1959 Ariel Square Four, 998cc. Registration number 780 FMA (...

Estimate

£7,000 - £8,000

1959 Ariel Square Four, 998cc. Registration number 780 FMA (non transferrable). Frame number CGM1873. Engine number CNML1968.
Sold with the V5C, key, large history folder, including receipts, MOT's and tax discs.
The first Square Four 4F was shown at the Olympia Motorcycle Show in 1930, in chain driven overhead-camshaft 500 cc form. Early Square Fours used a hand-change, four-speed Burman gearbox. In 1932, the cylinder bores were enlarged by 5 mm to give a capacity of 601 cc, specifically to accommodate owners who wanted a sidecar.
The "Cammy" engine gained a reputation for overheating the rear cylinder heads, so in 1936 the engine was completely redesigned, emerging as the OHV 995 cc model 4G, Mk I.
In 1953, the 'four pipe' 997 cc Mk II was released, with separate barrels, a re-designed cylinder head with four separate exhaust pipes from two cast-aluminium manifolds and a rocker-box combined with the inlet manifold. Square Four production, along with that of all other Ariel four-strokes, ceased in 1959.
FMA was dispatched from the factory on the 2nd February 1959 to Eric Sellers of Stalybridge with a sidecar attached. In 1962 there is a receipt and insurance document for D.J. Whitworth of London for £160.
There are receipts on file for a D. Bainbridge between 1994 and 2011.
Our vendor bought it in 2021 and used it occasionally before his passing.