Matchless Motorcycles: After a run from 1899 to 1966, the Brit bike brand has been little more than a T-shirt logo for the past few years. But, that might be about to change.
The owners of the Matchless marque want to put the brand back in production. Currently, there are two companies with rights to the Matchless name. The Malenotti family uses the logos and branding as a hook to sell pricey clothes, but now they’re cooperating with the Original Matchless Motorcycle Company Ltd., trying to raise money to build bikes again.
The new bike will be called the Model X (here’s a look at it when it first appeared at EICMA in 2014). It will be powered by a 1900 cc V-twin.
The owners are hoping to produce two new versions of that bike, and plan raising approximately $7 million USD to fund the effort. To do that, they’re issuing five-year bonds with a 6% annual interest rate. The bonds will be issued through Karadoo. More details on the bonds can be found here, if you’re interested in investing.
If the funding drive is successful, the motorcycles will be hand-built in the UK. which gives you an idea what sort of price tag to expect. The premium version (dubbed the Matrix X Reloaded) will carry an £80,000 MSRP. The lower-priced machine (known as the Matchless TT) will sell for £40,000
Well, those just got a lot cheaper!
More ways for money spinners to sell clothing, raise capital and find tax write offs nothing more. Nothing will happen past bike show models and prototypes.
Didn’t Matchless make a minor resurgence in the 1980s with a 500cc single or something? It was another dismal failure from what I remember, as this one is doomed to be.
And its a big ‘maybe’.