The Panther story - Granville Bradshaw - The Rugged Road
The following three
related books were published by Panther Publishing Ltd until 2016
and thereafter by the author. 'The Panther story' greatly
expands on and supersedes 'The story of Panther motorcycles'
published by PSL.
The Panther
story
Joah Phelon had a
small wire-drawing die business, associated with the local
Yorkshire wool industry, in partnership with his nephew, Harry
Rayner. Though a keen cyclist, Joah soon experimented with
motor-assistance replacing the front down tube with an encased
engine but unlike other pioneering motor-assisted bicycles, used
all-chain drive. It was a sensation and soon caught the attention
of Humber who from 1901 license built the Phelon & Rayner
design as a motorcycle, tricycle and forecar later adding a
water-cooled engine and a 2-speed gear train. This allowed Joah to
return to his core business... and there the story may well have
ended were it not for a young engineer and keen P&R rider,
Richard Moore.
Richard developed a
unique expanding wedge-clutch 2-speed all-chain drive, transforming
the P&R into a truly successful motorcycle. Their new Phelon
& Moore of late 1904 was a sensation and was soon regularly
winning Gold awards in motorcycle trials and winning many firm
friends, especially in sidecar work with its immensely strong
engine-cum-frame design.
The 3-1/2hp P&M
was adopted exclusively by the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval
Air Service in WW.I; its in-service durability added to is appeal
post-war. The P&M remained the standard RAF motorcycle until
1928 when military procurement passed to the
army.
The 1920s saw many
improvements. Upgraded to 4-1/2hp the war-time V-twin 6hp side-car
hauling prototype was now abandoned; a 4-speed gear system was
added and in 1923 an ambitious move into sports tourers came with
the new 'Panther' side-valve - it too found many friends in
sporting events, but P&M's mainstay remained with top of the
range tourers and sidecar machines.
In 1923 P&M
thought the unthinkable; a new motorcycle. The 'clean sheet'
approach was entrusted to Granville Bradshaw who had earlier
designed the transverse-twin ABC. He unhesitatingly retained the
robust engine-cum-frame design and merely developed an
over-head-valve version of the reliable 4-1/2hp sv engine. P&M
were soon offering a range of models from heavyweight sidecar
mounts to sleek TT racers!
In 1927 P&M
reintroduced a lightweight model into the range. This was
Bradshaw's unique 246cc V-twin Panthette but truly innovative
though it was, many factors combined against it from over-advanced
engineering to revised road tax rates; a 2-stroke Villiers version
sold better but the Panthette was abandoned in favour of a
conventional 250/350cc lightweight, developed in 1932, which by
happenstance coincided with the recession saving P&M from
certain closure thanks to the cut-price 'Red Panther' sold by Pride
& Clarke, which sold in its thousands.
In the late-1930s,
again with Bradshaw's assistance, P&M launched a conventional
500cc version and developed an in-line twin, but the war intervened
and this time P&M turned to general engineering returning to
250/350cc models and the famous 600cc Model 100 in 1946. However,
these post-war years were less prosperous: the Suez crisis era's
'mini-cars' hastened the end of sidecars and the venerable Model
100; the 250/350cc models sold well but it was a new range of
Villiers lightweights that kept P&M alive, while their venture
into scooters proved disastrous and in late 1961 P&M entered
receivership. They finally ended motorcycle production in 1966 with
the 650cc Model 120 which still had a direct lineage to Joah
Phelon's design of 1900.
"The story of Panther motorcycles" (Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge. 130pp (c) 1983 - Superseded by "The Panther Story")
"This story is one of the most interesting in the whole history of
the British motorcycle industry. Here we have an excellent record.
Barry Jones tells the story in great detail. A wonderful, though
rather sad story. A copy should be on every motorcyclist's shelf".
The Vintage Motor Cycle Club
"We've been waiting ages for the full story to be told; the result
has been well worth the long wait. The amount of research is
prodigious and the authenticity guaranteed by first hand
information from ex-employees. A thoroughly satisfying book, well
written and well illustrated". "Classic Motor Cycle"
"A most absorbing story. Books written from sheer enthusiasm are mostly good ones; this one certainly is". Brooklands Society
"The Panther Story"
"The history of Phelon & Moore covered in immense detail. Floor
plans, engine diagrams, period adverts." Classic Bike
"A terrific piece of work... plots the full story from
1901... but its more than that: mini biographies, machine
specifications and everything else you can think off. One of the
best histories I've ever seen." "Old Bike Mart"
"This is, frankly, a book of a breed which I had long thought dead
in the motorcycle world; a truly 'anorak' work and I do not mean
that unkindly. A definitive work; a rare and noble one. Barry M
Jones has expanded his earlier book on Panthers into an exhaustive
history of the company and the community which grew up around it.
An amazing book; if you buy only one motorcycling book this year,
then buy this one. You will not regret it." "Classic Bike
Guide"
Panther Publishing Ltd. 300pp, 250+ b&w illust (c) 1999, 2nd
ed: 2009
Granville
Bradshaw - a flawed genius?
Born in 1886,
Granville Bradshaw was a British pioneer of aviation, motorcycling
and motorcars. He first flew in 1910 in an aeroplane he built,
powered by an engine of his own design which led in 1912 to the
formation of ABC Ltd with Walter Adams, a fellow pioneering
motorcyclist and engine designer (the book has his brief
biography).
Being based at
Brooklands, Bradshaw soon became involved in motor-racing and
flat-twin motorcycles and in 1913 developed a flat-twin auxiliary
engine which proved useful as a light aero-engine. In 1917 he
developed a 6-cyl radial aero-engine from which evolved a 7-cyl
Wasp and an extremely powerful 9-cyl Dragonfly.
So impressed were the
Government officials by the hand-made prototype Dragonfly's
performance, and so desperate were they to win the war, that they
ordered its immediate production in late-spring 1918 by 13
disparate engineering companies (few of whom had ever built an
engine!), foregoing the normal pre-production testing. Such extreme
government foolhardiness proved disastrous (yet Bradshaw was
wrongly blamed). The Dragonfly's problems were however solved after
the war but this promising engine was made redundant by new designs
which had been allowed their proper, peace-time, pre-production
development. Bradshaw left ABC in 1920 but his flat-twin
aero-engine design remained in production into the
1970s.
After the war
Granville became a consultant engineer developing and patenting a
host of inventions from amusement machines to vandal proof screws
(and after the war, colour-TV), but is best remembered for his
flat-twin ABC motorcycle of 1919; ABC Skootamota; ABC Cyclecar, his
revolutionary oil-cooled engines, Belsize-Bradshaw oil-cooled car,
the Panther ohv engine, V-twin Panthette, and in-line twin. He long
proposed many advanced, but contentious ideas - far too advanced
for his audience and contemporary technologies - hence "a flawed
genius?" in the title - the chief of which came during the war for
a novel incredibly compact, reciprocating piston toroidal rotary
engine - a project which dominated his life until his death in
1969.
"Granville Bradshaw - a flawed genius?"
"A coherent, recognisable picture of his character". Millicent Bradshaw
"Well researched; detailed; also a study in social history". "Interbike.com"
"Intricate detail; its not difficult to get totally absorbed in
this book". "Old Bike Mart"
"Full of insight and careful research. Highly recommended". "Real
Classics"
"Thoughtful comprehensive insight to a fascinating character".
Brough Owners Club
"Enables us to understand how clever a man he was". Mike
Worthington-Williams
Panther Publishing Ltd. 300pp, 200+ b&w illust (c)2008, 2nd ed: 2012
The Rugged Road
by Theresa Wallach; biographies by Barry M Jones
The Rugged Road
contains Theresa Wallach's posthumous account of her and Florence
Blenkiron's London to Cape Town adventure, crossing the Sahara
desert unaided, by Panther motorcycle, sidecar and tented-trailer
in 1934-36. Both girls were keen motorcycle racers; in 1933
Florence (a secretary) became the first woman to break the coveted
100mph record (Theresa, an engineer, was the third in 1939). The
girls first met in 1933 and became firm friends. When Florence was
determined to see friends and relatives in South Africa, Theresa
suggested they went together... by motorcycle.
The Motorcycle
manufacturers' Trades Union had strict rules about their members
sponsoring such ventures, but as P&M were already in their bad
books for supplying discounted 'Red Panthers' to Pride & Clark,
they offered the girls a ruggedised 600cc Panther. The French
authorities however did everything in their powers to dissuade the
girls but eventually relented, and the girls left in December 1934
armed with rudimentary Foreign Legion maps... but no compass.
Needless to say they conquered desert and jungle - read the book! -
and reached Cape Town in July 1935. Now in ill-health, Theresa
briefly remained in Cape Town while Florence returned alone with a
new Panther and sidecar reaching Kano in January 1936 (her account
is brief) but was strictly refused permission to attempt the Sahara
alone, so she and her Panther combination crossed by desert
bus.
Florence thereafter
lived a quite life. Both girls served in WW.II. Theresa then
emigrated to America, exploring the continent by Norton motorcycle
before setting up a motorcycle agency and motorcycle riding
school.
I had got to know
Theresa through earlier researching the Panther story; she died in
April 1999 but I succeeded in tracking down her unedited,
unpublished account of the crossing (kept verbatim) and wrote the
accompanying biographies.
"The Rugged Road" - Theresa Wallach (biographies by Barry M Jones)
"A treasure... overall impression is so good... the visuals are
stunning. Barry Jones has written an illuminating introduction and
appendices. 'The Rugged Road' came pretty damn close to being
perfect." "Classic Bike Guide"
A revised and expanded 75th Anniversary / Second edition is now available
Panther Publishing Ltd. 150pp, 30+ b&w illust (c) 2001, 2nd ed:
2009 150pp
... and all because I
had fallen in love with my Panther 120 combination (sssh! - I later
rode MotoGuzzis - sssh!)