It's a frame up - and a third hit single

Multiple British sidecar champion Colin Seeley bought AMC’s racing department when the company went bust in 1966. The year before he’d built the first Seeley racing frame to house a Matchless G50 engine, and the AMC purchase allowed him to produce complete Seeley G50 and 7Rs. With these frames - note the then revolutionary direct run from headstock to swing arm pivot - the ancient four-stroke singles enjoyed renewed competitiveness, Dave Croxford winning the British 500 Championship on a Seeley G50 in 1968 and '69. The Seeley frame progressed from the duplex cradle original to the similar but lighter Mark 2 (seen here), before the down-tubes were abandoned altogether with the Mark 3. Introduced in May 1972, the Mark 4 featured a revised tubing layout and continued in production until 1973. The straight frame tube from head stock to swing arm pivot seems obvious now and, with Kobas, led to the ubiquitous beam frame. But at the time almost everybody else was still in thrall to the Featherbed style loop frame. Bonhams again provide the snaps

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