A Brief History of the Marque
Colin Lyster developed a 500cc twin designed for GP racing in 1968 using two cylinders from an Imp engine and an 8-valve DOHC cylinder head.
After moving from Rhodesia to Britain in the early 60s, Lyster built café-racers using his own frames loosely based on the Norton Featherbed. They were considerably lighter than the factory product.
He also designed and patented a disc brake system which failed to interest the British motorcycle industry, so the patent was sold to Lockheed. In 1968 Honda released their Four, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Colin was suffering a recurrence of kidney problems incurred in a GP crash in Germany and was unable to work effectively for some time. This led to serious financial difficulties and the liquidation of the company in 1968, hours, literally, before the first track tests were to commence.
Lyster moved to New Zealand and became something of a legend in the power-boat racing scene.
Sources: thevintagent.com, Racing Line by Bob Guntrip.
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