History Ariel was a bicycle, motorcycle and automobile marque manufacturer based in Bournbrook, Birmingham, England. Car production moved to Coventry in 1911. The company name was reused in 1999 for the formation of Ariel Ltd, a sports car producer. Motorcycles The first Ariel to be fitted with an engine was a powered tricycle that appeared in 1898. In 1901 the first Ariel motorcycle proper was launched, powered by a 211 cc Minerva engine. A range of motorcycles was made with engines either bought in or assembled to other people's design until the 1926 season when a new designer, Val Page, joined Ariel from JAP . Page created a pair of new engines for the 1926 season which used many existing cycle parts and then redesigned the cycle for 1927. These Ariels are known as 'Black Ariels' (1926–1930) and were the basis on which all Ariel 4-stroke singles were based until their demise in 1959 (except the LH Colt of the mid 1950s). During the '
