The forgotten offering
The Classic MotorCycle|January 2020
Mention JAP engines and we visualise Pope, Fernihough or Baragwanath thundering around Brooklands, quickly – in fact, very quickly. Before moving on to JAP four-stroke units, first there’s a spin through the two-stroke models.
Richard Rosenthal
The forgotten offering

JA Prestwich and Co. Ltd, Northumberland Park, Tottenham, announced it was entering the two-stroke proprietary engine market in August 1923, launching a 147cc (55x62mm) three-port deflector piston engine. In amove some stated was ‘…to distance themselves from such basic engines,’ JAP branded this unit the ‘AZA’ or ‘Aza,’ depending on your research source.

The whys and wherefores of the brand AZA, or its use, are lost in time, but what is certain is JAP establishedTheAZAMotor Co., Capel House, 62 Broad Street, London EC2, to market these engines and handle after-sales enquires.

Within months, JAP enlarged this engine to 175cc (173cc) and although selling only a fraction of Villiers output, in themid1920s AZAswere supplied to a number of British makers, including New Comet, Coventry Eagle, Francis-Barnett and Sharratt. Additionally, a small number of Continental makers bought them too.

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