Roses are red, violets are blue and 99% of post-war Vincents were black with gold striping. Of the more than 11,000 Series B, C, and D Black Shadows, Black Lightnings, Rapides, Comets and Meteors built, the only exceptions were about 120 Vincents painted in Chinese Red and 30 (or so) high-performance single-cylinder Grey Flash models produced in, you guessed it, grey. The ultra-rare White Shadows (only 15 were produced) were not painted white — they were Black Shadows with unpainted engine and gearboxes, and they looked like Rapides.
There were reportedly a handful of Vincents painted in Egyptian Blue at the factory for display at bike shows or as custom builds during the period when Vincents were being distributed in the U.S. by the Indian Sales Co. Information about these bikes is scarce and mostly anecdotal and it’s unclear whether any of those original blue bikes still exist.
Although not a factory original color, the most famous blue Vincent was a Series C Rapide set up for competition and owned by the late legendary Southern California racer Marty Dickerson who was setting land speed records at Bonneville into his ninth decade.
The blue bike featured here is the result of many years of customization and enhancement by two skilled and enthusiastic owners whose primary goal was to improve the
