a rare example of an early P&P effort (VMCC)
Packman & Poppe were a company of motorcycle manufacturers once located in Coventry.
Packman & Poppe Ltd. began in 1922 at works in Earlsdon, and was founded by G. Packman and E. Poppe. Packman was born in Kent in 1899, and Poppe born in Austria, also in 1899. E. Poppe was the son of Peter Poppe of the engine makers
White and Poppe.
When they first joined forces they commenced by designing and marketing the P & P ‘Silent Three’ motorcycle, built by the Coventry based
Montgomery Company under contract. This machine was fitted with a 350cc Barr & Stroud sleeve-valve engine, with Packman & Poppe claiming it to be the
‘quietest motorcycle in the world’.
In 1925, Packman was tragically killed, and this misfortune was followed some years later by a fire at the Montgomery Works in Coventry, where the P & P motorcycle was being built under license. This brought about the end of the P & P machine, and Poppe went on to work for
Rover, Dennis and then to BSA, becoming their Chief Designer by 1946.