Matchless G85 CS
Matchless G85 CS
.When production resumed in 1946, and respective ranges wereby now almost identical, both marques listed trials, scrambles and racingmodels, albeit Ajay had to "make do" with a 350, the 7R, while Matchless filledthe more prestigious 500 Class with the G45; in this instance AJS getting thebetter bargain! Both brands fostered their fair share of off-road "aces": HughViney, Geoff Ward, and Gordon Jackson are but three on the AJS side, whileMatchless signings included the Ratcliffe brothers, Basil Hall, BrianStonebridge and Dave Curtis. The firm's beautifully constructed "works" machines bore only cosmeticresemblance to their over-the-counter offerings; hand-built in the comp shop atPlumstead Road the team machines incorporated many special parts, and had motorsthat were the envy of main rivals BSA. Nevertheless an AMC "works" scramblerdidn't suit everyone; looking back only three riders were fully capable ofharnessing these machines, namely Ward, Stonebridge, and Curtis, for even thefactory bikes retained the less than perfect handling characteristics of thestandard G80CS-series production machine. It goes without saying that all threemembers of AMC's factory Scrambles Team were immensely strong! As sold to the public the stock model G80CS was very overweight compared with a"works" bike, or a standard Gold Star, nor did it handle as well but they werereasonably quick and reliable. Factory bosses unfortunately were so remote frompress and customer criticism inasmuch the G80CS continued in production from1956 to 1965, during which time it received a minimum of modifications and/orimprovements.Finally in 1966, and believed to have been triggered by the popularity of BBCTV's Grandstand Scrambles, the penny dropped. In what was an unprecedentedreaction AMC introduced the G85CS, a genuinely new model with a purpose-designedframe, alloy fuel tank, ultra light hubs, and a set of cycle parts requiring nofurther modifications. Less than 200 were built for sale, but thus mounted, VicEastwood, Chris Horsfield, and Dave Nicol enjoyed many successes.