Only in 1950 were all examples leaving the factory in Series C spec, as production tended to overlap.
Other manufacturers had begun to use full telescopics, but the Girdraulic was good enough. With the Series C of 1948, Vincent also eventually replaced the old Girder fork with the company’s own “Girdraulic” front fork, which was basically the same as a girder fork but featured a hydraulic damper instead of a central spring.
The Series B Vincent Rapide of 1946 featured, rather than a conventional frame, a fabricated box that served as the oil tank and attached to the cylinder heads as well as the rear springs. Immediately when the postwar model debuted in 1946, the much more cleanly designed Series B Rapide was hailed as the world’s fastest motorcycle at 110 mph, although feat would soon be overshadowed by Rapide’s 125-mph stablemate the Black Shadow. The first Series A production version soon followed, although only about 80 were produced before the Second World War interrupted motorcycle production. The Rapide can trace its roots back to the mid-1930s, when Vincent HRD (Vincent would eventually remove the HRD label to prevent confusion with Harley-Davidson), already known for building large singles, introduced a prototype Rapide with a 998 cc, 50 degree V-twin making 45 hp at the 1936 Olympia Motorcycle Show. Had the Black Shadow never even existed, the Rapide would still be a fondly remembered and highly respected design. That legendary bike, however, was really just a reworked version of the Rapide, which was an impressive performer in its own right. Vincent is primarily known these days for one model – the Black Shadow.