All matching numbers, 1938 Brough Superior 982cc SS80 Project

• Present family ownership since 1951
• Stored dismantled since the late 1950s
• Partially restored and loosely assembled
• Offered for completion

Brough Superior entered the 1930s with an entirely JAP-powered range, and then, after a brief absence, the SS80 reappeared in 1935 as the SS80 Special, this time with an engine built by Associated Motor Cycles. Similar to that of the Matchless Model X, the 982cc sidevalve v-twin incorporated Brough's preferred 'knife-and-fork' big-end bearing arrangement instead of the side-by-side connecting rods of the Matchless. The SS80 continued to use the AMC engine until production ceased in 1939. This example is one of 460 Matchless-engined SS80's built, of which some 300-or-so survive.

In the present family ownership since 1951, this SS80 has been confirmed by the Brough Superior Club to be an original 'all matching numbers' machine: frame, engine, gearbox, fuel tank and oil tank (see correspondence and copy Works Record Card on file. The Brough was acquired by the vendor's late father in 1951 and used in the early 1950s with a sidecar attached (since removed, see copy photographs on file). The Brough was ridden, as a combination, on the ACU National Rally in 1951 and 1953, as evidenced by control cards on file.

In the mid-1950s the Brough was dismantled, boxed and stored, a car being considered a more practical family option. The late owner's intention was to rebuild the machine in his retirement but unfortunately he died in 1982 before starting. The Brough was passed on to our vendor and remained in boxes at his mother's house until it was decided to start restoration. In the early 1990s the SS80 was sent to Brooklands Classic Cars in Leicester so that the work could begin. Restoration proceeded over the next few years until Brooklands Classic Cars sadly closed in the late 1990s. An engineer from BCC was only too pleased to continue the project at his home workshop, which is where the Brough stayed until this year.

Currently loosely assembled, the machine is offered as a project for restoration. Although the engine has been rebuilt, it has not been possible to determine the machine's integrity and mechanical condition and thus it is sold strictly as viewed. As well as the aforementioned, accompanying paperwork includes old/current V5/V5C documents; an old-style RF60 logbook (issued 1946); factory correspondence; an ACU 1951 National Rally programme; and invoices from Brooklands Classic Cars and others.