The JM numbers on the early models.

[charlesp]

The other Charles and myself had a conversation the other day about what he refers to as the 'JM' numbers stamped on the earlier conical topped Villiers flywheels.

Each of these comes as a pair - flywheel and baseplate, and they are invariably stamped with a serial commencing with 'JM' - one can assume standing for John Marston.

He asked me to check my recently acquired SNP. This and its brother the SN were the first Seagull models whose serial didn't start with an 'O', and as such were the first models that were never produced by Marston's. The earlier versions (in many ways very similar) such as the ON, OP and OJ were all available in 1936/7 as Marston motors, only the later ones bore the British Seagull logo.

My SNP 206 L (implying an earlyish model) is numbered JM2381. From this we may deduce that the latest of the earlier models is around the 2100 mark. We may further assume that the later JM numbers from countless SD, SDP, HSD etc models will give us further clues about total wartime production. My SD 722 P3 has a JM 8556 - several thousand further along the series. Now you may wonder how come there are so very few SN/SNP models still around, yet the 722nd SD has a flywheel numbered several thousand away from the SNP I have mentioned.

We don't know, so we're going to try to compile a list of the JM numbers.

If you have any Seagull with a 'coolie hat' flywheel/magnet, please could you PM me with it's complete serial, and the JM numbers of the flywheel and baseplate. It's stamped on the inner surface of the baseplate (you can see it with the flywheel still on we reckon), and on the flywheel itself just under the cover.

We'll let you know what, if anything, we uncover...

Thanks