Driver Magazine - Issue 2 of 3 2025 - Magazine - Page 72
Private Ownership
SOP 367 went on to pass through several well-documented owners, including Frank Melling, the motorcycle journalist,
author, and experienced racer.
It was taken off the road in the 1980s and eventually purchased by a previous owner in 2010. Since then, it’s been
sympathetically restored to show-standard condition by Aspire Classics. The brief was to keep it original, honest, and allow
its history to tell its story.
A History Recorded
Alongside the bike, a substantial file of documents and period material tells its story in a huge amount of detail. These
include:
The original buff logbook and current V5C
Copies of the 1956 Motor Cycling road test
Letters from Velocette historians and the VOC
Manuals, press releases, and restoration records
HPI report
Invoices, receipts, and ownership documentation
All of this suggests that SOP 367 is the first road-going Viper, the factory press bike, and the machine that introduced the
world to what the Viper could really do. After coming out of the factory at the beginning of its life and going straight into
the public eye, it deserves to be back there once again.
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