Lot 502: 1927 Sunbeam 347cc Model 1/2

Already established as makers of high-quality bicycles, the firm of John Marston Ltd, of Wolverhampton, introduced the first Sunbeam motorcycle, a 350cc (2¾hp) sidevalve single, in 1912. The marque quickly established a reputation for sporting prowess, achieving second place in the 1914 Isle of Man Senior TT and winning the 1920 race. Overhead-valve engines were introduced in the mid-1920s, but early successes were achieved with sidevalve-engined machines. Although its very first machine had been a ‘350’, Sunbeam had abandoned the class in 1914 in favour of larger capacities, only returning to it in 1923 with an entirely new sidevalve design, which would form the basis of all the overhead-valve engines that followed. The new 2¾hp engine first appeared in the essentially similar Models 1 and 2, the former being a footboard-equipped tourer and the latter a more sporting machine.
An ‘older restoration’, this 2¾hp sidevalve ‘flat tanker’ comes with Swansea V5 registration document recording the last change of keeper as in 1996. The machine has been on display in a major Austrian motorcycle museum in recent years, although not registered in that country, and is currently resident in Germany.