c.1928 Ariel 250cc
Frame no. 728
Engine no. B/C 5818/B

Ariel's design department was blessed with a surfeit of talent as the Selly Oak firm entered the 1930s, Chief Designer Val Page having under his wing both Edward Turner and Bert Hopwood. The Ariel range at this time encompassed a dazzling variety of models: vertical engines, sloping engines, side valves, overhead valves - two or four per cylinder - all were represented together with Turner's revolutionary 'Square Four'. It was Page though, who had laid down the basics of Ariel's four-stroke singles range in 1926, moved the magneto behind the engine for '27 and thus established the form in which the engine would survive for the next 30 years.

Prior to Page's arrival, Ariel had used proprietary power units, principally those of White & Poppe, and continued this practice for a few years afterwards for some of its models, which were powered by JAP and Blackburne engines. That offered here has a 250cc JAP sidevalve engine, its year of manufactured indicated by the letter 'C', for 1928. Complete, original and un-restored, it represents a wonderful opportunity to acquire a rare Ariel of the late Vintage period, ideal for this year's Banbury Run. There are no documents with this Lot.