BLACK PRINCE
Long before the Vincent model, there was the Black Prince of Barnard Castle in County Durham. Back in 1919, EW Cameron’s Black Prince was a radical design, thanks to its enclosed bodywork that hid everything from the headstock to the rear mudguard (which actually formed part of the casing). It was powered by either a single-cylinder 292cc engine or a 396cc flat-twin two-stroke and a prototype proved successful in testing, but it was simply too ahead of its time – not to mention too expensive – to go into production. This was something that, in July 1919, The Motor Cycle had already prophesied, saying:
“The machine … departs so much from the conventional that several manufacturing difficulties are likely to be encountered which will tend to retard its production on a large scale without special facilities.” In despair,
Mr Cameron committed suicide. It brought the Black Prince project to an abrupt end, along with attendant plans for a small cycle car.