Description

1932 Hyogo HMC 1500cc


By the mid-1930s Japan has chosen its own way of developing the transportation industry: instead of engaging in the production of trucks, as many other countries had done, it devoted all its resources to the creation of cargo motocycles.

In November 1932, Hyogo Motor Manufacturing Co. ordered Megro Manufacturing Co., Ltd. to produce an engine for a small tricycle under the "HMC" brand name. The engine was based on the MAG engine, which had been installed on Motosacoche motorcycles. Only a month later, in December 1932, HMC launched the Hyogo tricycle, equipped with a single-cylinder 500cc OHV engine of domestic production.

The HMC 1500cc, from Motorworld collection, has an engine identical to the one used on the Kurogane Type 95 car. It is a four-stroke OHV V-twin engine with a 1500 ccm volume and 29 horsepower rating. The engine is an air-cooled one with aluminum block heads and dry crankcase. It is made in a single unit with a three-speed gearbox.

The tricycle was assembled from two donors: both parts were found in Vladivostok, where they were brought as trophies after the end of World War II.