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New Imperial 250

1936 NEW IMPERIAL 250. This rather ancient-looking machine, with rigid frame and girder forks, emphasizes that not since 1936 has a British manufacturer won the Lightweight T.T.
British manufacturers were not always content to let their foreign rivals take our premier trophies away with them, and after Stanley Woods had won the 1935

Lightweight on a Guzzi—the first time the race had been won by a foreign machine—the Birmingham New Imperial factory pulled out all the stops in an effort to regain the Trophy for England—and for themselves, of course! They had previously won it in 1932 and in 1925.
New Imps—everyone abbreviated the name—were marketing a range of road machines which were very much ahead of their time, for they had engines and gearboxes in unit, with gear primary drive. Spring frames were optional on the bigger models. But they had always had separate engines and gearboxes on their racers, so it came as some surprise when the "integral" racer appeared.

The engine unit was "all-alloy," with very deep finning on the head and barrel and also all over the crankcase castings, which incorporated the oil container. Primary drive, as on the roadsters, was by two gear wheels enclosed in an oil-bath—so the engine revolved "backWards".
Cunning design enabled standard racing Sturmey Archer gearbox internals to be used, controlled by a rocking pedal, and the unit was held in a diamond-type duplex frame, without the rear springing that many other makers were dabbling with. One of the first modern-style racing seats was fitted.
Bob Foster—on his honeymoon—won the race after a fantastic ding-dong battle with Stanley Woods (D.K.W.). So hot was the pace that the D.K.W. packed up on the last lap. Foster won at a record 7428 m.p.h. Woods had the lap record at 7620 m.p.h. Shape of things to come!

SPECIFICATION
Engine: single-cylinder 250 c.c. o.h.v.; valve operation
by push-rods. Ignition: magneto.
Transmission: gear primary drive to unit four-speed
gearbox; final drive by chain. Frame: diamond pattern, with engine-gearbox unit
joining twin down-tubes to twin seat pillar tubes;
no rear suspension. Forks: girder pattern with friction dampers.