Hepburn Engineering Co
From Graces Guide
Hepburn Engineering Co of King's Cross, London
- HEC was a motorcycle produced from 1938 to 1940
- 1939 Acquired premises in Thorpe Street, Birmingham
- A motorcycle was exhibited at the Earls Court Show late in 1938. It differed from the rest in using an 80cc two-stroke engine of their own design, made for them by Levis. The engine drove a clutch mounted on a counter-shaft with chain drive from the unit to the rear wheel. The whole unit was mounted above the bottom bracket of the heavy-duty bicycle it drove.
- 1940s Although the machine was well thought out, it failed to survive the war. During that time HEC merged with Butterfield Brothers.
Sources of Information
- The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 674 X
- The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle by Peter Henshaw. Published 2007. ISBN 978 1 8401 3967 9
- Birmingham’s Industrial Heritage by Ray Shill. Published by Sutton Publishing 2002. ISBN 0-7509-2593-0