For 1938 New Imperial Motors of Hall Green, Birmingham appeared to be running strong with the manufacturing of their machines. An impressive line up with hand change, foot change, beautifully cast alloy primary chain cases, cantilever spring frames on most models and their unit construction design. But tough times were coming and sadly New Imperial didn’t survive World War 2.
There were 11 models starting with the Model 23 – a 146cc economy model with hand change, a learner machine or perhaps a cheap commuter for dad to get to work on? The Model 36L was 247cc with hand change and the Model 36 was the 247cc foot change version. Model 46 was 344cc and the Model 76 was the 496cc. There were 3 twin exhaust port models, the 247cc Model 36DL, the 344cc Model 46DL and the 496cc Model 76DL. Also on offer was the 247cc Model 90, the 344cc Model 100 and the 496cc Model 110 – all with single exhaust ports but with the more sporty upswept exhaust pipes. There were also 3 sidecars for the family man to involve his family with motorcycling.
Click on the front cover below to see the complete 19 page catalogue.
It is a 3.8M PDF.
Compare the 1938 models with the 1936 sales catalogue that we have previously listed.
An article from the September 1938 edition of The MotorCycle on New Imperials new models for the 1939 riding season including the 2 brand new vertical engine machines called the Grand Prix Models 50 and 60.
And another advertisement from September 1938 outlining New Imperials 1939 motorcycling programme. Ambitious?
New Imperials development strategies were quite impressive, with their unit construction motor units to their cantilever rear frame, but then Matchless did have cantilever frames in 1933. Testing and racing was always a good proving ground for manufacturers with wins and triumphs resulting in more sales. So here is an article from the August 1934 edition of The Motor Cycle who sponsored a cup for the first 500cc solo machine to cover 100 miles in an hour. The successful team was New Imperial with S. (“Ginger”) Wood riding a 500cc V twin T.T. Model.
Read on for a good story.
