'Prestige machine of the pushrod range was the Venom Thruxton 500. It incorporated all the accumulated experience gained in the years the Venom Clubman has been raced in long-distance events, plus the development of the 12 and 24-hour record breaker.' – C E A 'Titch' Allen, The Velocette Saga. Production race successes, notably in the Thruxton 500 Mile event prompted Veloce Ltd to adopt that name for their newly introduced top-of-the-range sports roadster in 1964. Based on the existing Venom, the Thruxton featured a tuned engine with revised big-valve cylinder head, Amal GP carburettor, clip-on handlebars, rear-set footrests and a twin-leading-shoe front brake as standard equipment. Although much admired by the café racing fraternity, the Thruxton's necessarily high price limited its appeal to a select handful of wealthy connoisseurs. It is thought that as few as 1,100 were made by the factory (with a further 55-60 assembled from parts by main dealers) and today the Thruxton is one of the most sought after of post-war Velocettes. Although the Thruxton took its name from the eponymous Hampshire racing circuit, arguably its finest hour came in 1967 when Manxman Neil Kelly won the '500' class in the Isle of Man TT's Production race, newly introduced for that year. Kelly was entered by Velocette agent Reg Orpin while his chief rival Keith Heckles was on Geoff Dodkin's Thruxton. At the 'Le Mans'-style start, Heckles' bike and Kelly's proved reluctant starters, but both made up time and eventually got to the front of the 500cc field. At the flag Kelly won at 89.89mph with Heckles 2nd at 89.15mph. Kelly took 3rd place overall behind winner John Hartle (Triumph Bonneville) and Paul Smart (Dunstall Dominator). The Thruxton offered here comes with a letter of authentication (dated December 2002) from Simon Goodman of Goodman Engineering (the Goodman family were Veloce Ltd's founders) addressed to the current vendor confirming that the TT-winning engine was sold to Alan Kyson together with a frame. This engine and frame, together with a five-speed gearbox and various components manufactured by Goodman Engineering, were later built into the machine we offer by Mr Kyson. Mr Goodman's letter also states that there were only three engines built to this standard with timing gears and bottom rockers running on needle rollers, and solid top rockers. He goes on to state 'these engines were never awarded an engine number as they were predominantly racing engines and therefor there was no requirement to register them.' The engine and frame numbers quoted above were assigned in the process of the machine's construction as detailed in other correspondence on file. After its completion the Thruxton was displayed on the Velocette Owners Club's stand at Stafford in 2007 alongside the ex-Keith Heckles example. Described as in generally excellent condition, the machine is offered with the aforementioned correspondence and Swansea V5.
'Prestige machine of the pushrod range was the Venom Thruxton 500. It incorporated all the accumulated experience gained in the years the Venom Clubman has been raced in long-distance events, plus the development of the 12 and 24-hour record breaker.' – C E A 'Titch' Allen, The Velocette Saga. Production race successes, notably in the Thruxton 500 Mile event prompted Veloce Ltd to adopt that name for their newly introduced top-of-the-range sports roadster in 1964. Based on the existing Venom, the Thruxton featured a tuned engine with revised big-valve cylinder head, Amal GP carburettor, clip-on handlebars, rear-set footrests and a twin-leading-shoe front brake as standard equipment. Although much admired by the café racing fraternity, the Thruxton's necessarily high price limited its appeal to a select handful of wealthy connoisseurs. It is thought that as few as 1,100 were made by the factory (with a further 55-60 assembled from parts by main dealers) and today the Thruxton is one of the most sought after of post-war Velocettes. Although the Thruxton took its name from the eponymous Hampshire racing circuit, arguably its finest hour came in 1967 when Manxman Neil Kelly won the '500' class in the Isle of Man TT's Production race, newly introduced for that year. Kelly was entered by Velocette agent Reg Orpin while his chief rival Keith Heckles was on Geoff Dodkin's Thruxton. At the 'Le Mans'-style start, Heckles' bike and Kelly's proved reluctant starters, but both made up time and eventually got to the front of the 500cc field. At the flag Kelly won at 89.89mph with Heckles 2nd at 89.15mph. Kelly took 3rd place overall behind winner John Hartle (Triumph Bonneville) and Paul Smart (Dunstall Dominator). The Thruxton offered here comes with a letter of authentication (dated December 2002) from Simon Goodman of Goodman Engineering (the Goodman family were Veloce Ltd's founders) addressed to the current vendor confirming that the TT-winning engine was sold to Alan Kyson together with a frame. This engine and frame, together with a five-speed gearbox and various components manufactured by Goodman Engineering, were later built into the machine we offer by Mr Kyson. Mr Goodman's letter also states that there were only three engines built to this standard with timing gears and bottom rockers running on needle rollers, and solid top rockers. He goes on to state 'these engines were never awarded an engine number as they were predominantly racing engines and therefor there was no requirement to register them.' The engine and frame numbers quoted above were assigned in the process of the machine's construction as detailed in other correspondence on file. After its completion the Thruxton was displayed on the Velocette Owners Club's stand at Stafford in 2007 alongside the ex-Keith Heckles example. Described as in generally excellent condition, the machine is offered with the aforementioned correspondence and Swansea V5.
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