The Model 76 was a

New Imperial Motors Ltd 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 emplo ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

from England, marketed under the slogan "The King of Motors" between 1936 and 1939, when the company was turned over to wartime production.

Development

In the mid-1920s New Imperial were producing 300 machines a month and continuing to expand the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

of the early 1930s. Like many manufacturers of the time, New Imperial found it very difficult to maintain sales through the 1930s and even Bob Foster’s win on a unit-construction model in the 1936

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

(the last time that Great Britain won a Lightweight TT) failed to lead to the much needed sales. New Imperial Motorcycles badge

Following the TT win all 1937 models were designed with the same pioneering unit construction engine, although the design was modified so that there were separate compartments within the unit for engine and gearbox. The engine was a

overhead valve An overhead valve engine, abbreviated (OHV) and sometimes called a pushrod engine, is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with flathead (or "sidevalve") engines, where the v ...

unit construction : ''For the vehicle design where the vehicle's skin is used as a load-bearing element, see Monocoque.'' Unit construction is the design of larger motorcycles where the engine and gearbox components share a single casing. This sometimes includes ...

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

with a twin-port head. A range of different ignition systems options were offered the Model 76 was available in either standard trim, with a hand-operated four-speed gearbox, or from 1937 as a ''de-luxe'' version, with a foot-operated gearchange. New Imperial ceased trading in 1938, and sold the company to

Jack Sangster John Young Sangster (29 May 1896 – 26 March 1977) was a British industrialist and philanthropist. He was an important figure in the British motorcycle industry, where he was involved with Ariel, BSA and Triumph. Early life Sangster was born ...

, owner of

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

and Triumph motorcycles. Surviving examples prove that limited production continued even after the company was liquidated, however, being assembled from spare parts right up to the outbreak of war, when a former director of New Imperial, Solomon Joseph, negotiated the purchase of the company and moved the equipment to the Triumph works in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

to turn it to production for World War II and the Model 76 was finally discontinued.

References

External links

New Imperial 1935 unit construction advert
* {{Citation , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522214142/http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/new_imperial/New%20Imperial%201936%20500cc%20Type%2076%20Deluxe.htm , url= http://www.cybermotorcycle.com/gallery/new_imperial/New%20Imperial%201936%20500cc%20Type%2076%20Deluxe.htm , title= Picture of New Imperial 1936 500cc Type 76 'Deluxe' , archivedate= 22 May 2011 Motorcycles of the United Kingdom Standard motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in the 1930s