1954 SUNBEAM S7/S8

Gregory Peck on a motorcycle with Audrey Hepburn riding pillion. Now that would be a sight for sore eyes, no? Now I’m not really sure if either of them ever rode motorcycles, but I am convinced that if they did, it would certainly be a gleaming black Sunbeam S7.

1954 SUNBEAM S7

The Sunbeam S7 was introduced in 1946 as a ‘Gentleman Tourer’ offering ‘long lasting luxury’. At the time, this constituted a major detour from the then-current clichéd biker image – antisocial attitude clad in black leather. The SUNBEAM S7 was big, intimidating to look at and was offered in a highly glossy enamelled finish in just one colour – black.

1954 SUNBEAM S7

The S7 may seem as thoroughly British as bikes go, but ironically, it was loosely based on BMW R75s that were German army standard issue and captured by the Brits. However, the company decided that the BMW looked too German and chose to ditch the flat-twin engine in favour of a newly designed 487cc parallel twin fitted with an overhead cam setup. The motorcycle did retain other features from the BMW, like the shaft drive. And thus was born the S7. Unlike later models, the initial S7s were sold without rubber mounted engines. However, these bikes vibrated so badly that all of them had to be recalled to be retrofitted with rubber engine mounts.