FAB FOUR

Brits are pretty good at inventing things, but much less good at commercialising them. From penicillin through to the internet, there are literally hundreds of British inventions which either people in other countries have brought to the marketplace and profited from, or else have disappeared into the what-might-have-been trash can of history owing to lack of financial support. And motorcycle designers aren’t exempt.

In post-WW2 Britain, a 500cc ultra-lightweight four-cylinder motorcycle was conceived which was completely practical and unique, incorporated many intelligent features and delivered a level of performance and comfort years ahead of its time. Yet, despite its design being offered to Britain’s existing manufacturers, then enjoying a boom in sales both at home and abroad, the 500cc Wooler Flat Four never reached production

And it was because its creators lacked the resources to produce it themselves, and the British manufacturers preferred to keep on building their existing models, whose designs were mostly rooted in the past, but safe in the knowledge they could sell every one built. Time, and the arrival of the Japanese the following decade, would prove how short-sighted that was – so instead the 500cc Wooler Flat Four has become another fascinating footnote to the Motorcycle history book.

John Wooler was born in 1883 in Chiswick, West London. As a young man, he worked for Napier, builders of the fastest and most powerful cars money could then buy – a prized job which cemented his love of motorised performance. Wooler built his first motorcycle in 1902 by purchasing a powered pedal-cycle DIY kit, followed by his own design of three-wheeler in