INDIAN ENFIELD OR ENFIELD INDIAN?
Production of Indian (Springfield, Mass.) V-twins came to an end in 1953, and in 1955 the surviving Indian Sales Corporation signed a five-year contract to sell British Royal Enfields in the United States, badged as Indians. The Bullet became the ‘Woodsman’, the big twin was the ‘Chief’ and so on. Confusingly, 1955 was also the year India (Madras) started manufacturing Enfields, so the term ‘Indian Enfield’ could mean an ‘Enfield’ built in India or an ‘Indian’ built by Enfield at Redditch. The featured ‘Trailblazer’ is the Indian version of the 700cc Super Meteor. These ‘Indians’ were unknown in the UK until it became viable to repatriate British machines by the container-load from the States some years ago. They’re still rare, however, and make an interesting buy for either an Indian or Enfield lover.