When you hear the name Rex McCandless, most of us tend to immediately think about his ‘Featherbed’ motorcycle frame raced to success by Norton, but there was so much more to this self-taught engineer and inventor.
Born on 21st May 1915 at Culcavy, Hillsborough, Co Down Richard (Rex) McCandless was a man of many parts over a lifetime of invention. From workshops at Crumlin and Newtownards he streamlined motorcycles, brought new thinking to swing-arm suspension, hydraulic dampers and brick-making machines. Devised the concept of engines as stressed members (a decade before Chapman and Cosworth developed the idea for the Lotus 49), designed race-cars, four wheel drive and four wheel steer all-terrain military vehicles for Harry Ferguson, created a four-wheel-drive 500cc racing car and went on to build his own Triumph engine autogyro as featured in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
When his father moved to Canada, young Rex took on the responsibility of supporting the family. He left school at 13 without any qualifications and started working at a Belfast mill, counting and loading sacks of animal feed.
With a gift from his aunt—a 1923 side-valve Raleigh. Rex wasted no time in modifying it, removing the footboards and shortening the frame. He also converted the two-speed hand gear change to foot operation and added brake and clutch levers. This marked the start of his inventive engineering career.
In the 1930s, Rex’s family relocated to Belfast. In 1943, Rex and his brother Cromie established an excavator and heavy repair business. They also took on vehicle repairs for the Ministry of Supply. One of their business partners was Artie Bell, an Irish Road Racer.
Both brothers were passionate motorcycle enthusiasts, with Rex achieving success as a racer before the Second World War. And their interest led to the invention for which Rex McCandless is best known is the ‘Featherbed’ motorcycle frame.
In 1949, Rex, who had long believed that the pre-war motorcycles with their rigid frames and fragile suspensions posed challenges on the rugged Irish roads, successfully created and refined a ground breaking frame. This innovation not only revolutionised steering capabilities but also raised the bar for road-holding performance.
Challenging conventional notions of frame design, McCandless shifted the weight bias from the rear to the front, resulting in a significant enhancement in handling characteristics. The frame design developed by McCandless featured a lightweight, double-loop tubular main section frame, accompanied by swingarm rear suspension. It used a unique construction technique, involving bending and joining tubes in a way that distributed the load evenly, resulting in a more rigid and responsive frame. This unique design greatly enhanced the handling capabilities of the motorcycle.
Despite the obvious advantages of Rex’s new double-loop frame design, it was not all plain sailing to have it accepted by a motorcycle manufacturer. Apparently there was an initial approach made to Triumph which was not successful and Norton was then approached and even then Rex and the Norton head of engineering, Ulsterman, Joe Craig did not see eye to eye.
At the time Norton were having problems of their own with their ‘plunger’ Garden Gate frame which frequently broke during racing and handled badly. In a fruitless effort to improve the performance of this frame Joe Craig made the frame progressively heavier which lead to even more problems.
Apparently on one occasion, Rex told Craig he could not design a ‘f*g’ mousetrap’. This impolite reference was later incorporated into a book written by a McCandless company draughtsman, R. Leslie Jennings, ‘To Make a Better Mousetrap: A Biography of the Remarkable Rex McCandless’.
Joe Craig expressed reservations about Rex’s frame design, citing concerns about its compatibility with mass production.
To demonstrate the frame’s capabilities, Rex issued a challenge to Gilbert Smith, the managing director of Norton. The challenge involved a test on the TT circuit, where both riders would use identical engines fitted into the works frame and the new double-loop frame.
In his book on McCandless, Leslie Jennings writes: ‘It was a quiet time of the year and the Chief of Police (who happened to be a relative of Cromie’s wife) kindly arranged for a few miles of the mountain course from about Windy Corner to be temporarily closed for the occasion . . .
For the proving test, Artie Bell was riding the new double-loop framed bike while the legendary Geoff Duke was astride the works Norton. Observing the road-test Rex described how the two machines could be heard approaching the high speed corner (Kate’s Cottage) at over 100mph. In his own words; “As they entered the bend Artie was behind Geoff but was able to accelerate and pass the works machine on the inside, without apparent effort.”
Norton recognized the potential and decided to incorporate McCandless’ frame for the 1950 TT. The outcome was remarkable, as Norton motorcycles secured first, second, and third positions in both the Junior and Senior TT races that year.
Norton lacked the capability to manufacture the Featherbed frame in-house and Reynolds, the tubing manufacturer, was also unable to do so. To overcome this obstacle, Rex, brought his own jigs over from Ireland and took it upon himself to construct the Works Norton frames from 1950 to 1953.
The “Featherbed” nickname came from, works racer, Harold Daniell, who said that the new bike was like “riding on a featherbed” compared with riding the garden gate” and the name stuck.
For over 25 years the McCandless Featherbed frame shaped the successes of Irish and British motorcycle racing and manufacture before the Japanese dominance.
Another of Rex’s notable inventions was a rear shock featuring an external reservoir, which is now a common feature in modern bikes but was uncommon back in 1950. Additionally, he pioneered the development of fairings during a time when racing bikes typically lacked such aerodynamic enhancements.
During the late 1940s, motorcycle racer Freddie Dixon was engaged in the development of a four-wheel drive utility vehicle intended for military use, in collaboration with Harry Ferguson Research Limited.
The Dixon machine featured a four-cylinder engine mounted at the rear, which transferred power to all four wheels through the use of three differentials. As the machine developed, it became increasingly heavy and complex. However, Rex McCandless held the belief that he could create a superior alternative.
Going back into his workshop McCandless developed, the Mule, with a rear mounted, fan cooled 500cc Norton Dominator twin which drove the rear wheels by chain, then using another chain and sprocket system drove the front wheels.
In 1953, to test his 4×4 design concepts Rex constructed two remarkable 500cc cars that featuring a Norton engine positioned prominently towards the front, along with fully enclosing bodywork.
Rex’s design stood out for its remarkable four-wheel drive system which he was keen to prove would work in the Mule design. The engine transferred power to a high-mounted gearbox via a primary chain, which then transmitted it to the front axle. From there, a third chain distributed the drive to the car’s centre, where double drums served as brakes, and finally, another chain transferred power to the rear axle.
There was a slight variation in gearing between the two ends of the car. The car’s camber setup appeared unconventional and somewhat unusual, but it proved to be effective. The rear wheels were configured with significant negative camber, while the front wheels featured positive camber.
The driver assumed a low seating position alongside the backbone of the frame, creating the illusion of a two-seater although it was not. The car garnered significant attention during its debut, and both vehicles subsequently participated in races at Kirkistown Motor Racing Circuit in 1954. However, the added weight and complexity of the design outweighed the potential aerodynamic and traction benefits.
Drawing from the experience gained through the race car test-bed, Rex McCandless incorporated two centrally mounted drum brakes (later upgraded to discs) into his design for the Mule. The drive system was enclosed within a box frame. Remarkably, the Mule weighed a mere 800 lbs. During off-road tests sponsored by Harry Ferguson Research Limited, the Mule effortlessly outperformed Jeeps, Land Rovers, tractors, and even the machine designed by Freddie Dixon from Harry Ferguson Research Inc. When the Mule did encounter a rare instance of getting stuck, its lightweight construction allowed for easy extrication.
Recognising the promising success of the McCandless Mule, Harry Ferguson decided to provide financial support to both Freddie Dixon’s machine and also to the design developed by Rex McCandless.
Rex McCandless encountered a challenging partnership with Harry Ferguson, as both individuals proved equally difficult to work with, leading to their inability to strike a deal on the Mule. McCandless showcased the machine to several other manufacturers, but none were willing to take on the challenge of going against Harry Ferguson. Eventually, McCandless reluctantly abandoned his pursuit of manufacturing the Mule.
His engineering drive did not stop there and driven by his lifelong relentless desire for an engineering challenge, Rex learnt to fly and set out to enhance the Autogyro, an aircraft originally devised by Spanish inventor Juan de la Cierva in 1923. Distinguishing itself from helicopters, the autogyro employed both a main rotor for lift and a propeller for propulsion. Rex McCandless’s remarkable aircraft found fame in the iconic James Bond film “You Only Live Twice,” where it stared under the moniker “Little Nellie.” For the movie the McCandless autogyro was equipped with an array James Bond gadgets including forward-facing machine guns, flamethrowers, smoke ejectors, rockets, heat-seeking missiles, and even aerial mines.
Rex’s mechanical genius did come with some eccentricities and he was often referred to with words such as; argumentative and mercurial and that was from Harry Ferguson who himself was equally as argumentative! He didn’t suffer fools at all in the final years of his life drove away many of his closest friends.
The absence of formal engineering education turned out to be a hidden advantage for Rex McCandless as he steadfastly rejected the notion of a universally accepted approach to solving problems and came up with solutions with simplicity and elegance. The world has much to thank him for including the most excellent Featherbed frame.
Rex McCandless died in 1992 and is buried in Killough, Co. Down.
Information sources:
500race.org
Primotipo
Belfast Telegraph
Discover Ulster Scots
National Library of Ireland Rtex McCandless
progress-is-fine.blogspot.com
thevintagent2011.blogspot.com
To Make a Better Mousetrap: A Biography of the Remarkable Rex McCandless – R. Leslie Jennings
Ulster History Circle
Our thanks to Ray Fox for the photo of the featherbed frame as fitted to his superb 998cc Norvin motorcycle.
