SEELEY CONDOR
The most expensive bike around when launched half a century ago
Fifty years ago, in January 1971, Colin Seeley created something of a sensation in the Motor Cycle News Speed Centre at the 10-day Olympia CMCA Industries Association trade show, when he unveiled his brand new Seeley Condor road bike.
Not only was the show-stopping Matchless G50-powered café racer an incredibly beautiful looking and powerful machine, but its projected price tag of over £1000 also made it the most expensive road-going production machine in the UK at that time. Seeley was an AMC dealer, and in 1966 purchased all the tooling and spares from AMC’S racing AJS, Matchless and Norton brands. He sold the Manx Norton spares business on to John Tickle, but began producing ready-to-race 500cc Matchless G50 and AJS 350cc single-cylinder machines using his own lightweight rolling chassis. By doing this, Seeley effectively prolonged the life of the British racing single by several years. But the wave of modern Japanese racing machines had already begun to threaten, hence his inspired idea to produce a version of the G50 for the road.
Writing in his excellent book, Colin Seeley and the Rest (Redline Books, 2008), Seeley said: “I had modest plans for a new model, a road-legal version of or G50 racer. I had realised that, in the longer term, the writing was on the wall for our G50 competition machine, and as the engine was such a proven unit, it would be a shame to see its complete demise.”
Seeley was busy with his range of complete race bikes and chassis kits, so production of the Condor was limited. At the time of the launch, Seeley revealed that the Condor was initially an export-only proposition, though he did accept that the intention was for the bike to be sold to UK customers in the long term.
Although the bike was based upon Seeley’s successful racing machines, it wasn’t simply a racer for the road. Weighing in at just 310lb complete, the Condor featured a slightly modified version of the famous Matchless G50 overhead cam, single-cylinder racing engine, producing 45bhp at 6500rpm to give an estimated top speed of 120mph.
Seeley explained in the pages of MCN: “We haven’t done much to the engine, except to bring down the compression ratio and fit a Concentric carburettor to make it that bit more flexible for the road.”
But the actual conversion from racer to roadster was a little more involved than that. In his book, Seeley expanded on the changes: “The prototype was my personal project and I threw myself into it with enthusiasm. Converting a road bike into a competitive machine meant throwing away anything not required, but building a roadster from a racer was a more difficult task. So much needed to be added or altered: lights, dynamo, primary chaincase, dual seat, pillion footrests, silencer, kickstarter, speedo, centrestand, so many bits and pieces.”
The only major non-seeley part fitted to the machine was the Norton primary chaincase, but Seeley said that once production had got underway the intention was to replace it with an alloy case of his own design, to house an alternator in place of the dynamo that was fitted to the 1971 show bike.
The show bike was originally equipped with a four-speed racing gearbox, adapted to take a kickstarter mechanism, but Seeley’s intention was to fit five-speeders when the customer bikes were built.
The bike featured a central one-gallon oil tank, the idea being, said Colin at the time, to “ensure six or seven pints circulated through the engine and to keep the temperature of the lubricant down, especially in hotter climates.”
All the bodywork – tank, seat unit, front mudguard – was finished in a striking ‘flame orange’, while the exhaust system was designed by none other than Dr Gordon Blair of Queen’s University, Belfast. Seeley and Blair worked together on other racing projects, including a Seeley-framed QUB 500cc two-stroke single racer.
Seeley and his staff struggled to come up with a name for the road bike, until one day – according to his book – he casually picked up his son’s Eagle comic. He said: “I came across a story in there about an American vulture with one of the largest wingspans in the world, certainly a bird that would make you sit up and take notice: the Condor. I decided on the name immediately, and hoped people would notice our Seeley Condor once it was up and flying.”
Seeley’s Condor brochure pictures were shot in Farnborough Park, an estate between Orpington and Bromley, owned by Bernie Ecclestone. At the time, Seeley was in negotiation with Ecclestone to merge Motor Racing Developments, the manufacturers and entrants of Brabham racing cars – which he was in the process of buying – and Colin Seeley Racing Developments into one company.
Soaring into the 21st century
Just over five years ago, at the 18th edition of the Salon Moto Legende in Paris in November 2015, another Seeley Condor created an impression – this time a replica, handcrafted by Atelier Chatokhine. The Chatokhine family business, based in Oerray, near Chartres, specialises in British bikes
and this replica (shown above) was built from parts and so beautifully executed that Colin Seeley gave it his seal of approval and was at the show for the bike’s unveiling.
Seeley said: “We built seven Condors, all sold in this orange colour. I know our original bike is with an owner in New Hampshire, but have no idea about the rest. “Two years ago, Frank [Chatokhine] approached me to say he was part-way through a Seeley Condor project and he’d like me to come to the launch. He sent me pictures of the build progress and then the final images. They’ve created this bike from scratch and it’s so perfectly done.”
Seeley took a month to build his first Condor. The replica Condor was four years in the making and represented a dream come true for builder Frank, who explained: “When I was a child I saw a picture of a Condor and it looked so different, but I never saw one in the flesh to fully understand
it. I’ve always had a dream to eventually build one.
“We built the bike from original pictures, using a Titchmarsh frame and a G50 engine from Mick Taberer. Two years ago I met with Colin and asked, if we built it nicely, would he give his approval? It’s such an honour to have him come here for the launch.”
As per the original, the Taberer-built G50 had lowered compression for road use, while Frank added a decompressor for ease of starting.
At the unveiling, Frank added: “Colin was super-emotional when he saw the completed bike on Friday. And I was honoured to have Colin’s approval. It’s great when a customer is really happy with their bike, but for Colin to be so impressed with the work means so much.”
• Colin Seeley passed away on January 7, 2020.
He was 84 years old.