Before starting his own company, Phillip C. Vincent idolized Howard Raymond Davies, who won the 1925 Isle of Man Senior TT on a bike he designed himself and had barely tested. When Davies’ company HRD Motors Ltd. went bankrupt, Mr. Vincent, then just 19 years old, purchased it – and went on to manufacture some of history’s most revered motorcycles. According to Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club records, this desirable Series C Rapide left the factory on August 16, 1950, and was delivered new to a dealer called Kings in Oxford, England.

Factory records confirm that this example retains its matching upper frame and engine numbers, including both case halves (numbered EE 23). Simon Dinsdale, the Machine Registrar for the Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club, notes in correspondence on file that the rear frame number is missing the RC prefix, so it may not be an original stamping. Iconic and technically advanced, this is an excellent opportunity to return one of the world’s most collectible motorcycles to the road.