To forestall any snide comments, I’ll admit straightaway that my James Superluxautocycle is neither particularly super, nor in the least luxurious. It’s just a typical example of a breed which flowered for a couple of decades after the mid 1930s and then disappeared almost without trace.
The reasons for its rise and fall are inextricably tied up with national and personal economics; with its genesis in the austerity following the Great Depression, while its predictable end was brought about by increased postwar wealth enabling people to opt for more sophisticated two-wheelers or cars.
It all started with the 1931 Budget which reduced two-wheelers’ road tax to 15 shillings (75 pence) if their capacity was under 150cc. Villiers immediately responded with the 98cc Midget engine, but it was a fairly dated design with an iron deflector piston and it was seemingly not received with any great enthusiasm by motorcycle manufacturers. Even Triumph – the one notable firm adopting it – chose to hide its involvement by labelling the resultant motorcycle the Gloria.
In 1934, the Midget was succeeded by the identically dimensioned Junior engine with its more modern aluminium piston, but again motorcycle manufacturers were slow to adopt it, perhaps because they could meet the road taxation rules with slightly larger and more capable engines.
But in the same year the Cyc-Auto appeared, and it is generally accepted as the first true autocycle, with a single-speed 98cc engine in a strengthened bicycle frame. Its own-make engine with a fore-and-aft crankshaft was somewhat unconventional, however, and the Cyc-Auto’s makers hit financial difficulties which culminated in a takeover by Scott in 1938.
Despite its limited sales, the Cyc-Auto was probably the inspiration for designer George H Jones to collaborate with Villiers on the possibility of making a more acceptable autocycle using the new Junior engine.
This story is from the January 2020 edition of The Classic MotorCycle.
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This story is from the January 2020 edition of The Classic MotorCycle.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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