Classic British brand Matchless has been bought by Franco Malenotti, the Italian responsible for the reinvention of Belstaff apparel.   Malenotti has secured the rights to sell under the Matchless name, and has firm plans in place to build replicas of Matchless classics, the G80, Silver Hawk and Silver Arrow - they will be avaliable in Italy and the UK.   There are also plans for a Matchless-branded range of clothing - not surprising considering the new owner's background.   Matchless is one of the oldest brands in British motorcycling, established in 1899 in Plumstead, London. The brand eventually disappeared in 1966 after a series of mergers by holding company AMC swallowed the Matchless name into obscurity. Initial plans extend only to low volume production, although the trend for new versions of retro bikes combined with a successful recapturing of Matchless' traditional reputation for comfort, reliablity and relative affordability might be a winning one.                                                                                                                                                                             

Had a G9 for years so look forward to seeing what gets offered.                                                                                                                                                                               

Low-volume replica of a 1930s British bike sounds like a recipe for a steepish price to me. 
Had a G12 myself once, which gave me one of my major squeaky bum moments when the speedo drive unscrewed itself from the rear hub and locked the back wheel solid at 40mph                                                                                                                                                                             

Hope it dosent go like the royal enfeild have loads being posted on e-bay claiming to be the original when there not.                                                                                                                                                                               

Should name the new bike gutless                                                                                                                                                                             

  From memory, the Silver Hawk was a V4 OHC   Modern materials and internals with higher specs could make this an interesting concept   I look forward to further developments   Oh, and Boris, it's not "always" about raw power and brute force   Sometimes it's nice to have a "soft" and tractable low compression bike to just "pootle" the lanes on                                                                                                                                                                              

Wotcha.

Please don't let it end up like AJS . . . . . the name found on cheaply made tat these days.                                                                                                                                                                             

but it will.                                                                                                                                                                             

You know folks                                                                                                                                                                             

  Well it could prove to be a revelation   If the new Marque owner has taste and integrity   But yes, it could all go horribly wrong                                                                                                                                                                              

  What a bunch of pessimists     Doesn't 'replica' mean 'exact copy of'?  So why would they be different to the originals?                                                                                                                                                                              

  Quite often the term "replica" translates as a euphemism for cheap & nasty copy Sandi   It's not pessimism but healthy cynicism which colours our appraisal   I'm prepared for the worst, hoping for the best and accepting of what comes   Which means that whatever happens, I won't be totally surprised or disappointed                                                                                                                                                                               

  Quite often the term "replica" translates as a euphemism for cheap & nasty copy Sandi     Ah righto Em                                                                                                                                                                              

  You're very welcome Sandi   I like to keep folk up to speed