A perfect PANTHER
In 1911, Phelon & Moore claimed to have created ‘the perfected motorcycle’, advertising hype which might, with hindsight, have been just a tiny bit premature. Half a century later, it must’ve been easy for the fast lads of the 1960s, sitting astride their Bonnevilles and Gold Stars and Dominators, to scoff at the slow-revving heavyweight singles. As our own Editor once said, ‘they are undeniably primitive, even by the standards of the day.’
But – like Vincent, Douglas and Velocette – P&M did things in their own inimitable way, experimenting with innovative engineering which the mass market manufacturers simply wouldn’t risk. So perhaps we can (with not inconsiderable kindness) consider P&M’s statement to be an ambition; an admirable intention to achieve excellence in an industry where the parameters are permanently developing.
Indeed, in the years immediately after WW2, the big Panthers appeared to be on a par with their high-capacity single-cylinder opposition. Or, as P&M put it in 1948, the Model 100 was ‘the finest machine in its class. Developed over a longer period than any other motorcycle, the 600cc Panther is now perfected in every detail and will remain in production indefinitely.
‘Ask the man who owns one,’ said P&M’s advert. So we did…
‘After finishing my apprenticeship in 1994, I took off to go travelling,’ says Dan, owner of the 1950 Model 100 you see here, who lives in
