1912 Rover 3.5 hp, 499 cc. Registration number DS 9837 (non-...

Hammer

£11,400

1912 Rover 3.5 hp, 499 cc. Registration number DS 9837 (non-transferable). Frame number S37508. Engine number 3870.
Designed by J K Starley, the Rover safety bicycle represented a breakthrough in bicycle design at the end of the 19th Century. In November 1903 the Rover Cycle Company presented its first motorcycle, an advanced design that featured a well-designed side valve engine; spray carburettor, robust diamond-type frame with twin front down-tubes, and excellent quality of finish. It created a lot of interest and more than 1,200 were sold in 1904. Not all of Rover's rivals could match its reliability though, and public confidence in motorcycles waned as a result, causing a downturn in sales. Rather than jeopardise its reputation, Rover stopped motorcycle production entirely, concentrating on its bicycle business and the development of a Rover car.
In 1910 the motorcycle's future seemed more assured, and designer John Greenwood (later of Sunbeam fame) was commissioned to draw up a new engine. A 499cc sidevalve, the new motor incorporated spring-loaded tappets and positioned its Bosch magneto, driven by a 'silent inverted-tooth chain, high and dry behind the cylinder. The carburettor was by Brown & Barlow and the forks by Druid. At the end of 1914 a three-speed countershaft gearbox was added, and from then until its production ceased in 1924, few changes were made to the side valve single. Before the finish, unit-construction overhead-valve 250 cc and 350 cc models were introduced, but by this time the company had decided the future was in car production and the final Rover motorcycles were sold in 1926.
This example was restored by the well-respected Peter Autherson of Hull in June 1992 and bought by our vendor in the August of that year. Over the intervening years it has had the occasional outing and always lived in a heated garage and been cherished. He is now of an age when he knows, that as only a custodian of this rare example, it is time to let it move to pastures new. Our auction, with the large selection of unrestored Rovers from the Hanson collection concentrated his mind on the sale. It has recently been run but as with all old machines that see little use it should undergo gentle recommissioning before entering Pioneer events.
Sold with the V5C.