Although not technically a manufacturer – the Bullpup was very much a one-off – we include it here for its interesting story and because it really is ‘once seen, never forgotten’!
The Bullpup was built by Farnborough engineer Victor George Walker who started the project in 1924 and finished it a couple of years later. The 980cc JAP side-valve V-twin engine came from a Carden cyclecar and the gearbox from a WWI Sunbeam motorcycle combination. Boasting an exceptionally lengthy wheelbase, the Bullpup is also notable for its very low seat height of only 18 inches. He registered it in 1926 and it was the main transport of himself and his wife (hence the long seat, luggage rack and passenger back rest) until Mrs Walker finally persuaded Victor to buy a car in 1935.
Although the family was now being transported on four wheels, the motorcycle remained in the hands of the Walkers for another 30 years. Then, in 1963, the Bullpup was sold to a Leslie Sharpe, also of Farnborough, for £25 and he used it for a few long runs, including the Banbury Run in 1963, before the gearbox imploded.
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That might have been the end of the road for the curious machine. It was left to deteriorate before being sold several times and finally acquired by Trevor Innes in 1979. Mr Innes embarked on the task of recommissioning the machine which by now had a seized engine while the gearbox had been lost over the years. But Mr Innes did a sterling job and in time for the 1979 Banbury Run where the Walker Bullpup won the Sheldon Trophy, awarded to the machine of greatest technical interest. At the time, Bob Currie wrote in The Motor Cycle; ‘Built at Farnborough, Hants between 1924 and 1927, the lengthy machine represented one man’s ideal. Trevor did have one stop before leaving Banbury to clear an oiled plug, but the big machine ran perfectly thereafter.’
Trevor Innes kept the Bullpup for ten years before it was sold to Dave Benson who made further modifications such as a large rear carrier, an updated electrical system and lights and improved the gearbox.
Almost 100 years after it had first hit the road, the Walker Bullpup reappeared at the Bonhams Autumn Sale in 2025 where it was bought (rather on a whim, he admits) by Glen Dickens. It was a delight to see the Walker Bullpup – and Glen – successfully complete the Banbury Run once more last year and, fittingly, the remarkable machine won the Sheldon Trophy again!
Original article appeared in Old Bike Mart. To subscribe, click here: https://www.classicmagazines.co.uk/old-bike-mart
