1940 Rudge Autocycle, 98cc. Registration number OFO 180 (non...

Hammer

£1,100

1940 Rudge Autocycle, 98cc. Registration number OFO 180 (non transferrable). Frame number 3031. Engine number XXA17902.
Sold with the V5C.
Rudge-Whitworth Limited was founded in Coventry in 1894 and produced many very high quality motor cycles but in the early 1930s, the company failed and were bought by the Gramophone Company, part of the EMI Group in 1935. In 1938 production was moved from Coventry to a new factory at EMI's site in Hayes, Middlesex. In February 1940 the Rudge autocycle was launched onto the market.
It used the Villiers Junior de Luxe engine with two models, the Standard and the de Luxe. Both were unsprung, although a spring fork was available as an extra. The Standard was priced at £22 and the de Luxe, which had engine covers, at £22 15s. It had a carrier and rear stand, both brakes were cable operated by inverted handlebar levers and the fuel tank would hold 1¾ gallons.
The outbreak of war stopped production in Hayes and transferred to the Norman factory in Kent. The rights to the Rudge name was sold to Raleigh in 1943.
OFO was re registered with DVLA in 1984 and has had 4 owners since. In 2003 it was owned by John McCartney and our vendor bought it, fully restored, in 2008. He has not ridden it and it has been on static display.
Sold with the V5C.