A-Z of British motorcycles
In our stroll through the more obscure byways of the British motorcycle industry of the last 120 years, there are several names we have omitted for lack of information. We would have loved to tell you more about the Ireland and the Inglesent, but the fact is that any details or memories of such machines have now been lost. However, sit back and enjoy what we have found! INVICTA TRICARS
The name Invicta was used by three different companies in the first two decades of the 20th century, although little information remains on the Invicta cyclecar of 1912 which was anyway, it appears, a car by any other name.
More successful was the Invicta Forecar or Tricar which was manufactured in Clapham by WB Barnes. The model used a choice of vertical twin engines, including examples made by Stevens and by JAP. The 1905 example seen in this photograph had a water-cooled, 636cc Hubbard engine and was found at a rectory in Leicestershire. It was thought to have belonged to the vicar, Montague Bird, who had died in 1941. After it was unearthed in 1954, it was bought by a collector who left it untouched for almost 50 years before selling it in 1999. A 10-year restoration followed and it went to auction in 2009 where it was acquired for the NZ Classic Motorcycles collection. It is now on display in Dunedin at Bill Richardson Transport World in New Zealand.