PURE TORQUE

Developed in 1958 from the 350cc AJS 7R, the G50 was in many ways a grown-up version of the radically successful 7R. With the engine capacity increased to 500cc (for 50bhp), the G50 was first offered to the privateer in 1959. With only 180 examples ever created, the G50 is one of the rarest examples of classic racing design. Competing against the Norton Manx, its 90.0 x 78.0mm 50bhp engine produced a top speed of 135mph (217kph) which made it slightly slower than the Manx; however, the lighter Matchless could take the day on tight and twisty circuits. It was this that made the G50 a legendary piece of precision race kit. Just as the 7R had achieved a decade or more before, the G50 quickly made itself a good name, being acknowledged as exceptionally quick in the ‘middle-power’ range so essential on twisty circuits. In maintenance costs, too, it found favour with the riders, for it seemed to maintain its tune far better than did the slightly faster 500 ‘Manx’ Norton and spares cost less: always a point with the hard-up chaps who constituted the backbone of the sport. This example is offered with a Rickman frame which extends the racing pedigree of the G50 to another level.