Brough Superior~

Brough Superior at The Real Classic October 2010

Uploaded on Oct 24, 2010

Brough Superior failing to start by starter motor at The Real Classic Show at The South of England Showground Ardingly 24th October 2010

Advertised in the 1932 Brough Superior catalog as the Brough Superior Straight Four but commonly known as the Brough Superior Austin Four was a special British motorcycle designed and manufactured by Brough Superior of Nottingham in 1932.^[1] It is unique that it was powered by a modified Austin 7 automobile engine through a Austin 7 gearbox. It is a water-cooled flathead inline four-cylinder motorcycle. It was designed and made for sidecar use.

 Development

The star of the 1931 Olympia Motorcycle Show was an Austin-engined four-cylinder motorcycle with twin rear wheels, from George Brough's Nottingham workshops. At the time, a standard 747 cc Austin engine could be bought from a scrapyard for about £1. Brough went to the trouble of making the engines special by increasing their capacity by an extra 50 cc to 797 cc and by adding a well-engineered light alloy cylinder head. He claimed a significant increase in power output, but, as The Motor Cycle magazine observed in a review at the time, it was really built for comfort rather than speed.^[1] Power output was actually quite low, and the performance was inhibited by the use of standard Austin rear-axle ratios. The brisk acceleration with a heavy sidecar fitted would, however, more than compensate for lack of top speed.^[2]

On sale from March 1932, the Brough Superior Four had been in development for 18 months and brought much needed publicity to the Brough works. Despite the interest, however, only eight examples were actually built. Initially designed for use with a sidecar, the Austin engine was from a well-proven Austin 7 design, which was a side-valve with a low-pressure oiling system. George Brough chose to use also the standard Austin 7 three-speed gearbox, complete with reverse, driving a prop shaft to a crown wheel and pinion mounted in a specially cast housing.^[2]

The twin rear wheels would possibly have been expected to make it difficult to handle, but Hubert Chantrey successfully completed the Land's End Trail on a solo version. Chantry pointed out that it really was a luxury motorcycle, as it had cost George Brough over £1,000 to develop (which equates to over £50,000 today.) The Brough Superior Four was actually sold for £188 - cheaper than the Brough Superior SS100.^[1]
Engine cooling was achieved with a pair of purpose-built radiators fixed either side of the front frame downtube. The Austin Four's greatest success was the publicity generated by the introduction and imaginative marketing of such an unusual motorcycle. Brough Superior was the only UK manufacturer to offer a four-cylinder motorcycle in the 1920s and 30s.^[2]

While the Great Depression of the 1930s must have reduced the demand for luxury motorcycles, it should also be noted that in 1932 it was possible to buy an Austin 7 car for £72 less than the Brough Superior Austin Four - and that may be what many potential customers chose to do.^[1]

Manufacturer	Brough Superior
Production	1932-1934
Engine	797 cc four-cylinder
Transmission	shaft drive
Wheelbase	59.5 inches (151 cm)

Surviving examples    Of the ten Brough Superior Austin Fours built, (eight in 1932 and one in both 1933 and 1934), a total of eight have survived to this day.[2] Of these, two are in the USA, three are owned by UK enthusiasts (with a fourth known to have been scrapped in Anglesey, Wales[1] one is at the Southward Car Museum in Otaihanga on New Zealand's North Island.[3], and one is in Germany.

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