1949 HRD-Vincent Black Shadow Series-C

The appeal of the Vincent, and the Black Shadow in particular, lays in its ability to out-perform just about every other vehicle on the road, and in the early post-war years there was nothing to compare with it.

This was a time when the average family sedan was barely capable of reaching 70mph, and not until the advent of Jaguar’s XK120 was there a production sports car that could live with the thundering v-twins from Stevenage. Indeed, when it was introduced in 1946, the Vincent-HRD Series-B Rapide was immediately the fastest production motorcycle on sale anywhere, with a top speed of 110mph.

The basic design clearly had even greater potential though, as was demonstrated by the tuned Rapide known as ‘Gunga Din’, ridden by factory tester George Brown, that proved unbeatable in UK motorcycle racing in the late 1940s.

Private owners too had expressed an interest in extracting more performance from their machines, all of which convinced Philip Vincent that a market existed for a sports version.

Despite opposition from within the company’s higher management, Vincent pressed ahead with his plans and together with Chief Engineer Phil Irving, clandestinely assembled a brace of tuned Rapides.

The prototypes incorporated gas-flowed cylinder heads, Comet cams, polished con-rods and larger carburettors, these changes being good for a maximum output of 55bhp despite a compression ratio limited to only 7.3:1 by the 72-octane petrol that was the best available in the UK at the time.

Ribbed brake drums were fitted to cope with the increased performance, while in a marketing masterstroke Vincent specified a 5″-diameter ‘150mph’ speedometer and black-finished engine cases for his new baby – the Black Shadow.

With a claimed top speed of 125mph, soon borne out by road tests, the Vincent Black Shadow was quite simply the fastest road vehicle of its day. Deliveries commenced in the spring of 1948 and only around 70-or-so Series-B Black Shadows had been made before the Series-C’s introduction at that year’s Earl’s Court Motorcycle Show.

Vincents were indeed legendary in their own lifetime, and in the more than half-century since production ceased, the esteem in which this iconic motorcycle, and especially the Black Shadow, is held has only increased. The fine specimen we offer has been restored and has had Swiss and German custodians. She is in excellent condition and comes with Smiths 250 km/h speedometer.