Ardingly Summer Classic Bike Show
You can’t pull the Wooler over John Milton and Sharon Benton’s eyes as they report on the Summer Classic!
The Summer Classic Bike Show at the South of England Showground in Ardingly always throws up some interesting surprises – although, as we revealed back in the News pages of OBM issue 445, the star of this year’s event was always going to be a Wooler, so we probably ruined that surprise!
What was unexpected were not one but four Woolers on display, spanning more or less the complete history of the marque from 1911 to 1955.
While there are other British manufacturers which can boast a history over the same time period, I would argue that few maintained their unique identity from before the First World War to after the Second World War.
Thanks to its quirky design, the 1911 233cc two-stroke Wooler is clearly the sibling of the 1955 flat-twin model. Perhaps brothers separated by a few years, but definitely brothers nonetheless.
Now sadly not accorded the fame that should rightfully be his, John Wooler founded his eponymous company in Alperton, Middlesex, in 1909. His first production model, the aforementioned twostroke, was manufactured by the Wilkinson Sword factory and called the Wilkinson-Wooler (although this name would last a mere two years). Its unique design and ‘anti-vibratory’ frame was revolutionary, as were the capabilities of the little machine. It was recorded as travelling 311 miles on a single gallon of petrol. That’s the sort of motorcycle we want today!
It was not, however, an auspicious time to be launching a motorcycle company as storm clouds gathered over Europe. Although the official receiver sold off the remaining Wooler motorcycles, the firm survived thanks to munitions contracts with the RAF. Motorcycle production resumed in 1920 and a Wooler was entered in the 1921 Isle of Man Junior TT where fellow competitor and father of Murray Walker, Graham Walker, coined the nickname ‘Flying Banana.’ It would stick.
The Great Depression forced the closure of Wooler, but it re-emerged in 1945 and John Wooler proved that his engineering genius remained undimmed and unfettered, producing a 500cc transverse four capable of 90mph with shaft drive and with an unusual beam type engine and housed in a duplex frame with twin plunger dampers. Selling points were the ‘interchangeable, quickly detachable wheels,’ the unit construction, and the fact that the entire motorcycle only used two sizes of nut and bolt, making it very easy to work on without countless tools
(the company did, in fact, adopt a winged spanner as its emblem in a reference to this). It was shown at Earls Court in 1948 and again in 1951.
There was one problem: it never worked properly.
For the 1954 Earls Court show, John Wooler returned with a revamped machine using a transverse flat four, still air-cooled with shaft drive. Only a handful were built – the consensus is five – but it was always going to be too expensive to go into production. John Wooler’s death before the show sealed the fate of this innovative and remarkable machine and of his company.
The British Motorcycle Charitable Trust (BMCT) now owns the 1955 500cc OHV flat four seen at that Earls Court show in 1954 and Andy Bruton of the BMCT told us: “This OHV machine is the last model Wooler designed. It features a flat four engine, interchangeable wheels, no top yoke for the forks, and a toolbox integrated into the aluminium gearbox casing. “Wooler boasted that the bike could be maintained using just one spanner and a screwdriver!
“Only a handful of prototypes were made, this one being the actual 1954 Earls Court Show bike. Restored by Sammy Miller, it’s usually on show at his New Forest museum.”
On this occasion there was a chance to not only see the Wooler with its torpedoshaped tank unit, but also to hear it burst into life as it was fired up alongside not one but two other rare machines – a 1911 two-stroke Wooler and a 1920 four-stroke belonging to Bill Dunlop, the VMCC’s Wooler marque specialist.
The chances of hearing one Wooler are rare, but three at once? Fabulous. And there was an extra treat with the presence of John Wooler, the original builder’s grandson.
Obviously, one of the most popular draws of this event is the autojumble and this year trading seemed to be going great guns as people snapped up the very things they needed, along with stuff they didn’t know they needed!
The VMCC HQ had taken along a display while, for the first time, the Moto Guzzi Club UK had a stand – and promptly picked up the Best Club Stand prize, which is always a keenly fought contest.
Another first-time winner was Mike Delaney, who collected the Best Pre-1950 award for his 1934 BSA Model 13, the first time he had entered the prewar sloper at a show. There were also small snapshots of history with some of the other winners; Colin Chambers of the Veteran Car Club won the Best British category with his 1904 3.5hp Humber Olympia tandem forecar that was purchased from Siegfried Sassoon’s family in 1952 and was indeed used by the famous poet. It was originally bought by a member of Colin’s family for £40. Meanwhile, the Competition/ Special class was won by Rosemary Walls for her little Francis-Barnett racer, built from parts with the help of Arthur Walls and Graham at Flat Tank Engineering using a genuine Brooklands Villiers race engine. Prizes were supplied by Bikerbuyz. co.uk and presented by John Wooler.
There was even an added and unexpected bonus for showgoers when they were able to pick up a free copy of a back issue of OBM. That alone was worth going to the show!