Regular readers of these notes will know that the timeline is reasonably complete up to 1925 (although more stories and pictures will be added as I come across them and find time to upload them). A change being as good as a rest I’m currently working my way through 1969, that being the year I wobbled onto the road aboard a 1959 Ambassador. But a story published in 1969 by Motor Cycle (which by now had dropped the The) belonged in 1962, so that’s where you’ll find it. This prototype Ariel looks distinctly Leaderish, but you’re looking at an in-line four, complete with luggage equipment, fairing and tidy leading links. No doubt it’s a case of convergent evolution, but you’d almost think the designer of the BMW K100RT had spent some time in Selley Oak. It might have been a final flourish from a great marque; instead we got the Ariel 3. Funny old world, innit?
Motorcycle Timeline 