The car was known as the 13h.p. and included a four cylinder side valve engine with cylinder dimensions of 69 x 100mm. Its 3 speed gearbox had right hand control and along with the spiral bevel rear axle was designed and manufactured in-house. Features included four wheel brakes, Dunlop 28” x 4.95” balloon tyres and excellent bodywork. Two and four seater versions were available as a tourer, saloon, or fixed and drop head coupe. The new Clyno was very good value at £245 for the two seater and £298 for the saloon. The “Royal” continued to be listed at £210 for the two seater and £38 more for the saloon.

At this time Star enlarged the 18h.p. side valve engine to 3.3 litres and designated it the 20/50. The sales literature included an o.h.v. sports model with four wheel brakes. The Bushbury body plant was now in operation and production included fabric bodies for the l8/50 Luna saloon, built by Holbrook and Taylor of nearby Park Lane. Weymann coachwork was also offered. Star were finding a ready sale for their commercial vehicles and during 1925 supplied vans to the well known London store Selfridges for their delivery fleet.

Sunbeam listed only three models for 1925, the 12/30 listed at £520, the 14/40 at £685, and the 20/60 costing £950. The two large cars had four wheel brakes and the 20/60 included a six cylinder engine. All had overhead valves and a three speed gearbox. At their Walsall Street factory Briton continued to turn out cars with their popular 9.5h.p. 1,373c.c. o.h.v. engine.

We will now look at motorcyc1es. The post war boom was over and many of Wolverhampton motorcycle and car firms had gone to the wall. Orbit had ceased production during 1924 although someone in Ranlegh Road was offering spares through to the 1930s. Olympic had given up in 1923 after introducing a cheap model under the New Courier name. Wolf also seem to have given up making motorcycles but would be back as a lightweight manufacturer. Even after the closures Wolverhampton was still an important centre of motorcycle production.

A.J.S. and Sunbeam were still making large quantities of very good machines and Diamond were building considerable numbers of excellent lightweight machines at their Vane Street works. The established manufacturers were now joined by HRD who produced high quality and sporting machines.
Sunbeam's range had changed little since the previous year except that drum brakes were now fitted as standard to all models. From Graiseley, A.J.S. offered a range of seven models which included two sidecar outfits, both with the well known and fine 7.99h.p. ‘V’ twin engine. The model G1 sold for £80 and a de luxe version including dynamo lighting and electric horn was listed at £98. The top solo model, the G8, with a 498c.c. overhead valve engine cost £62.10s.0d. (£62.50) and the 350c.c. version sold for £53. The company’s cheapest machine, the 349c.c. side valve G5 was priced at £44.10s.0d. (£44.50).

We shall now return to the exciting world of motor and motorcycle racing and consider the two wheelers. 1924 saw the birth of the HRD, a machine with sporting tendencies. With a gaffer like Howard Davies it can be no surprise that the marque soon appeared on the race tracks. The first success was in March 1925 when T.L. Morton riding a 490c.c. HRD won a three lap race at Brooklands with an average speed of  83.28m.p.h. Success continued  when the one and only Bert le Vack set new British national one way records in classes ‘C’ and ‘D’, covering the flying mile at 104.44m.p.h. and the flying 5miles at l04.15m.p.h. He also won a 500c.c. championship race at over 97m.p.h., during which he had set new standing start 10 mile record at over 96m.p.h. His successes also included the first lap at over 100m.p.h. in a Brooklands race, for which he received the Buckley Cup.

Howard Davies cornering at Craig-ny-baa.

Other Wolverhampton T.T. entrants were A.J.S. and Sunbeam. Both companies entered five machines for the Junior race. A.J.S. entered four for the Senior and Sunbeam entered 8. In the sidecar race they both entered two machines. A.J.S. riders included Frank Longman, Jimmy Simpson and George Rowley who was making his T.T. debut. Sunbeam riders included  George Dance, Charlie Dodson, Les Randles and Italian Achille Varzi.

The practice runs for the Junior race produced some very fast times with no less than eight likely winners. The firm favourite was Wal Handley riding a Rex Acme but Jimmy Simpson and Freddie Dixon had both achieved excellent times and an exciting race was in prospect.

Many eyes were on the new HRD's which were very fast. Their JAP engines had been breathed on by great rider and wizard tuner Bert le Vack. Dixon took an early lead in the race with Handley second and Davies third. During the second lap Dixon retired and Simpson came into third spot, with Harris and Charlie Hough on an A.J.S. well up the field. Wal Handley went through to win at a record average speed of 65.02m.p.h., also setting a new lap record of 65.89m.p.h. He finished 3.5 minutes ahead of Davies's HRD with Simpson taking 3rd place, Hough 4th and Harris 5th. Dodson finished in 8th place and F.B. Testall came 9th. It now seemed that things were looking up again for the Wolverhampton machines and there could be no doubt that HRD was a force to be reckoned with.

Everyone now awaited the Senior race. Very fast times had been recorded in practice and it looked to be a very open race. The favourite was last year’s winner Alec Bennett who would again be riding a Norton. Right from the word go he took the lead, with the first lap completed in 33minutes 50 seconds. This was almost an average speed of 67m.p.h., the fastest ever run over the Mountain circuit at that time.

Howard Davies lay in 2nd place, a full 2 minutes 40seconds behind the leader, with Joe Craig on another Norton 3rd. Bennett’s Norton now began to develop brake trouble and he had to stop at the pit for adjustments. Meanwhile Davies took the lead. with a 12 second advantage over Craig. The heat was now on as Simpson turned the wick up on his A.J.S. to break the lap record with a time of 32 minutes 50 seconds, an average speed of 68.97m.p.h.

George Dance was also travelling very fast on his Sunbeam in 3rd place with Harris 5th on the second HRD. By now Bennett had rectified the brake problems and was going through the field like a house on fire and poor George Dance suffered mechanical trouble and had to retire. At the half way point Howard Davies had a 38 second lead on his HRD from Joe Craig on a Norton. A.J.S. riders Jimmy Simpson and Frank Longman were in 3rd and 4th places with Harry Harris lying 5th.

Lap 4 saw dramatic changes with both Craig and Simpson dropping out. Harris’s race also came to an end during the next lap when he retired with chain trouble. Soon the race was over with Howard Davies coming in 1st at a record time of 3 hours 25 minutes 25seconds, an average speed of 66.13m.p.h. Frank Longman came in 2nd on his A.J.S., three minutes behind Davies with Alec Bennett taking a well deserved 3rd place. Fastest and record lap fell to A.J.S. rider Jimmy Simpson who went round in 32 minutes 50 seconds, an average speed of 68.97m.p.h.

Sunbeam riders did not do so badly. Amateur T.T. winner Les Randles took 6th place, Charlie Waterhouse came 11th and Italian Achilli Varzi was 8th. He would ride in several more T.T.'s on Sunbeam and Guzzi machines but would then turn to car racing to become one of the greatest drivers of all time. The remaining Sunbeam ridden by F.B. Testall finished in 10th place.

The 1925 T.T. ended with the Lightweight and Sidecar races. No Wolverhampton machines took part in the Lightweight Race, but two A.J.S. and two Sunbeam outfits were entered for the Sidecar Race. The A.J.S. machines were driven by Jimmy Simpson and Frank Longman with Competition Manager Graham Walker and George Cowley for Sunbeam.

Whilst most of the machines were 600c.c. and the Sunbeams had overhead camshafts, the AJ's were of only 350c.c. and their riders were George Rowley and Leo Davenport, of whom we shall be hearing much more as the story progresses. The practice period had shown the Douglas’s to be very fast and they were first favourites to win.

Right from the start they dominated the race with Freddie Dixon leading from Freddie Hatton and Len Parker, all on the Bristol made twins. Dixon continued to lead until lap 3 when he retired with mechanical trouble, which let the Nortons through to 3rd and 4th places, and much to everyone’s surprise the A.J.S. outfits held 5th and 6th positions.

Hatton soon retired and Parker went on to win in 2 hours 44 minutes at an average speed of 55.22m.p.h. The Nortons of AE. Taylor and George Grinton finished in second and third places with Frank Longman and Jimmy Simpson in 4th and 5th positions on their A.J.S. outfits, a very good performance indeed. The fastest, and record breaking lap had fallen to Freddie Dixon at 57.18m.p.h.

Though the sidecar races had proved to be popular with spectators, the same cannot be said for the manufacturers, and the 1925 race would be the last until 1954 when it was over a much shorter course. It would be 1960 before the sidecars were seen on the mountain circuit again.

The 1925 T.T. week had been good for Wolverhampton. HRD had done exceedingly well taking 2nd and 5th places in the Junior and 1st in the Senior. Howard Davies must have been very happy. After several disappointing years, riding unsuccessfully on other manufacturers machines, he had pulled off a spectacular win in the Senior on a machine of his own design.