Matchless G-12 - Specifications & Review

Company History

Matchless helped define British motorcycling’s formative decades, from TT victories in the 1900s to post-war roadsters that carried workers and soldiers home. The brand’s G80 singles and G9/G12 twins paired dignified styling with tractable performance, while the AMC era saw platform sharing with AJS and cooperative dealer networks. As Japanese reliability and performance surged in the 1960s, AMC faltered and the marque faded, but its machines remain prized for mechanical clarity and period grace—magnetos, primary chains, and alloy cases you can read with your hands. Modern revival attempts have focused on fashion and limited customs, yet the core identity persists in vintage clubs and restored iron: purposeful motorcycles that reward smoothness and maintenance rituals. Historically, Matchless is a pillar—part of the grammar from which later roadsters and scramblers learned proportion, sound, and the pleasure of an engine that speaks through the bars.