From the estate of the late Geoffrey St John, Benelli 246cc 4-TN project

Before the war Benelli manufactured 250cc engines which were far more advanced than anything produced in the UK. This is typified by the gear driven overhead cam engine which forms part of this Benelli project. The 4-TN (Turismo Normale) engine was initially supplied in a rigid frame, but from 1936 until production ended in 1941, there was the option to order it with Benelli's patented rear springing. We are indebted to Pasquale Mesto, the VMCC marque specialist, for pointing out that the crankcase and timing cover in this lot date from 1939, and also that in the early post war years Benelli were actively converting rigid frames to sprung frames using their patented design.

This bike has two frame numbers: 71 3458 47 is stamped on the left hand side of the top saddle lug, and 1912 C is stamped on the flat face behind the bottom of the saddle tube. Regarding the first of these numbers, Pasquale tells us that the strange character which appears both at the beginning, and also before the 47 suffix, is a Benelli mark being a "B" surrounded by an oval. He tells us that the 47 suffix indicates that this frame number was stamped in 1947. There are two possible explanations for this. Firstly, it may have originally been a rigid frame which the factory converted to rear springing in 1947 and re-stamped following completion of this work. Secondly, and possibly also, it may be that the original registration documents had been lost, perhaps during the war. Apparently Italian legislation of the time required a frame to be re-stamped to enable it to be registered. There is no way of knowing whether this frame started out as a rigid or a rear sprung item, and the original year of manufacture of the frame is uncertain. The second stamping of 1912 C may indicate that it was manufactured in 1936-1937, but Pasquale points out that while the characters of this second stamping appear to be correct, it is surprising that there is no "25" prefix indicating the model type. The "C" remains a bit of a mystery.

The gearbox is stamped C-5739. There are no registration documents with this lot which is accompanied by some pre-stripdown photographs, a reproduction parts book (in Italian) for the M37 model, a 1972 Italian tax disc, and a couple of invoices which suggest that Geoffrey St John must have been working on it around 1999-2000. A considerable amount of work has clearly been done, and re-assembly had obviously been started, but prospective bidders must satisfy themselves as to the condition, completeness, age, authenticity, and compatibility of this lot's component parts prior to bidding. Sold strictly as viewed. No keys.