1-194-550 - National Motor Museum/Heritage Images

An Ariel Red Hunter 350cc, 1956. The motorcyclist with a map asks a man for directions. The 347cc and 497cc ohv Red Hunter models were a mainstay of Ariel after WWII. The company was founded by James Starley and William Hillman in 1870 to make bicycles and the first patented tensioned wire-spoke wheel. Ariel first made a powered tricycle in 1898 using a de Dion engine. They made their first motorized two-wheeler in 1901, powered by Kerry engines, selling them in 1902. The company closed in 1970.