AN unlikely LEGEND
Perusing RC 191 I alighted on a fine article from Rowena about the Velocette MAC, in which she referred in passing to the company's GTP model as being 'utility'. What! I nearly spat my Castrol R30 out in disgust. Of course, the GTP is nothing of the sort, but it's an obvious and simple mistake to make. The GTP is a two-stroke motorcycle and everyone knows smaller capacity British strokers are basic machines designed for chimney sweeps and district nurses; not 'proper' motorcyclists who invariably ride heroic four-bangers with their fancy yet unnecessary valve trains.
It wasn't until the 1960s when the pesky Japanese started winning races with their howling buzzbombs that the two-stroke became universally accepted as a credible alternative to the more usual machines; lightweight, simple and cheap Oriental 250s trading blows with heavy and complex 650cc British twins. Long before they forged a reputation as builders of some of the finest sporting motorcycles on the planet (LE, anyone?), the Goodmans made two-strokes, lots of them. The first Velocette-branded models were oil burners, with 'Veloce' being the preserve of the heavier singles.
Appearing for the 1930 season, the all-new GTP was the first model to abandon the overhung-crank design (think Scott) and instead displayed a whopping great external flywheel on the left side of the
