I spend more time and money than I should at the cafe in iconic Invercargill store E. Hayes and Sons.
While the specialised hardware business has slowly diminished their motor works collection has increased. One of the many motorcycles on display is a rather different special , one that I had the chance to ride several times.
The bike is the Crouch Special, built in Christchurch and latterly owned by the late Norman Hayes.  The bike came into our workshop on numerous occasions for a WOF check and of course a rather longer than usual test ride was always required. I have to admit to taking a rather gentle approach as memories of reading about the sometimes fragile nature of the Austin 7 crankshaft  meant revs were held down.
With its Austin motor in an AJS frame and utilising various Triumph parts and the front end from a Suzuki GT750 it's a very unusual hybrid.
In the photo of the drive side you can see the wooden patterns used for casting the drive case.
The shop is well worth a visit for anyone with an interest in things mechanical including Burt Munro's Indian(record motor in a slave Indian frame.Record frame and streamliner are in the USA) and Velocette. 

In 40 years at a dealership I got to ride a lot of different bikes but this is one that has stayed with me.










 

The Austin 7 had a three bearing crankshaft hence it's fragility. The strangest thing I saw in my student days in Auckland was a cut-down Bradford van (two cylinder horizontally opposed) which in it's original state had no discernible horsepower. However with the water-jackets taken off and replaced with Norton ES2 barrels all was well. I don't know how the owner discovered that he could simply bolt on the Norton barrels and use the same pushrods and crankshaft with little or no modification, but work it did.