Montague Stanley Napier had taken charge of the Lambeth-based family engineering business in 1895 upon the death of his father.

The youthful twenty five year old – once described as "combining the philosophy and the modesty of the rustic cobbler with the best attributes of the unspeakable Scot" was a brilliant engineer keen to move the family business from its traditional fields of printing machinery manufacture into the new-fangled world of the horseless carriage.

Fascinated by speed, he had earned repute as a racing cyclist of no mean ability and, mixing in those circles at the Bath Road Cycle Club, he came in contact with one Selwyn Francis Edge, London manager of The Dunlop Tyre Company.

Napier's engineering flair and Edge's commercialism, combined with an at times uneasy flair for self-publicity, made for a powerful partnership that was soon to establish the name Napier at the forefront of the British motor industry as well as a force to be reckoned with in international motor ...