New Imperial made innovative motorcycles that employed unit construction and sprung heel frames long before they became commonplace, and were moderately successful in competition.

The history of New Imperial, founded by Norman Downes, goes back to the early days of the bicycle industry in Birmingham.

The engine was mounted forward of the handlebars with a leather belt driving the front wheel.

A New Imperial ridden by A S Jones in the 1913 Senior TT race was one of the 63 that failed to finish that year.

New Imperial made sales-boosting news with a win in the 250 cc class of the 1921 TT (rider Doug Prentice).

[4] Jessie Hole (later Ennis) was sponsored by Norman Downes to be the company's trials rider in 1927.

[7] In 1929 New Imperial production moved from Princip Street in the Gun Quarter to a 6-acre (24,000 m2) purpose-built facility on Spring Road in Hall Green.

[4] In 1932, New Imperial started to use unit construction, where the engine crankcase and gearbox are incorporated in the same casting.

[3] In 1934 Ginger Wood, riding a New Imperial 500 cc V-twin for one hour, achieved a 102.2 mph (164.4 km/h) average at Brooklands.

Within a week there were rumours that the company was already being sold to Solomon Joseph, owner of Clifford Covering and Motor Components.

The most likely explanation for this is that Sangster bought the name back from Clifford Aero and Auto when they changed over to wartime production, or that Sangster had retained the name and allowed Solomon Joseph to trade under it until war broke out and circumstances changed, but these details are not verifiable.