In Power Without Glory, my short history of JAP V-twin engines incorrectly said that the  picture (below) showed a Spanish David cyclecar with one of the 80 degree racing engines. In fact it would appear that it had an engine that JAP produced specifically for cyclecar use which was 90 degrees. It was in the 1914 catalogue (see below) and I have just had the privilege of seeing one of these engines courtesy of Dieter Mutschler, who has what must surely be the world’s greatest collection of JAP-engined motorcycles. The collection is accompanied by a superb archive and library which again has a strong emphasis on JAP material.

Above: the David cyclecar with JAP 90 degree engine – probably a prototype.
Below: the 1914 catalogue entry.

Above: this rare 90 degree cyclecar engine came from South Africa.

I can also advise that the photograph (below) of the  Hurricane with Lord Nuffield, in the chapter about WW2, was not at Brooklands as I had been told but was probably at the No.1 Civilian Repair Unit on the airfield adjacent to the Morris factory at Cowley.  Lord Nuffield was appointed Air Ministry Director General (Maintenance) by Air Minister Sir Kingsley Wood on 6th October 1939 and perhaps that was the occasion of the photograph?

Terry Wright