Big brother to the AJS 7R, with its roots right back to the 1928 'K7' single overhead camshaft roadster, the Matchless G50 was a machine introduced 'too late' for real Grand Prix laurels or even – dare one say it – a World Championship title, the 496cc G50 nonetheless had a remarkable career international-level road racing in its day, and is still hugely popular in Vintage racing throughout the world. Graced with only a single camshaft as compared with its chief rival's two (the Norton 'Manx'), the 'flying M' was still a worthy successor and competitor of its equally historically-rooted rival.
When introduced by parent company AMC in 1958, the G50 was immediately popular, and while slightly less sophisticated than its Norton rival, it was nonetheless 30lbs lighter (thus more agile), and far simpler to maintain for the average club racer.
