Ariel Square Four motorcycle

Ariel Square Four motor cycle, 1959

Part of the era of heavy luxurious touring motorcycles. First produced in 1931, the Square Four was the first of the four-cylinder motorcycles to earn and keep a substantial market; however due to a fall in demand, production ceased in 1959. It joins the ranks of those other British touring motorcycles of the past, the Brough-Superior, the Sunbeam and the Vincent.

This type of motorcycle would have cost nearly as much as a small light car and with a 1-litre engine and 100mph performance the ‘Squariel’, as it became known, was a ‘superbike’ of its day.