SUNBAC

Comore 1932 (polished to death)

Silver Medal- awarded to F.J.Adam in the 500cc catagory for completing the Angel Bank Trial in 1922.

The History of the Levis Cup Trial

By John Walter

The original Levis Cup Trial was first held on 4th October 1913. The premier award for this classic event was the magnificent cup donated by Butterfields Ltd., the makers of Levis Motorcycles. The road trial was organised by the Sutton Coldfield and Mid Warwickshire Auto Club and started close to the main Post Office in Birmingham City Centre. It ran to Ludlow and back, a distance of approximately 100 miles and included some stiff hill climbs and the very unusual flexibility test. The first trial was won by Leslie Guy riding a Scott. A Gold Medal was awarded to Geoff Davison on a two speed Sunbeam. With the outbreak of the first World War the event lapsed until 1919 when it was won by Albert Milner on a Levis. Soon after this the event lapsed again and the Levis Cup became the trophy for the best performance on a single speed machine in the Colmore Cup Trial. This was also organised by the Sutton Coldfield Club, by then known as SUNBAC.

The Birmingham Post, August 1955

Mr Ken Seaton, a Birmingham businessman and Mr Lew Tracey, the competition motorist and president of the Sunbac motoring club, are to attempt to make the fastest journey by car to Australia. They will leave Birmingham on August 23 and expect to complete more than 11,000 miles of driving to Melbourne in 18 days.

1952 Silverstone

Harold Cecil Bradford lost his life during the Sunbac meeting held at Silverstone on 06 September 1952.

The Times, issue of 08 September 1952.

The first trial after the war was a SUNBAC event on September 10th, 1945

SPEEDWAY

British motorcycle speedway began its life back in 1923 in Australia. It took the country by storm. High powered lightweight motorcycles on the confines of a dirt oval was the simple recipe and it worked. It wasn't long before it had swept its way back across the globe to Britain, where the first official meeting took place at the Kings Oak Hotel in Epping Forest on 19th February 1928. 30,000 fans saw the event on a track laid down on an old athletics field behind the hotel.
And five months later Birmingham held its first speedway meeting on the 12th of July at the Alexander stadium, Perry Barr. Some seven thousand fans turned up to watch the meeting on a sunny summers evening with music relayed from a gramophone in the enclosure to speakers on the centre green. Coloured cuffs were used to identify the riders to the crowd who for the most part seemed somewhat bewildered by the spectacle. Not even the colourful American "Sprouts" Elder's demonstration of broadsliding captured their imagination. Instead of wearing a 'pudding basin' helmet, goggles and leathers, Sprouts wore just a scarlet jersey and leather helmet but his new style of riding caused large amounts of dust which somewhat obscured his antics. In the main events Harry Taft took both 350cc and 500cc final wins beating Charlie Bowers by quite a margin in both races. However Bowers took the top prize by winning the Sunbac Golden Helmet with Taft finishing in second place due to mechanical problems. The stadium continued to hold open meetings throughout the 1928 season but then closed to speedway until 1946.

J2 (chassis number J2714)
1933 Colmore Classic Midlands Trial (1st Class Award)
1934 Colmore Trophy Trial (3rd Class Award)
1935 Colemore Debacle (3rd Class Award)

Colmore Trophy 1932

Jim Boulton

Among A.J.S. trials success we can list all of their machines entered in the London to Edinburgh Trial. They all finished and received Gold medals. A.J.S. also achieved the best performance of the day in the Traver's Trophy Trial with a 350c.c. combo, and for the third year the Premier award. Other successes included best sidecar performance in the Kickham Trial, two premier cups and six gold medals in the Colmore Cup Trial. In the London to Lands End no less than 13 riders of AJs received gold medals and major awards were won in the International Six Days and Scottish Six Days Trials.