New Imperial 250cc Grand Prix 1933 Isle of Man TT motorcycle photo

Description

A superb and rare photo of the magnificent Ted Mellors, photographed with his equally magnificent New Imperial 250cc Grand Prix factory racer in the paddock before he would finish 7TH in the 1933 Isle of Man Lightweight T.T.
Fellow New Imperial team member Charley Dodson and Leo Davenport finished respectively second and fourth with a similar New Imperial and are also on the photo.
New Imperial was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by Norman Downes in Birmingham, between 1887 and 1901, and became New Imperial Motors Ltd in 1912, when serious production commenced. New Imperial made innovative motorcycles that employed unit construction and sprung heel frames long before they became commonplace and were moderately successful in competition. The Twenties were a financially successful decade, enabling the innovations of the Thirties that fought decline. New Imperial suffered financially from the sales destroying Great Depression of the Thirties, and then the founder died in 1938. New Imperial was sold and sold again, and then ended production in late 1939, its former facilities subsequently serving the needs of a nation at war. The history of New Imperial, founded by Norman Downes, goes back to the early days of the bicycle industry in Birmingham. From 1887 New Imperial made bicycle fittings and later, complete bicycles, possible after he bought the ailing bicycle business of Hearl and Tonks (founded 1892). It is also said that he created New Imperial in 1901, but no official record of the earliest company formation has been found. Official records do show the formation of a limited company in purpose-built facility on Spring Road, at Hall Green. In 1932, New Imperial used unit construction engines, where the engine crankcase and gearbox are incorporated in the same casting. They made a Unit Minor 150 and Unit Super 250. They continued to use unit construction, and some models used Bentley and Draper Sprung frames, in an era still dominated by rigid frames. By 1938 all of New Imperial engines employed unit construction. In 1934 Ginger Woods, riding a New Imperial 500 cc V-twin for one hour, achieved a 102.2 mph (164.4 km/h) average at Brooklands. Bob Foster won the 1936 Lightweight TT handsomely on a unit-construction model which was the last time that Great Britain ever won a Lightweight TT. Despite the advanced engineering, and the spectacular TT win by Foster, sales did not improve. In 1938 Norman Downes died. New Imperial went into liquidation, and a received was appointed by Lloyds Bank on 7 November 1938. The receiver advertised the sale of New Imperial on 18 November. Jack Sangster, of Ariel and Triumph, announced on 30 December that he had purchased New Imperial and that production would continue, and on 27 January 1939, production resumed. Within a week there were rumours that the company was already being sold to Solomon Joseph, owner of Clifford Covering and Motor Components. The sale was confirmed on 10 February, and production was continued. Following the start of World War II, on 22 September 1939 all spare parts were sold to the Colliers, of
AMC
, who then appointed New Imperial spares dealers. Board of Trade records show New Imperial
LTD
officially changed their name to Clifford Aero & Auto Ltd., Aeronautical Engineers, on 6 October 1939, and they then produced aeronautical components for the war effort. The name, New Imperial, was reportedly sold to BSA at a later date by Sangster, perhaps when he joined the board of BSA in 1951. The most likely explanation for this is that Sangster bought the name back from Clifford Aero and Auto when they changed over to wartime production, or that Sangster had retained the name and allowed Solomon Joseph to trade under it until war broke out and circumstances changed, but these details are not verifiable. Despite plans to revive the name, it was all over for New Imperial, making an end to the history of one of English finest motorcycle manufacturers.
Ted (Edward Ambrose) Mellors was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. He was an international motorcycle road racer who rode in the Manx Grand Prix in 1927 and the Isle of Man TT from 1928 to 1939. He was the 350 cc European Champion in 1938. Ted was one of five sons of a wheelwright and a clergyman’s daughter. Two of his brothers drowned in a local canal as children. He wanted to be an International motorcycle racer and spent a lot of time riding in the Derbyshire hills. Ted met his future wife when he was still 15. She was 21, so he lied about his age. After 7 months they got married. In 1936, when Ted became a works rider for Velocette, they moved south to Shirley near Birmingham. They had two daughters Gladys and Joan. In 1927 Ted came 10th in the Manx Grand Prix on a P&M Panther; in 1930 he won the 250cc French Grand Prix 250 cc win followed in 1936 by a win in the 350cc class of the French Grand Prix. In 1937 Ted won the French Grand Prix 350 cc and 500 cc classes. After initially riding in the TT races he started riding in Continental events, and in 1938 won the title of 350 cc European Champion and held the title throughout the second World War, until racing started again when petrol was no longer rationed. Ted was one of a few pre-WWII British riders who realised that they could probably make more money by racing regularly in Grand Prix motorcycle racing events on the Continent. In 1927 Benelli had a gear drive SOHC 175 cc model. In 1930 this became DOHC, and in 1935 the capacity was increased to 250 cc. With this machine Ted Mellors won the Lightweight 1939 Isle of Man TT. During World War II he worked in munitions and was with the volunteer fire service. He applied but was not accepted for the Air Force due to slightly defective eyesight, despite already having a private air pilots licence. He designed and patented a rotary valve system in the early 1940s, during WW2. He was issued Patent 559830, in March 1944. He also wrote magazine articles and had an unpublished fictionalised biography. In 1946 he unfortunately passed away.
We have more photos, also listed on Ebay, of other bikes, and various motorcycle world) champions on various kinds of machinery. Please check out our auctions and take advantage of our shipping discount! The auction selection is refreshed and changed continuously.
This is your rare chance to own this
non period
photo that reflects a very interesting and historic piece of motorcycle history. Therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 10.5" (ca. 20 x 27 cm).
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All items always sent well protected in PVC clear files
and board backed envelopes.
We have photographs that came from professional collections and/or were bought from the original photographer or press studio! They are all of professional and excellent quality.
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