Velocette 350cc factory racer Bills Frith 1948 winner 1-2 Dutch TT Assen photo

Description

A superb and rare photo of the rider
Kenneth Bills after winning the 350cc Dutch TT in 1948 alongside his teammate and 2
nd
place finisher, Freddie Frith.
Velocette
is the name given to motorcycles that were made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in
Birmingham
, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling far fewer hand-built motorcycles than the giant BSA, Norton or Triumph concerns. Renowned for the quality of its products, the company was 'always in the picture' in international motorcycle racing, from the mid-1920s through the 1950s, culminating in two world championship titles (1949–1950 350 cc) and its legendary and still-unbeaten 24 hours at 100 mph (161 km/h) record. Veloce, while small, was a great technical innovator and many of its patented designs are commonplace on motorcycles today, including the positive-stop foot shift and swinging arm rear suspension with hydraulic dampers. The company was founded by John Goodman (born Johannes Gütgemann and later known as John Taylor before formally changing his name to Goodman) and William Gue, as "Taylor, Gue Ltd." in 1905. Its first motorcycle was the Veloce. Later that year, John Taylor set up Veloce Limited, to produce cycles and related products and services. Veloce Ltd initially produced four-stroke motorcycles. The first two-stroke, built in 1913, was called a Velocette. This name was used for all subsequent models. He was joined in 1916 by his sons Percy and Eugene Goodman. Between 1913 and 1925, Veloce only produced expensive, high-quality two-stroke motorcycles of (nominally) 250 cc, which gained an excellent reputation, and which were entered in competitions, such as the Isle of Man TT, with some success. The single-cylinder machines had many advanced features, such as a throttle-controlled oil pump, which set them apart from other manufacturers' products. The factory gradually developed this machine from the 'A' series and variants (A, AC2 - coil ignition, two-speed gearbox, AC3 - three speed gearbox, etc.), then the 'H' series, the model U and variants, culminating in the model GTP in 1930, which was produced until 1946. The GTP was a reliable lightweight motorcycle with good steering and power delivery. In the early 1920s, Veloce realized that in order to grow as a company, it needed a new machine of advanced specification and developed an overhead camshaft (
OHC
) 350 cc engine, which became known as the 'K' series, introduced in 1925. After a year of teething troubles with this new design, Veloce entered the model KTT into racing events such as the Isle of Man TT and Brooklands races, and the reliability and sweet running qualities of their new engine led to a long string of racing successes.
It is a very nice
non period
photo, that reflects a wonderful era of Velocette’s rich history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 11" (ca. 20 cm x 27 cm).
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