Philip Conrad Vincent was born in Fulham, England, on 14 March 1908. His mother, Ada Vincent, travelled from Argentina to England for his birth to secure British citizenship. The family owned a cattle ranch in Córdoba, Argentina, between Monte Buey and Monte Maize. Vincent began his education at St. George's, a British Preparatory School in Quilmes, Buenos Aires, before being sent to live with his uncle in Essex, England, continuing his education alongside cousins and other local children. He attended Downsend Preparatory School, Leatherhead, and later Harrow School, where he first became interested in motorcycles.
Vincent purchased a secondhand 350cc BSA in 1924, which he found unsatisfactory, and subsequently acquired an ABC. He designed his first motorcycle in 1925. In 1928, backed by his family’s cattle ranching business, he acquired the HRD trademark, goodwill, and remaining spares. The first Vincent-HRD motorcycle, featuring a JAP single-cylinder engine and Vincent’s own cantilever frame, appeared that same year. Early models also utilized Rudge-Python engines.
In 1934, following engine problems and the failure of all three entries to finish the Isle of Man TT, Vincent, with Phil Irving, decided to build their own engines. The first Vincent-powered motorcycle, the 499cc Comet, was launched in 1935, followed by the 998cc Series A Rapide in 1936. During World War II, motorcycle production ceased, and Vincent and Irving designed the Series B twin-cylinder engine with an integral gearbox, which would power the Series B Rapide after the war, as well as the Black Shadow and Black Lightning models. In 1949, the HRD logo was dropped to avoid confusion with Harley Davidson in the American market.
Vincent also experimented with three-wheeled vehicles, including the “Vincent Bantam” – a 2.5 cwt delivery van powered by a JAP or Villiers engine – which appeared in 1932, but production ceased in 1936.
After the commercial failure of Vincent Motorcycles in 1955, Philip Vincent worked on small industrial engines, leaving his Stevenage factory in 1960. He then worked as a car dealer and writer, continuing his technical pursuits with a rotary-engine concept that consumed much of his finances. He collaborated with Roy Harper on several books, including his autobiography, PCV, before suffering strokes and heart problems. Philip Conrad Vincent died on 27 March 1979 at Ashford Hospital in Middlesex following a long illness. His ashes are interred in the family plot at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Horndon-on-the-Hill, Essex.
During the 1960s, Vincent contributed technical articles to motorcycling journals as a freelancer, signing his work as “P.C.V.” in Motorcycle Sport and using his full title, Phil Vincent C Eng, AMI Mech E, AMIPE, in Motor Cycle. His articles included pieces on oils (1964), spring frame design (1966), and a speculative 32-cylinder racer (1967).
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