1924 Ivy Ladies' Model

It wasn't all Japanese and bespoke racing exotica at Mallory, some people love to bring along machines of historical interest too, such as this lovely 1924 Ivy Ladies’ Model. While this rare early ladies’ machine, with its lower crossbar, is rather more sedate, the Newman brothers, who ran Ivy from 1907 to 1934, were very invested in using racing to prove the ability of their production models. Ivy, in their early years, did well racing in the TT and established seven world records at Brooklands in 1913 with a sidecar outfit. When acquired by the current owner, the Ivy did have some great, original bits and pieces, including pannier bags with ‘The Ivy’ inscribed on the side. Apparently, the paint on the tank was wrong when it was acquired, so that has been changed to closer to how it would have been from the factory. The Ivy is belt final drive, from a two-stroke engine, while there’s no front brake, just a rear brake block to the belt rim. All in all, this was a lovely find of a rare and fine British machine.