{{Short description|Former British motorcycle manufacturer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} {{Use British English|date=August 2017}} {{Infobox company | name = New Imperial | logo = New Imperial Motorcycles badge.JPG | logo_size = 250px | type = | genre = | fate = Resurrected by Mutt Motorcycles<ref name=":0"/> | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = 1887 | founder = Norman Downes | defunct = 1939 | location_city = Birmingham | location = Digbeth Mutt HQ | hq_location_country = England | locations = | area_served = | key_people = Norman Downes | industry = Motorcycle | products = Motorcycles | services = | market cap = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | aum = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = | footnotes = | intl = }}
'''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 1920s were a financially successful decade, enabling the innovations of the 1930s that fought decline.
New Imperial suffered financially from the sales-destroying Great Depression of the 1930s, and then the founder died in 1938.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} 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.
==Before First World 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,<ref name="club">{{cite web |url=http://www.newimperial.co.uk/history.asp |title=New Imperial Owners Association History |access-date=16 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010154644/https://www.newimperial.co.uk/history.asp |archive-date=10 October 2006 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> possibly after he bought the ailing bicycle business of Hearl and Tonks (founded 1892).<ref name="chadwick">{{cite web |url=http://www.ianchadwick.com/motorcycles/britbikes/brit_n.html |title=Ian Chadwick History |access-date=16 October 2006}}</ref>
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 1908 called the New Imperial Cycle Company.<ref name="clifford">{{cite web |url=http://www.madeinbirmingham.org/clifford.htm |title=Birmingham Clifford Aero History |access-date=16 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131164208/http://www.madeinbirmingham.org/clifford.htm |archive-date=31 January 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
In 1901 New Imperial made their first motorcycle. The engine was mounted forward of the handlebars with a leather belt driving the front wheel. It failed to sell.<ref name="club"/> In 1910 a bike went into production using a 293 cc JAP engine.<ref name="chadwick"/>
===New Imperial Motors Ltd=== thumb|right|1920 New Imperial Light Tourist 300cc In 1912 the registration of New Imperial Motors Ltd is recorded,<ref name="clifford"/> and they offered a range of three motorcycles. A New Imperial ridden by A S Jones in the 1913 Senior TT race was one of the 63 that failed to finish that year. (24 competitors finished.)
In 1914, the 300 cc New Imperial Light Tourist model appeared. Its light weight enabled it to outperform some of the heavier 500 cc bikes of its time. The Light Tourist was the beginning of a line of advanced and innovative motorcycles.<ref name="club"/> A New Imperial ridden by Bert le Vack in the 1914 Senior TT race was one of the 44 that failed to finish that year (22 competitors finished). He had a similar result in 1915.
New Imperial used Precision and JAP engines of 250 to 1000 cc in their motorcycles until 1925 after which they manufactured their own engines of 146 cc to 498 cc.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/euro/brands/new_imperial.htm |title=CyberMotorcycle History |access-date=16 October 2006 |archive-date=21 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421044735/http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/euro/brands/new_imperial.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The First World War came and went, and New Imperial continued production.
==After the First World War== New Imperial made sales-boosting news with a win in the 250 cc class of the 1921 TT (rider Doug Prentice).<ref name="club"/><ref name="iomtt">{{cite web |url=http://www.iomtt.com/HistoryOfTheTT/TheHistoryoftheTTRaces/TheMountainCircuit.aspx |title=Isle of Man History |access-date=16 October 2006}}</ref> This was the first of six Isle of Man Lightweight wins by New Imperial, and there was one Junior victory.<ref name="iomtt"/> (The race was not a TT until 1922, therefore the first win was not a proper TT win, but a 250 cc class win.)
By the mid-1920s New Imperial was doing well, making about 300 machines a month, and continued to do so until the Great Depression of the 1930s. From 1926 they manufactured their own engines.<ref name="clifford"/> Jessie Hole (later Ennis) was sponsored by Norman Downes to be the company's trials rider in 1927. He hoped that this would sell more bikes to women.<ref name=y1927>{{Cite web |last=Hewitt |first=Sam |date=2020-03-06 |title=Celebrating heroic women in motorcycling for International Women's Day |url=https://www.classicmotorcycle.co.uk/celebrating-heroic-women-in-motorcycling-for-international-womens-day/ |access-date=2023-07-21 |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 1929 New Imperial production moved from Princip Street in the Gun Quarter to a {{convert|6|acre|m2|adj=on}} purpose-built facility on Spring Road in Hall Green.<ref name="clifford"/>
===Unit construction engines=== thumb|right|New Imperial thumb|right|1937 New Imperial 500cc In 1932, New Imperial started to use unit construction, 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 New Imperial engines employed unit construction.<ref name="chadwick"/> In 1934 Ginger Wood, riding a New Imperial 500 cc V-twin for one hour, achieved a 102.2 mph (164.4 km/h) average at Brooklands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.is-it-a-lemon.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=783 |title=Is-it-a-lemon precis |access-date=16 October 2006 |archive-date=23 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623124948/http://www.is-it-a-lemon.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=783 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In September 1935 R J D 'Bob' Burnie of Sketty, Swansea, completed 'The Flying Kilometre' at Southport Sands in the British Open Speed Championship on the same bike with a speed of 100.76 mph.
Bob Foster won the 1936 Lightweight TT handsomely on a unit-construction model. This was the last time that Great Britain won a Lightweight TT.<ref name="club"/> Despite the advanced engineering, and the spectacular TT win by Foster, sales did not improve.
==Final year== In 1938 Norman Downes died. New Imperial went into liquidation, and a receiver was appointed by Lloyds Bank on 7 November 1938. The receiver advertised the sale of New Imperial on 18 November.
===Jack Sangster=== 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.
===Solomon Clifford Joseph=== 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 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.
===Clifford Aero and Auto Ltd=== 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.
===Ownership of the name=== 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.<ref name="clifford"/> Despite plans to revive the name, it was all over for New Imperial. Mutt motorcycles bought the rights to the New Imperial brand and restarted production of New Imperial motorcycles in Birmingham.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://muttmotorcycles.com/pages/mutt-new-imperial-tracker|title=Mutt Motorcycles New Imperial Tracker|website=Mutt Motorcycles|access-date=25 February 2020|archive-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120000324/https://muttmotorcycles.com/pages/mutt-new-imperial-tracker|url-status=dead}}</ref> The 2018 New Imperial Roadster 125 was the first bike produced since 1939.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://muttmotorcycles.com/pages/new-imperial-roadster|title=New Imperial Roadster Mutt Motorcycles|website=Mutt Motorcycles|access-date=25 February 2020|archive-date=18 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518044933/https://muttmotorcycles.com/pages/new-imperial-roadster|url-status=dead}}</ref> This was later followed by the New Imperial Tracker 125 in 2019.<ref name=":0" />
==See also== * New Imperial Model 76 * List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.new-imperial.co.uk New Imperial Owners Association] * [http://www.madeinbirmingham.org/clifford.htm Clifford Aero & Auto] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131164208/http://www.madeinbirmingham.org/clifford.htm |date=31 January 2011 }} * [http://www.madeinbirmingham.org Birmingham's Industrial History Website]
{{British motorcycle manufacturers}}
Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1887 Category:Motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Category:Defunct companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Birmingham, West Midlands Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1939 Category:1887 establishments in England Category:1939 establishments in England