Martin Squires Automotive Illustration: The 36th Carole Nash Bristol Classic MotorCycle Show

The Bristol Motorcycle Show is now an annual event for myself, not only is it local, it always turns up some really interesting machines. I will let the sketches and blurb do the talking....

1959 Toshojiko Pandora

(ink sketch)

This extremely rare Toshojiko Pandora was produced in Japan in limited numbers. There are only 10 examples of this particular model known in the world and I was thrilled to see it on the Vintage Scooter Club stand. Packed full of technology such as 12 volt electric start, automatic CVT transmission, indicators even a fuel gauge, to make it user friendly. The bodywork beneath the seat lifts up like a car bonnet to allow easy access to the machanicals which even has a back up lawn mower style pull start cord! An optional transistor radio was also available for this forward thinking machine, appealing even more to the younger audience who were an obvious target for this market. Again the styling especially the rather fetching fins on the rear reflect American designs of the time.

This example is thought to have been privately imported by an airman from Malaysia to UK in 60’s. Spent latter years in an old chicken shed but is now out enjoying it’s later years undergoing what is described by it’s owner as a "conservation rather than a restoration".

1913 3ps Wanderer

(ink sketch)

350cc Velocette - Norton Hillclimb Special

(ink sketch)

I'm always partial to a Special and this is such a purpose built machine I really enjoyed spending time sketching it's intricacies. As always I love seeing machines like this as they have had a natural evolution and with this sort of machine there is very little dictating what it should look like as it is function over form.

Built in the winter of 1965-6 this Velocette, Norton combination was designed for hill climbing. The Engine is a Velocette Viper, using parts from various years. Gearbox is also Velocette a 1948 Iron MSS uint. The frame is a Norton Model 50 giving it a weight of approximately 265 lbs. The special was first raced at Tregwainton (near Penzance) on the 26th August 1966 and has been raced continually since then to the present day. The machine has always been very competitive especially during the period between 1968 and 1975 where the machine was always in the top three of the hillclimb 350cc class, winning once in 1969. Once 2 strokes entered the 350cc category the Special wasn't so competitive. With the introduction of the Classic Hillclimb Championship in 1986 the special came into it's own again and won this championship seven times, with the most recent being 2002.

1956 Triumph (TWN) Fips

(ink sketch)

Made by Triumph-Werke Nurnberg AG (TWN) the second bicycle factory of the Siegfried Bettmann founded mark started making motorcycles in 1903, a year after the Coventry factory. This very stylised moped caught my eye on the NACC stand at The 2016 Bristol Show in February. After sketching the highly styled Pandora scooter (opposite) the day before I was intrigued with this late 1950s fashion for styling very basic motorcycles. I’m guessing that it was a combination of competition with other manufacturers producing similar machines and the fact that low c.c. machines such as these were geared towards a young or even feminine audience at the time. The Motor Cycle of 5th November 1956 referred to the the Fips as “one of the most graceful models on the market”. Compared to its contemporary machines from the UK the Fips was in a class of it’s own. You can imagine a young aspiring motorcyclist lusting over a machine like this in a shop window with it’s elegant valances on the mudguards, chrome elements and pin striping. With the chain fully enclosed and a low frame the Fips also appealed to a female audience as these modifications kept the rider free from oil and grease. The Fips was to be the last model to be produced by TWN alongside the Sportfips variant as Max Grundig took over the company in 1956, merging it with his own Adler motorcycle and typewriter business and so the Triumph name was no longer used after this.