that crowded small ad pages.
Optimism
Blindly oblivious to what the following few years would bring (the Mini car and the sudden invasion of Japanese motorcycles to name but two), an air of optimism still prevailed in the home-spun motorcycle industry.
An eight-page ‘Show Highlights’ feature underlined the sheer depth and breadth of the motorcycle and three-wheeler market at the time – from AC Petite three-wheelers to Zundapp Bella scooters and everything in between.
Many showgoers made a beeline for the Triumph stand, where the record-breaking ‘cigar’ which, in the hands of Johnny Allen, had roared to a record speed of 214mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats earlier that year, took pride of place. Even more remarkable was the fact that the 649cc Triumph twin at its heart wasn’t even supercharged.
Alongside it were 1957 Speed Twin, Thunderbird and TR5 Trophy models, and following on from the successful use of radio-control by TT marshals, a Speed Twin equipped with BCC twoway radio for police work was also on display, alongside a TRW side-valve twin as used by the Services.
The Velocette stand featured two examples of the Hall Green manufacturer’s exciting new 192cc overhead-valve Valiant flat twins, one in black and the other in green, mounted on inclined plinths. Racing enthusiasts could also study the twin-cylinder 499cc supercharged ‘Roarer’ that Stanley Woods rode during practice for the 1939 TT, and for the technically-minded there were sectioned models of the internal workings of both LE and Venom machines to admire.
A battery of floodlights trained on a 248cc Crusader was the central feature of the Royal Enfield stand, where one of the most attractive sidecar outfits at the show was a 692cc Super Meteor allied to a Watsonian Avon single-seater to emphasise the big bike’s lugging appeal to sporting sidecar fans.
On the subject of outfits, which still teemed on the roads of the 1950s, no fewer than seven British sidecar manufacturers showed off their latest models. Blacknell displayed everything from the neat little Gnat to the imposing double-adult Safety Two, and a 1956 newcomer was the Safety Saloon with its fixed canopy and full-length door. Canterbury had its low-built Sportsmobile side-by-side twoseater on show, plus its Demon lightweight single-seater and New Carmobile three-seater.
Highlight of the Garrard display was the single-seat Grand Prix, and one example was seen packed for export, including wheel and mudguard, in a transparent case measuring just 4 x 2 x 2ft!
Surrey displayed its ingenious Syvan sidecar, which allegedly two people could transform into a caravan utilising the same chassis in 10 minutes flat, and it was shown in both erected and on-the-road trim.
The star of the Swallow stand was its glass-reinforced plastic Mk II
Jet 80 sports single-seater with an integral windscreen and a moulded wheel housing incorporating lighting fittings that could be swung clear for attention to the wheel.
Watsonian showed its glassfibrebodied Bambini and Bambox models for scooters, and an unusual feature of its Cambridge doubleadult saloon was the sliding door.
The Motor Cycle’s Show Guide writer must have been short on information about Busmar, though, because all he could conjure up was: “So futuristic are the body lines to be exhibited on the Busmar stand that youthful visitors may be forgiven if the display conjures up fantasies of interplanetary travel!”
The mid-1950s was a time when small motorcycle shops abounded, their numbers boosted by dealers who had sold bicycles for decades but now embraced the growing variety of mopeds entering the market, among the most popular being the NSU Quickly range. Advertisements in The Motor Cycle’s November 8, 1956 issue revealed some British manufacturers had already embraced the moped concept, with bicycle maker Hercules taking a whole page to appeal: “Buy British! Buy ALL British! Buy an H.C.M. Her-cu-motor.”
Norman showed off its Sachspowered 49cc Nippy, fitted with a leading-link front fork, and Phillips its telescopic front fork-fitted Gadabout. Ambassador advertised a moped, the Combinette, which although assembled at its factory was actually a Zundapp machine.
Featuring a very pretty model, a full-page advertisement for the 70cc BSA Dandy described it as a light scooter that was easy to ride, economical to run and easy to look after. But sadly the little machine, which cost £74-8s including purchase tax, is remembered more today for its irritating shortcomings... which there isn’t room to go into here.
In their blissful ignorance, none of these makers had an inkling that within a few short years, our roads would be swarming with Honda Cub step-throughs!
In 1956 the scooter market was dominated by foreign manufacturers including Lambretta, Vespa, NSU, Zundapp, TWN, Durkopp, Puch and Peugeot, many of which were displayed at the Earls Court Show.
Hip to be Square
Although home-grown motorcycles still dominated the big bike market, there wasn’t much new in that category at the show.
Ariel’s centrepiece was Britain’s biggest motorcycle, a black and chromium-plated 997cc Square
Four, revolving majestically on a raised turntable – but the ‘dark horse’ was already at work planning the sensational Ariel Leader that would make its debut two years later.
AJS showed its new 350cc competition machine based on Gordon Jackson’s Scottish Six Days Trial winner, with its engine cradle integral with the rear sub-frame loops and, continuing its tradition of featuring an interesting antique, the marque also had on display an engine believed to be the first produced by the Stevens brothers.
Appealing to the technicallyminded, Matchless exhibited an ‘exploded’ AMC gearbox of the type that would be fitted to all the 1957 models. It featured an unusual clutch and the liberal use of rubber
‘O’ rings to ensure oil-tightness.
ISDT successes were highlighted by the three factory models that had brought a manufacturers’ team prize back from Germany, and for road racing enthusiasts, the G45 twin on display was a must.
Machines in the Norton range had been ‘cleaned up’ with a new front hub and brake plate, sleek silencers and plastic-framed, chromiumplated panels on the petrol tanks. Since time immemorial the stand
had been recognisable by its proud display of competition trophies, and an added attraction in 1956 was the appearance of the Manx Norton on which John Hartle had won the 500cc Ulster Grand Prix race.
Well-established in the affections of sidecar enthusiasts, Panther showed three versions of its lusty 598cc slopers harnessed to some of the biggest sidecars available, and at the other end of the scale was a stylish lightweight powered by a 249cc Villiers two-stroke twin.
With models including a 499cc Gold Star in stark scrambles trim, the BSA stand offered its full range of twin and single-cylinder machines for inspection.
Factory experts were on hand to solve technical problems, and the firm’s exchange-replacement scheme was illustrated by a photo of a well-worn machine made up