1967 EGLI-Vincent 1000cc
When the 20-year-old engineer Philip
Vincent decided to become a motorcycle manufacturer in 1928, he acquired the
famous - but insolvent - HRD company in the hope that the name would overcome
resistance to a new model from an unknown young designer.
Quiet,
Flexible and Fast
The breakthrough with the "Vincent-HRD" came with the
launch of the 1000cc Rapide in 1936, good for around 110 mph. The postwar
Vincent Rapide eliminated the shortcomings of the original design; it was a
flexible tourer, exquisitely engineered and expensive - and capable of high
speeds.
Brilliantly Original
Distinguished by its all-black finish,
the super-sporting Vincent Black Shadow was the first production touring bike
capable of 125 mph, and iats suspended-engine mounting was typical of its
thorough originality. But originality alone does not ensure commercial success;
innovations like the all-enclosed Black Knight and Black Prince of 1954 were
too far ahead of their time to prevent the end of production in 1955. The
Vincent name was revived in 1967 by the Swiss tuner Fritz Egli, who, in an
effort to bring the design up to date, installed Vincent V-twins in a
large-diameter monotube frame of his own design. Just 100 Egli-Vincents were
built in a variety of models between 1967 and 1972.