Hello
ODK members,
Supa-Swift is very much an underrated and under-appreciated make.
I have been struggling to get quality information for years.
Here is my response to some issues:-
First, Ian -- I understand they started making mowers in 1955 but used other brands of engines
- SupaSwift is still in business today and still Australian owned?
- How many different models of SupaSwift are there and why do you see very few around the rally grounds?I cannot find any evidence that 1955 is the start date Ian.
My best guess at this time is
late 1959.
The original model does not appear in this post.
The 'brand' does continue and the range is quite large.
I do not believe there is any real DNA heritage to the original Vulcan company.
In fact, I can't find any confirmation that Supa-Swift are made here at all.
The current owners,
Allpower Industries, present as a distribution and marketing company.
They manage several brands, some sourced in Europe,Japan and China.
Allpower do present the Supa-Swift as "a truly Australian brand".
Yet there is no suggestion that this brand is still made here at all!
Of course they're not.
Ian has asked a very interesting question:
"why do you see very few around the rally grounds?"
I've asked that myself. They are certainly deserved to be.
These were quality machines. It may be that vintage mower collecting
is a very fickle thing: subject to the vagaries of fashion.
Dodegy has also said something thought provoking:
"these old girls were built to last not like the cheap tin decks on the mowers made today."
I have observed that too; but I have also noted that some
vintage mower bases have weathered better than others.
I may have found some sort of answer in early Supa-Swift advertising.
This may explain their durability and longevity. It was the
quality of casting and the emerging trend for skirted bases.
Bunniper's machine dates from the very early 1960s.
It is a deluxe base, and highly collectable (in my view) because it
has the catcher. There is a short period in history when side-catchers
were all in vogue and they were steel. Supa-Swift had this from 1959.
Alwil says:
"Here's another for the archives , same base as bunipper's but different donk,
apparently the one which was hard to sell."
Al is the master restorer. I don't know how he does it!
When I first saw his machine I was curious about the very unusual
carby manifold and carby placement.
Deejay correctly says this is:
"the ubiquitous Villiers Mk7F 'Torque-Master' 2 stroke."
It is original to Supa-Swift; though clearly not the standard Villiers spec.
I date this machine mid 1960s.
Supa-swift are important to vintage mower history.
They were one of the first to use
4-stroke engines on rotaries
[Briggs, Kirby, and Villiers (yes, Villiers!)] and they were one of
the first in introducing side-catchers. They also appreciated the
effect of larger wheel sizes on manoeuvrability.
All very super and ... swift.
-----------------------------------------
Jack