Phil Vincent

Philip Conrad Vincent was born in Wilbraham Gardens, Fulham on 14 March 1908. His mother, Ada Vincent, travelled back from Argentina to have her children in order to secure British citizenship. The family owned a cattle ranch between Monte Buey and Monte Maize, in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. His education began at St. George's, a British Preparatory School in Quilmes, a suburb of Buenos Aires. He was sent back to England to live with his uncle, John Vincent, who was a veterinary surgeon and lived at High House, Horndon on the Hill, Essex. Philip's education was continued there together with his two sisters, Gwendoline & Marjorie, a cousin and four other local children. He spent a year at Downsend Preparatory School, Leatherhead. He was then accepted at Harrow School where, in the school sanitorium during a three-week period of minor-illness in the company of another patient, an enthusiast, he was introduced to motorcycles.

Philip bought his first motorcycle, a secondhand 350cc BSA from Gamages in Holborn at Christmas 1924 which vibrated badly and was replaced by an ABC; he designed his first bike in 1925. In October 1926 he went up to read the Mechanical Sciences Tripos at King's College, Cambridge at the University of Cambridge. His father agreed that he could have a break from university to develop his first "Vincent Special", with a 350 cc MAG engine, in 1927. In 1928 he had registered a patent for his design of cantilever rear suspension and left Cambridge before graduating. The prototype used his own design of diamond-shaped frame constructed from short-tubes having 'lug' ends consistent with technology of the time, combined with his twin-spring, friction-damped cantilever rear suspension. Other main components added were proprietary – Webb front forks, Royal Enfield brakes, Moss gearbox and a McEvoy fuel tank.