VILLIERS RARE VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE ENAMEL PIN BADGE MINT on eBay, also, Enamel Badges, Badges Patches, Collectables (end time 24-May-08 11:32:08 BST)

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Background and beginnings

In the 1890s John Marston's Sunbeam bicycles became extremely successful. From the start they had relied on high quality of production and finish. But John Marston was dissatisfied with the pedals on his machines, which he bought in. In 1890 he dispatched his son Charles to the USA on a selling trip but included in his instructions that Charles must discuss pedal engineering with Pratt and Whitney in Hartford, Connecticut and come back with a high class pedal and the machinery for making it. Whether or not he visited Pratt and Whitney and got machinery there is not clear but Charles himself said that the Villiers Engineering Co. was "the ultimate fruit" of his trip to the US.

What seems to have impressed him there was the production system and the labour saving devices. He pointed out that "it was not possible to develop these at Sunbeamland, which had long been working on another plan, but it was possible to start them in a new factory". Presumably this refers to the fact that Sunbeamland had developed, and continued to be developed, on the old courtyard factory plan which was not amenable to flow, or assembly line, production.

In 1898 they acquired "a small japanning shop and three cottages" in Villiers Street. How small the shop was is not clear as they had belonged to Edward Bullivant, a producer of japanned ware on quite a large scale. In any event they were big enough to convert into offices and factory and for eight men to be employed there. Charles Marston was put in charge of this factory, though most of his time was still to be spent at Sunbeamland. The company was registered as the Villiers Cycle Component Company with Charles Marston as the Managing Director.

The new machinery and production methods proved to be a success - such a success that they produced more pedals than Sunbeam needed. It was decided to sell the surplus to other bicycle makers. This decision was to turn Villiers from an in-house component shop into a major manufacturer in its own right. Charles appointed Frank Farrer, who was then the manager of the Palmer Tyre Company's Coventry depot, as sole agent for the sale of the surplus pedals. Farrer had many connections with the cycle trade, was a good engineer and a great salesman and was to become the driving force in Villiers. So quickly successful was this move that Frank Farrer joined Villiers full time in 1902 and the factory was employing 36 men.

At some later point John Marston sold the Villiers side of his company to his son Charles, for �6,000, to be paid for out of future profits.

Sometime in 1902 Villiers patented a free wheel for bicycles. Today we take these for granted but then it was a new development. They went into production with such remarkable success that they gave up making pedals in 1904. Every bicycle maker had to have free wheels and Villiers had the patent on them. Villiers this became the world's biggest manufacturer of free wheels, reaching the height of their production just after the Second World War when they were making 80,000 per week or more than 4 million per year. They exported them all over the world.

Villiers enjoyed great success and were involved in numerous takeovers and amalgamations, resulting in the Norton Villiers Triumph company. But then...

In January 1973 the ‘Mk.5 Fastback’ was launched and the ‘Long Range’ was discontinued. In April the ‘Roadster’, ‘Hi Rider’ and the ‘Interstate’ all began to use a new 828c.c. engine. Development work also began on a 500c.c. twin, stepped piston engine, with a monocoque pressed steel frame. The new engine was called the ‘Wulf’, but the project was dropped in favour of developing the rotary Wankel type engine which was inherited from BSA.

Things went well that year for the Norton racing team, as Peter Williams won the 1973 Formula 750 T.T. and Mick Grant came in second. Unfortunately the company itself was in deep financial trouble and redundancy notices were issued at Andover, which was followed by a sit-in at the works. The situation continued to deteriorate in 1974 and came to a head in June when the Government withdrew its subsidy.

There was a general election and luckily the incoming Labour Government restored the subsidy. The company decided to close two of its sites and concentrate production at Wolverhampton and Small Heath. This caused a lot of industrial unrest at Meriden, and resulted in a workers’ sit in, which stopped production at Small Heath. By the end of the year the company had lost over 3 million pounds.

Even during these hard times the company still managed to produce new models. 1974 saw the release of the ‘828 Roadster’, the ‘Mk.2 Hi Rider’, the ‘JPN Replica’ and the ‘Mk.2a Interstate’. Only two of these were to continue in production the following year. Early in 1975 the company reduced its range of models to just two machines, the ‘Mk.3 Interstate’ and the ‘Roadster’. Both machines were improved by the fitting of an electric starter, a left side gear change, right foot brake and rear disk brake.

Things went from bad to worse in July when the Industry Minister recalled a loan for 4 million pounds and refused to renew the company’s export credits. The company then went into receivership and redundancies were announced for all of the staff at the various sites. At Wolverhampton an action committee was formed in an effort to continue production and develop the ‘Wulf’ engine. The works were picketed and a prototype machine called the ‘Norton 76’ was produced. This came to nothing as the Wolverhampton works had closed for good. It was a sad end to such an important company, and a bitter one. Many of the local workers never received the money that was owed to them. Norton Villiers Triumph managed to survive when the Government stepped in to save part of the company, but unfortunately this did not include the Wolverhampton works. The British motor cycle industry was in its death throes. The market for British machines disappeared, there was not enough demand to maintain the factory. With a strange burst of enthusiasm the company bought the gates from the now demolished Tong Castle and erected them at their works entrance in Marston Road. It was a last gesture.

So, there's the history and here's the badge, in glorious blue enamel and measuring one inch across. It's in mint condition and would surely grace any collection.

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