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The Pete Sole Rex-Acme TT8

So far this year, I’ve managed to successfully complete the 2010 Banbury Run (read about the Banbury in our September issue) and the Festival of 1000 Bikes (October issue) plus, the weekend just gone, about 160 miles on the Kings Lynn section of the VMCC’s excellent Breckland weekend, on my 1928 Rex-Acme TT8. The 350cc Blackburne engined machine may be familiar to some readers, as previous owner Pete Sole used to use and show it extensively, before it came into my ownership late in 2009.

The pretty little Rex first came to my attention when, age 12, I spotted it on the cover of my dad’s copy of the August 1990 issue of The Classic MotorCycle. At that point, my bedroom walls were adorned with pictures of rotary Norton racers, RC30 (and NC30, the 400cc version) Hondas, ‘green meanie’ ZXR Kawasakis and OWO1 Yamahas, while I’d pretty much stopped even going on any ‘old bike’ events with dad as football and computer games took over the weekends. However, when I spotted the Rex I really loved the look of it and it stuck with me; in many respects, I’d say it was as responsible as any machine for first ‘getting me into’ vintage motorcycles. I just adored its proportions and – shallow as it sounds – blue-finished petrol tank...

Years later, working for The Classic MotorCycle, I was fortunate to get to know Pete Sole, the Rex-Acme’s owner, as he’d often be at the big Stafford and Bristol shows. I told him of my affection for the Rex early on and if Pete and it was ever at a show, I’d go and speak to Pete have a look at the Rex-Acme, rather longingly I must admit.

Then, at the 2009 Festival of 1000 Bikes, I bumped into Pete, outside the Bonhams’ tent. We had a chat – actually I gave him a laminated copy of the August 1990 cover I’d found in a random box of bits and bobs in our archive – and we got round to what he was doing. He told me he was ill (though didn’t let on the severity of his illness) and that he was selling some of his enviable collection, including the Rex-Acme. He was intent on auctioning it – as he said, he didn’t know how much it was worth so thought that the best way to do it. I said I’d love it but if it went to auction, I was confident I’d be outbid – so, off the top of my head, came up with a figure... Pete said thanks for the offer (actually he said “Do you think it’s worth that much?!”) though admitted he’d like to auction it, just to see.

About a fortnight later, he phoned me up. If my offer stood and if I could get down to his Wiltshire home with the cash quickly, the Rex was mine. He also told me the gravity of his illness; his prognosis was not good and he’d decided he wanted to see the Rex go. I put into action a money-raising plan – my 1928 Flying Squirrel Scott, wideline Dommie 99 and modern FZ6 Yamaha were all rapidly moved on (I had offers on all three from an earlier attempted-but-failed transaction) while a bit more money was borrowed from the bank and with two envelopes stuffed with cash (as Pete had requested; half in each, one for his son, one for his daughter) I headed for Swindon.

Pete was sad to see the Rex-Acme go but wished me well, giving me an extensive folder full of information. He showed me around his collection, explaining what had been sold already and what was still to go... typically, he was a bit surprised at the interest his adverts had caused (for example, he reckoned he could have sold his Big Port ‘10 times over’) and as I prepared to load up the Rex, he climbed aboard it for one last picture, which is reproduced with this feature.

My event debut (on a VMCC section pre-31) came on the Rex later in the week I’d bought it – and ended somewhat ingloriously. Pete had told me he’d always had carburation problems with the TT Amac – indeed, it would only ever run with the air screw removed and from the start of my initial ride on it, there was no way it would tickover, while it gradually got worse. I decided to give it up as a bad job and we ended up travelling home in the recovery van...

There was nothing dreadfully wrong but also, it was clearly not right. Once into the winter a bit more investigation was deemed prudent but, despite a few other mods and such, it still wouldn’t run right on the Amac. As time pressed on, I decided the best thing to do was fit a later but brand new Type 6 Amal, if nothing more as a quick fix. A call to Burlen Fuel Systems (01722 412500) and one was on its way, with Burlen’s Phil Beresford taking an ‘educated guess’ at set up.

We had a successful Banbury (see the September 2010 issue of The Classic MotorCycle) and then, a couple of weeks later, it was off to Mallory, for the 1000 Bikes, of which you can read more in the October issue of The Classic MotorCycle. Then, during the weekend just gone, it was 160 miles over two days at the Breckland weekend – I think the Rex-Acme was the oldest motorcycle to do both days, but I may be wrong. I still don’t think performance is quite as lively as it should be (though I was doing an indicated 60mph with a little still in hand, on the speedos of my riding companions' more modern steeds), but at least – fingers crossed – we’ve a machine which seems to be reasonably reliable...

Rarity
Rex-Acmes are few and far between, while there’s no owners’ club to speak of. The TT8 (this model) is particularly unusual and it’s thought there’s only one other complete example in the UK, which is owned by movie star Ewan McGregor. Ewan’s spent some time in the Murray Museum on the Isle of Man and is quite modified – for example, it has a four-speed footchange gearbox, while the petrol tank is simply polished rather than painted. It represents what a clubman’s racer in the 1930s would have been like, I’ve always thought. The other TT8 is incomplete and owned by the VMCC’s Rex-Acme marque specialist, while it’s thought there’s probably a couple more TT8s in Australia.

Other Rex-Acme owners known to me include former The Classic MotorCycle editor Phillip Tooth, who has a lovely 250cc example (see the November 1993 issue of The Classic MotorCycle), Classic Bike contributor Rick Parkington (a very rapid 1926 350cc TT model), former Serco boss and now Australian based Martyn Adams (1927 350cc TT – see it running on youtube, search Rex-Acme), Hesketh club PRO David Sharpe, who has a wonderful side-valve example with plenty of ‘patina’, German Gunter Weinhold with a racing special, plus I know of a lovely, quite probably ex-works racer in South Africa. There are examples in the Brooklands (the ex-David Whitworth machine), Sammy Miller (where there are two, a single and a rare V-twin) and National Motorcycle Museums, plus a couple of others in need of TLC in the vaults/stores of other museums. Another is a regular at Banbury, though I’ve never yet managed to catch up with the owner. This one is possibly the one previously owned by Brian Woolley, a former TCM contributor, as it seems to have various similarities. A ‘race prepped’ 500cc Blackburne variant has been at various events, including the Beezumph and Brooklands, in recent years too, while there are others in mainland Europe, including an ex-racer sold by Bonhams a few years back and a late side-valve which passed through Holland based dealer Dutch Lion.

Rex-Acme also made smaller machines too, including some with little jewel-like 175cc ohv Blackburne engines and others with Villiers two-stroke power – while there were a few V-twins as well, the most famous – and surely the holy grail for Rex-Acme enthusiast… the 500cc Blackburne V-twin engined version ridden by Walter Handley (who was in fact a director at Rex-Acme for a time) to second place in the 1926 Senior TT.

The VMCC’s machine register, which is of course far from comprehensive, lists less than 30 examples, though confusingly they’re grouped in with Rex.

Anyone out there with a Rex-Acme or an interest in the marque, please feel free to contact me; my email address is jrobinson@mortons.co.uk. I’m keen to establish a network of fans/enthusiasts to keep these machines on the road.

History of the Pete Sole TT8
Pete Sole was never able to discover the full history of his Rex-Acme, though had managed to piece together the last 30 or so years and was of the belief it had spent some time in a museum, possibly on the Isle of Man. However, in a preview piece run in OBM in January 2010 for the upcoming Bristol Show, Pete was shown posed with his Rex at Bristol in 2009. A little after a gent phoned in wanting to talk to Pete about the Rex – by then, though, the Rex had passed into my ownership and Pete had sadly succumbed to his illness.

I phoned the gent concerned, who lives in Bournemouth. What emerged was almost too much for me to comprehend – this fellow recognised the registration number; his father had bought the Rex-Acme brand new in 1928! Apparently, the father had purchased it in Bournemouth and used the model up until around about the time of WWII, when it was put into storage – this chap remembers seeing it when he was a small boy, the Rex-Acme standing in his father’s wood machining shop, covered up against the sawdust and muck. The gentleman then remembers going to see it at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, in the 1950s, thus filling in some more gaps in its history. He also still has the old gas light generator...

It was just such a shame that Pete never managed to live to see this part of the story of this machine emerge. My plan is to visit the son of the first owner some time this summer; he has some old photographs and suchlike relating to the machine’s early days.

Further reading – all these back issues of The Classic MotorCycle are available.

REX-ACME 1928 350cc TT8, AUGUST 1990 (ex-Pete Sole example).

REX-ACME 1925 250cc TT MODEL, NOVEMBER 1993 (Phillip Tooth’s machine).

REX-ACME 1926 350cc TT MODEL, NOVEMBER 2004 (from the Sammy Miller Museum).

WALTER HANDLEY STORY, MARCH AND APRIL 1989 (by Brian Woolley; it’s fascinating)