Triumph Speed Twin British Motorcycle and 3 Squadron Hawker Tempest Motorbike Blank Aviation Art Card by Artist Lee Lacey AGAvA

Edward Turner's first design of 500cc twin for Triumph, the 1937 Speed Twin set a pattern that most British twins would use for the next twenty-five years. The first version, as seen here, was produced with girder- forks and available in Amaranth red only.

The initial version would be replaced after the war by a second version with telescopic fork and would give rise to a long run of successful Triumph twins.

Always popular with pilots, this particular Triumph is seen at Newchurch with the Hawker Tempest of Flt. Lt. Remy van Lierde, a Belgian pilot who was the most successful V1 "Ace" by day with 44 confirmed 'Buzz-bombs' falling to his guns.

Both machines were the epitome of their class at the time and represent the very best of 1940s British engineering