Beschreibung:

The first motorcycles made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company in the early 1900s used proprietary engines such as the Belgian Minerva and it was not until 1910 that the firm introduced a BSA-designed and built machine. The first model to feature the marque’s distinctive green and cream tank colours was a 499cc side-valve single, which was soon complemented by a 557cc long-stroke version. The firm’s first v-twin - the 770cc (6/7hp) Model E appeared late in 1919 - and would prove the forerunner of a long line of rugged and dependable ‘sidecar tugs’. A larger, 986cc version debuted as the Model F in 1922 and would continue in production as the Model G, regularly revised and up-dated, until 1940. Marketed by the County Cycle and Motor Co of Broad Street, Birmingham, this rare survivor of a bygone age was displayed on their stand at the 1920 Motor Cycle Show and illustrated in the firm’s catalogue. Producing a sidecar taxi at that time was a brave move, for this type of vehicle, although gaining acceptance in Continental Europe, was viewed with suspicion by many local authorities in the UK. County offered the 6/7hp BSA complete with Mead & Deakin ‘Canoelet’ sidecar for £252 14s 8d. The meter drive was listed as an extra while the meter itself could be hired for £8 per annum. Conservatively styled in proper manner appropriate for the carriage trade, the Canoelet boasted landaulette coachwork in which two passengers could be accommodated seated side by side. First registered on 28th January 1921, ‘OH 4381’ was one of 19 such motorcycle taxis plying their trade on the streets of Birmingham, whose Hackney Carriage Authority was one of the more enlightened. It is not known when the machine was withdrawn from private hire duties but the accompanying old-style continuation logbook (issued 1952) records the owner at that time as one William Haydon of Hockley Heath, Birmingham. Only one other owner is recorded prior to the current vendor, who acquired the vehicle in the early 1970s. Twelve stamps record regular licensing up to 1962. A prominent member of the VMCC, the current owner restored the BSA, fitting a single-seat sidecar in place of the long-departed Canoelet, in which form the machine was used regularly up to 1989, covering some 50,000 miles. By this time the outfit had won the VMCC’s Cotswold Road Trial three times and gained numerous other awards. It was at around that time that a chance encounter unearthed a Canoelet chassis in a Sussex quarry. The chassis was restored by the vendor, and fellow motorcycle-taxi enthusiasts Colin Sullivan and Ian Crowhurst built a faithful replica of the ‘chair’ using aluminium panels on an ash frame, working mainly from old photographs. Discovered with the chassis, the nickel-plated fittings are originals, while the Halda Taximeter was purchased at the Beaulieu Autojumble. Completed in 1991, the outfit was featured in Classic Bike magazine’s October 1992 edition (copy available). Scribe Peter Dobson found that access to the comfortable sidecar was easy and that no machine vibration reached the passengers. With a wheelbase of 64”, a width approaching 6’ and weighing 900lbs, the BSA not surprisingly took considerable effort to steer and stop, although the later drum brake laced into the front wheel helped in the latter department. The vendor advises us that he has used it for both his weddings! Finished in the marque’s traditional green/black livery, this wonderful machine is offered with the aforementioned old-style logbook and expired tax disc (1951); County Cycle and Motor Co brochure and period press advertisement; various technical drawings relating to the sidecar; copy Motor Cycle article (1921); Swansea V5 registration document; and 1974 Annual Tour of Birmingham Programme featuring this machine on the front cover.