Brough Superior Austin Four

The Brough Superior Austin Four was a limited production motorcycle made by Brough Superior in Nottingham, England, in 1932. The company catalogue listed it as the Straight Four, but it was better known as the BS4 or the three wheeled Brough. It was powered by a modified Austin 7 car engine and gearbox, bored out from 747 cc to 797 cc and fitted with a light alloy sports head. Because the car gearbox sent its driveshaft along the centre line, George Brough kept it and drove a pair of close coupled rear wheels through a central final drive box. The wheel centres were within 24 inches of each other, so the machine counted legally as a motorcycle. It was intended for sidecar use, was shown at the 1931 Olympia Motorcycle Show and sold for 188 pounds. Only ten were built, and nine are known to survive.