Countless motorcycle manufacturers popped up in the 1920s and ’30s in Britain, but somehow, none quite as cool as Vincent. High-end speed machines, combining old-school big-displacement twins, monochrome finishes and titillating names like Rapide and Black Shadow, a Vincent V-twin welcomes you into any roundtable of motorcycling, and it’s not hard to see why. A seat rarely opens at the Vincent Owners Club, even more so when you’re talking about an ultra-rare first-series Rapide.
One of just 79 built, the Series-A Rapide represents Vincent’s first foray into V-twins—an endeavor that established Vincent as the superbike of the day. There are faster Vincents, and on occasion more valuable ones, but the rarity and significance of the Series-A Rapide is hard to overstate. As such, this restored 1938 Rapide highlights Bonhams’ upcoming Spring Stafford Sale with an estimated hammer price of $300,854 to $350,997.
While Vincent didn’t pioneer the V-twin, their execution is at least worthy of an honorable mention. Philip Vincent’s start in motorcycles echoes many of his peers of the era, becoming interested in bikes at a young age and crafting a few ‘specials’ of his own design in the late 1920s. At age 20, Vincent filed a patent for a cantilevered rear suspension design, and with backing from his family, he purchased the financially troubled HRD brand from Howard R Davies in 1928.
After tacking his own name above the HRD logo, Vincent picked up where Davies left off building single-cylinder machines with engines sourced from JAP and Rudge, and employing his own chassis and cantilever suspension. When the third-party engines proved unreliable at the Isle of Mann, Vincent and engineer Philip Irving decided to start from scratch, resulting in the 499 cc OHV Meteor engine used in the Comet and Meteor models.
But of course, it’s not the Comet or Meteor that made Vincent an icon, it’s the V-twins, and the powerplant in the Rapide is directly descended from these early singles. As the story goes, Irving allegedly spotted two stacked technical drawings of the meteor engine, and envisioned joining their cylinders on a common bottom end. The final design was a 47-degree V-twin displacing 998 cc, and featured two standard Meteor top ends on new crankcase halves.
Since the existing Meteor tooling was used, the front and rear cylinders are identical, saving substantially on costs and leading to both exhausts pointing forward. Two Amal carburetors fed the mill, and dry-sump oiling supplied lubrication by various external pipes and hoses, leading to the Series-A’s nickname—plumbers nightmare.
Capable of 45 hp at 5,500 rpm, the Series-A Rapide immediately established itself as one of the fastest bikes money could buy. Flat out, the Rapide would best the Brough-Superior SS100’s top speed at 110 mph. Despite Vincent’s innovative cantilever rear, both he and Irving believed in the Brampton girder forks, and the Rapide’s front end reportedly provided light and tight handling.
Remember we’re talking about triple-digit speeds in the 1930s, and as such, the braking units best up to the task were 7-inch, single-leading shoe drums—ooof. Relying on strength in numbers, the Rapide used a pair of tiny drums up front and a single out back. With that in mind, it’s shocking that 60-65 of the 79 Series-A Rapides survive today. But if the completed Rapide had a major fault, it was definitely the gearbox.
Considering most of the Series-A’s hardware came straight from the single-cylinders (even the chassis was taken straight from the Comet with a few extra inches in the wheelbase), it’s no surprise that Vincent elected to keep the Comet’s divorced Burman four-speed and triplex chain primary drive. Unfortunately, the gearbox was far from up to the task, and buyers were advised to avoid WOT until the clutch was fully engaged.
Debuted at the 1936 Olympia Motor Cycle Show, very few prospective buyers were willing to sign the dotted line based on a new manufacturer’s claims—especially one with a goofy rear suspension. The Vincent works team did their part to inspire confidence, most notably with ‘Ginger’ Wood besting the lap record at Donington Park in 1938 and setting a standing quarter-mile time of 11.75 seconds at the Gatwick sprint. Still, only 79 Series-A Rapides were sold before the Stevenage factory was retooled for arms in 1939.
Vincent resumed motorcycle production after the war with a completely reworked Rapide, dubbed the Series-B, which employed unit construction, revised cylinder geometry and the engine as a stressed member. More than 1,800 Series-Bs were built, and, of course, the following Series C Vincents included the legendary Black Shadow and Black Lightning. Phil Vincent’s machines would go on to smash records and Rollie Free body surfed his rear fender into the history books at Bonneville, but even so, the last Vincent motorcycle rolled off the line in December of 1955.
Vincent manufactured somewhere north of 11,000 motorcycles between 1928 and 1955, but there are several reasons this 1938 Series-A Rapide is expected to bring such strong money. To start, there’s the aforementioned rarity being one of just 79 Series-A Rapides built, and most importantly, it’s a numbers-matching machine with its original case halves and chassis. It also comes with an impressive amount of documentation, including comprehensive ownership history after 1955 that includes a few high-profile collectors.
That’s not to say that this particular Vincent lived a charmed and pampered life, and when the current vendor purchased the bike from Japan in 2002, it was by all means a basket case. Despite its matching numbers, the bike was largely disassembled, and had clearly been roughed together at least once in the past with various incorrect components. Comprehensive efforts were made in the restoration of V1017, too lengthy to list here, but rest assured they’ve considered every detail down to the correct domed glass in the ammeter.
Utilizing a combination of refurbished original parts and the most accurate replacements available, it would take the most discerning Vincent expert to detect the few details that differ from the way it left the factory in 1938.
The Rapide’s owner dubbed it ‘Grunter’ at the completion of its restoration in 2017, and after riding the bike 350 miles, he commented “Suffice to say that there is merit and substance to the legend these machines generate.”
This stunning Vincent Series-A Rapide is the star attraction of Bonhams’ upcoming Spring Stafford Sale and will cross the block as Lot 365 on April 21.
Images courtesy of Bonhams.
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