Vincent Black Shadow

The Black Shadow of 1948 is engineering worn on the outside. Philip Vincent and Phil Irving hung the bike from its big V-twin instead of wrapping it in a full cradle frame, and gave the engine a baked black finish that made it the visual center of the machine. The other detail everyone remembers is the oversized 150 mph speedometer standing up in front of the rider like a station clock, a confident statement in an era when that number seemed absurd for a road bike. It is a lesson in letting the structure be the styling, which designers from Britten onward would take further.