Associated Motor Cycles

Associated Motor Cycles
legal form
founding	1938
resolution	1966
Reason for dissolution	takeover
Seat	United Kingdom
management	Collier brothers
Branch	Motorcycle manufacturer

Associated Motor Cycles ( AMC ) was a British motorcycle manufacturer that existed from 1938 to 1966. The company was founded by the Collier brothers as a holding company for the motorcycle brands Matchless and AJS . Francis-Barnett , James and Norton joined them later . In the mid-1960s, the company was integrated into Norton-Villiers .

history

1931-1945

In 1931 AJS was bought out by the owners of Matchless, the Collier brothers. In 1937, Sunbeam was taken over by Imperial Chemical Industries . The Matchless Motor Cycles Company name was changed to Amalgamated Motor Cycles Ltd in 1937 and again to Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) in 1938 . AMC itself wasn't actually a motorcycle manufacturer itself, but rather a parent company for various motorcycle manufacturers, such as Matchless, AJS, Norton, James, Francis-Barnett, Sunbeam and others.

1939 was an AJS V4 with four-cylinder - V engine built with 495 cc capacity, against the dominant racing motorcycles from BMW should compete with their supercharged engines. This year, the water-cooled and supercharged V4 with dry sump lubrication was the first motorcycle to reach average speeds of over 160 km / h on the Ulster Grand Prix circuit . The motorcycle weighed 184 kg. Its top speed was determined to be 217 km / h. Then came the Second World War . During the war, Matchless built 80,000 '' G3 '' and '' G3 / L '' models for the British armed forces. In 1943, AMC sold the Sunbeam name to BSA .

1945–1966

Among the most important post-war motorcycles from AMC are the single-cylinder models from Matchless and AJS with a displacement of 350 or 500 cc, developed from the Matchless G3. In 1946, Freddie Clark joined AMC as Triumph's chief developer . In 1947 the company bought Francis-Barnett and in 1951 James. In 1949 the first two-cylinder models from Matchless / AJS with a displacement of 500 cm³ were created. In 1956 there were 600 cm³ models based on the same pattern and in 1959 there were 650 cm³ models. For racing, AMC brought the AJS Porcupine (500 cm³, horizontal two-cylinder), the AJS 7R (350 cm³ single cylinder with overhead camshaft ), the Matchless G50 (500 cm³ variant of the AJS 7R) and in 1951 the Matchless G45 (500 cm³ two-cylinder ) out. The AJS Porcupine was designed for supercharging, but the new regulations forbade supercharged engines. Nevertheless, Les Graham won the motorcycle world championship in 1949 with the suction version of the 500 AJS Porcupine.

In 1951, AJS engineer Ike Hatch developed a version of the 7R with a 75.5 mm bore × 78 mm stroke and a three-valve cylinder head that delivered 36 bhp (26.5 kW). The machine was called AJS 7R3 and was Hatche's answer to the Italian multi-cylinder racers . These machines were very successful in the first year, but not so in the second. In 1954, Jack Williams , head of the factory racing team, developed the machine further by installing the engine further down the frame and having it tuned so that it reached 40 bhp (29 kW) at 7800 rpm. submitted. The new machine immediately won the first two races of the world championship and the Isle of Man TT . One of these special machines has survived to this day and a second was rebuilt from spare parts. In 1953 there were a number of Matchless and AJS Clubman single-cylinder models with 350 and 500 cc and the Matchless G45 was produced as a production racer.

In 1952, the AMC empire was expanded by taking over Norton. 1958 there was AJS / Matchless single cylinder model with 250 cm³. Competitive models of single-cylinder models have been built since 1948, which have secured AMC many notable victories.

At the end of 1954, after the death of Ike Hatch, AMC withdrew from the world of factory and prototype races, also because of the increasing competition from other European motorcycle brands. Instead, they built Production Racer versions of the Norton Manx and the “normal” AJS 7R for private drivers.

In 1958 the AJS / Matchless road racing machines were joined by the 250 and in 1960 the 350 for the “Lightweight” class.

Associated Motor Cycles Ltd. dated July 27, 1961

In 1960, chief designer Bert Hopwood quit and went to Triumph. In the same year, AMC only had a corporate profit of £ 200,000 which was extremely small compared to BSA's £ 3.5 million. In 1961 they even made a loss of £ 350,000. With the closure of the Norton plant in Birmingham in 1962 and the merger of the Norton and Matchless production, the future looked rather bleak. In the 1960s, AMC decided to concentrate on the production of the Norton twin-cylinder and the Matchless / AJS single-cylinder due to further sales slumps. However, the strategy was unsuccessful and production soon had to be stopped completely.

Some models were thrown together from parts of the different brands on the order of American dealers. The Americans wanted to take part in desert races, so Berliner AMC sent a custom motorcycle with a 750 cc engine from Norton and the frame of the Matchless G80CS and asked them to build them a few copies. This was the last Matchless, Model G15 with a 748 cc engine; it was also sold as the AJS Model 33 and the Norton P11 . The Matchless G15 was built until 1969. In the United Kingdom there was a Mark 2 version from 1964.

The Matchless and AJS brands were known for their good-natured driving behavior, their comfort, their reliability and their economy. Unfortunately, this was not enough for long-term market success. As the low sales figures continued, AMC was integrated into a new company, Norton-Villiers , in 1966 .

The end

In the late 1960s, increasing competition from Japan led to an ever faster decline in the British motorcycle industry. In 1966, AMC collapsed and was taken over by Norton-Villiers, a Maganese Bronze company. The postponed the problems for a short time and in 1974 Norton-Villiers also had to be dissolved. With financial help from the United Kingdom, Norton was reestablished under the name Norton Villiers Triumph (NVT), with the new company including large parts of BSA, but the name BSA was renounced out of consideration for Triumph. NVT also went bankrupt in 1974 because of disputes with the union .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Shaft Drive Sunbeam Motorcycles . ClassicGlory.co.uk.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 1, 2014.  
2. ↑ RealClassic AJS 7R3 . RealClassic.co.uk. ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 21, 2006.  
3. ↑ Norton P11A on display . RealClassic.co.uk. ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 25, 2006.