One of Britain's earliest motorcycle manufacturers, Matchless
was founded by the Collier family in 1899. Brothers Harry and Charlie both
raced successfully, with Charlie Collier winning the inaugural Isle of
Man TT race in 1907. The firm enjoyed considerable success and in 1931
took the AJS marque under it's control, later forming the AMC group and
then post-war absorbing Norton to eventually become Norton-Villiers. Prominent
models included the AJS 7R 350cc racer and it's bigger brother, the Matchless
G50. Probably the most famous model was the supercharged overhead cam V
four dubbed the "Porcupine" which was mothballed forever at the onset of
war in 1939.
After 1949 Matchless and AJS models were virtually identical. Late model
Matchless models included parallel twins of 500 and 600cc (the G11, this
author's first bike), the 650cc G12 with centre-bearing crank, and the
Norton based G15 of 750cc which saw the marque's swan song in 1969.
Matchless 350 1951
)
)
)
)
)
