Although it’s almost sixty years since the last Vincent motorcycle came off the production line, these magnificent looking machines bear a name associated with the world’s fastest standard motorcycle and still conjure up the ultimate ideal of well-engineered, ‘no expense spared’ quality.
With models including the Black Shadow, Comet, Rapide and Black Lightning, Vincent has an enduring reputation. This exhibition now brings together Vincents owned and restored by motorcycling enthusiast and Director at the Lakeland Motor Museum, Bill Bewley. It tells the intriguing story of the company’s founder Philip Conrad Vincent and his determination to change the world of motorcycling with innovative frame designs, suspension and high performance engines.
The fully restored examples on display at the Lakeland Motor Museum include:
• 1937 HRD Series A 500cc Comet
• 1947 HRD Series B 998cc Rapide
• 1949 HRD 998cc Black Lightning Racing Special
• 1951 Vincent Series C 998cc Black Shadow
• 1953 Vincent Series C 500cc Comet.
Bill Bewley says, “In their heyday, these impressive machines really would have been admired as the epitome of motorcycling excellence. The Vincent marque is synonymous with quality and prestige, and it is fantastic to be sharing them with a whole new generation of enthusiasts visiting and living in the Lake District.”
The enhanced Vincent Collection adds to more than seventy other motorcycles already on display at the Lakeland Motor Museum, including a special section dedicated to the Isle of Man TT Races and the racing successes of the ‘Morecambe Missile’ John McGuinness.
