I’m at the top of New Zealand’s South Island in Takaka, having ridden up through the drizzly Lewis Pass yesterday on my new Royal Enfield Classic 350. The little bike, incidentally, performed admirably on the 500km trip, and my ageing posterior was no sorer than it would have been on any other bike.
I’m here to talk to my mate Des Molloy about his 27 horsepower, 1965, 645cc Panther Model 120. We sit under cover from the rain beside Des’s Man Cave, which is an absolute treasure trove of old motorcycles and related goodies. He swears he can put his hand on anything, but I have my doubts as the place is (how can I put it kindly) ‘marvellously chaotic.’
It would be fair to say that motorcycle adventurer and author Des loves to talk, especially about his passion, which is motorcycling in general and Penelope the Panther in particular. I also know that Des’s knowledge on both subjects is encyclopaedic. My opening therefore of: “So tell me about Penelope,” is unnecessary as he’s chomping at the bit.
“Penelope’s not glamorous, she’s just an old fashioned, working-class girl. Not unlike Yorkshire people I suppose,” he begins. “Although built in 1965, her lineage goes back to the 1930s.”
Des remembers, while attending a Panther Rally in Yorkshire, visiting the pub in Cleckheaton, located near the site of the old factory. Old Panther workers would flock there to see the bikes they’d helped to build. A historian took Des aside and introduced him to the chap who had built her crankshaft. Says Des: “This guy had literally breathed life into Penelope. You wouldn’t get that with a mass-produced Honda.”
Phelon and Moore manufactured motorcycles from 1904 to 1967 in Yorkshire. Initially known as ‘P&M’, they were
