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 New Imperial - 250 GP usine
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Photo ou archives : F-M. Dumas
6011

Capacity : 250
Model : GP usine
Production : 1934 - 1934
Category : (R) Racing

NEW IMPERIAL

250 Grand Prix Works Racer – 1934

Unfulfilled promise

In the 1920s and 1930s, New Imperial – founded in Birmingham in 1900 – achieved a stunning record of sports successes in the 250, 350 and even 500cc classes. In 1934, at Brooklands, Ginger Wood covered 102.27 miles in only an hour! He rode a 500 V-twin that was basically two 250 Grand Prix top ends on a common crankcase.

Victorious 250

Though New Imps had raced in the Isle of Man in 1913, the company's winning streak began in 1921 with victory in the 250cc class, then ran concurrently with the Junior TT.

Record-Breaking at Brooklands

Until 1926, New Imperial used JAP engines; then it began making its own engines – classic ohv singles. The first successes came when Ted Mellors's 250 won the 1931 Belgian GP and 1933 Dutch GP. Also in 1933, Charlie Dodson won the Ulster GP, while the year before, Les Archer's 250 was the first quarter-liter bike to lap Brooklands at over 100 mph (his actual speed was 100.41 mph). In 1934, the works New Imperial riders were given special 250 racers with a magnesium crankcase, bronze cylinder head and a cast-iron cylinder with shrunk-on aluminum fins retained by six studs. This ohv 250 ran on a 50/50 mixture of gasoline and benzol. Mellors left New Imperial, and 1934 passed without a win – just a second place for Bob Foster in the Manx GP. Foster's record-breaking win in the 1936 Lightweight TT with the legendary unit-construction "Flying Pig Trough" was the last victory for a British bike in the Lightweight TT.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: 249cc (63x80mm) air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke; Lucas magneto

Power Rating: 24 hp @ 8,000 rpm

Valves: overhead

Fuel System: Amal carburetor

Transmission: separate Sturmey-Archer 4-speed gearbox, chain final drive

Suspension: girder forks (front); rigid (rear)

Brakes: drum (front & rear)

Wheels: 2.75x18 inch (front); 3.25x20 inch (rear)

Weight: 262 lb

Maximum Speed: 106 mph

This 250 did not achieve the success it merited. Noteworthy details are the aluminum oil tank by the rear wheel and the long front brake stay.




Le fichier Moto Passion réalisé par François-Marie Dumas réunit près de deux mille photos accompagnées d'un historique très complet des machines présentées.
Il sera progressivement mis à jour ici et toute information complémentaire est la bienvenue sur info@moto-collection.org.

Cette documentation unique, qui constitue sans doute l'encyclopédie la plus exhaustive jamais écrite sur l'histoire de la moto, a été réalisée avec l'assistance de nombreux spécialistes dont principalement Didier Ganneau, Christophe Gaime, Mick Woollett, Jean Goyard, Bernard Salvat, Christian Rey, Yves Campion, Helmut Krackowizer, Michael Dregni, Michel Montange, etc. que je remercie ici.

Disponible sur demande :
- Les fiches originales sur papier
- Les photos et archives signées de mon nom en haute définition ou les documents originaux.
Me contacter sur info@moto-collection.org pour les conditions et droits d'utilisation.