1926 Sunbeam Model 2 Sport

Frame no. 22231
Engine no. 23136

Previewing at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Please contact [email protected] for scheduling.

'This (the Model 2) is the ideal sporting machine for those who do not require the maximum speeds obtainable from our larger engines, although it has, in fact, put up some wonderful speeds in competition. It is also admirably suited to those who like a fast, light machine for ordinary touring purposes.' – Sunbeam Motor Cycles, 1926.

Already established as makers of high-quality bicycles, the firm of John Marston Ltd, of Wolverhampton, in England's West Midlands, introduced the first Sunbeam motorcycle, a 350cc side-valve single, in 1912. The marque quickly established a reputation for sporting prowess, achieving second place in the 1914 Isle of Man Senior TT and winning the 1920 race. Overhead-valve engines were introduced in the mid 1920s, but early successes were achieved with side-valve machines, most notably the 492cc 'Longstroke' that secured a debut win at the 1921 French Grand Prix.

Although Sunbeam's very first machine had been a '350', the factory had abandoned the class in 1914 in favor of larger capacities, only returning to it in 1923 with an entirely new side-valve design that would form the basis of all the overhead-valve engines that followed. The new 2¾hp engine first appeared in the essentially similar Models 1 and 2, the former being a foot board-equipped tourer and the latter a more sporting machine.

This Model 2 Sports roadster was previously owned by one John Richard Venables, who acquired it on 26th June 1985. Acquired by the previous vendor on

1st February 1989 and meticulously restored while in his ownership, it was sold on to the current vendor, a Canadian collector, in the Bonhams April 2011 Stafford sale. The machine remains in excellent running condition.