CLASSICS
WORDS AND PHOTOS:
Rhys Jones
P&M PANTHER
f the name Cleckheaton is mentioned
there is a fair chance that someone will
say that’s to do with quality woollens
made in New Zealand. That may well be true,
but the Yorkshire town of Cleckheaton, which
has also been known for wool production,
dates back to the Norman invasion of
England. Why the history lesson? For a good
reason. Two engineering missionaries, Jonah
Phelon and Richard Moore, who probably had
little or nothing to do with wool, used their
initials to name a company called P&M, based
in Cleckheaton in 1903, to manufacture
motorcycles.
P&M’s first motorcycles were distinguished
by a forward inclined engine and two-speed
gears. During World War One P&M bikes were
used by military despatch riders. After the
war, in 1923, a 555cc model was introduced
retaining the forward inclined engine, but
with four speeds. A feature of the design,
which remained for many years, was that the
engine also acted as the front down-tube
connecting the steering head and bottom
bracket. In sports trim the model was called
a Panther, the name the company would
eventually adopt.
In 1924 P&M’s first overhead-valve engine
was listed as a 499cc motor. The Olympia
show of 1926 was captivated by the new
242cc transverse V-twin Panthette. The
design was of unit construction with the
engine and gearbox housed in a horizontally
split casting. In 1933 the company released
a cut-price Red Panther, which was very
popular, selling for less than thirty British
pounds. The model served its many owners
until the Second World War, and after. It was
robust, reliable by standards of the day, and
considered a very good basic machine.
The Panther that wins the longevity stakes,
however, seems to be the Model 100. The
London motorcycle show report of 1960
said of the 100, “The range of four-strokes
includes the 598cc Model 100, beyond any
shadow of a doubt the machine with the
longest production history in the motorcycle
industry. Largest of all is the 645cc Model
120 of 1959 which is basically the same as the
Model 100 de Luxe.” The Model 100 was first
released in 1928, although its origins may go
back even further.
P&M machines and riders
ready for competition in 1913