Vincent HRD motorcycle engine, 1950.

Sectioned V-twin engine, of an advanced design to allow it to run for long periods under heavy load and at high speed. It was built for a 'Rapide' motor cycle. At 65 miles per hour the engine revolutions are 3520 per minute so that les wear takes place under ordinary touring conditions. Vincent motorcycles captured the public imagination, being high quality, handbuilt machines with a number of world speed records and racing succeses to their credit. They were also expensive, however, and a sales slump in 1954 led to the demise of one of the most evocative names in British motorcycle manufacturing a year later.