Yet Enfields were rebadged as Indians until 1959, when the Indian name was finally droppped from motorcycles altogether, although dealerships still carried the Matchless/Indian name. The prime, and last example, was the Enfiled “Chief” which sold as late as 1960. It was based on the then current 700cc twin, but fitted with all the Indian Chief paraphernalia such as 16-inch wheels and deep guards, spotlilghts and fringed saddlebags.

Associated Motorcycles of Britian, which made AJS and Matchless, bought the Indian name in 1960. Three years later, in 1963, the US distributorship of AMC passed into the hands of the Berliner Motor Corporation and all references to the Indian name were quietly and finally removed.

Although the detail of the deal is still ambiguous - leading to much of the dispute over the ownership of the Indian name - The Indian Sales Corporation passed into Floyd Clymer’s cashed-up hands in the mid-1960’s.

It had been his plan since 1953 to resurrect the Indian name and, now that he “owned” it, he set about producing new Indians. The intention was that this would keep the name alive while he set up a new company to build machines from scratch. During 1967, Clymer took over distributorship of Freidl Munch’s NSU-powered Mammoth motorcycles and for a while marketed them as Indians. In return, Munch retooled to produce the old 750cc side-valve V-twin which was housed in a Munch chassis and labelled the Scout.

Although well received at the Motorcycle Show in 1967, only one Clymer/Munch Indian Scout was ever made.

Clymer continued to keep the Indian name alive by importing and rebadging Taiwanese minibikes, and meanwhile searched for a new basis for production. By this stage Clymer had moved away from solely American-made products and now searched the world for the best he could find.

The cutting edge of suspension and frame design was in Italy, where the small Italjet company was importing Triumph Bonneville engines and housing them in Leo Tartarini designed and built chassis. Clymer signed up Italjet and, after building prototypes using both Norton and German Horex engines, negotiated to buy engines from the fading Velocette company. Though on its last legs, the 500 Velocette was, even in 1969-70, still among the most desirable of motorcycles.

About 250 of these 500cc Velocette Indians were built and sold and were said to be better handling machines than Velos themselves. Advantages of the Velocette Indian included a better frame and suspension package than standard, 35 pounds less weight and styling which, while less “classic”, continues to stand as one of the finest pieces of late 1960’s design.

Of these, 200 went to the United States, 50 stayed in Britain, to be sold by Geoff Dodkin.

Indian Velos came in both Venom and Thruxton states of tune, pumping out a respectable 27.5 and 30.5kW respectively. A road test of an Indian Velo in 1974 described it as “very fast and good handling, and... as rare as hen’s teeth and worth a small fortune.

Clymer also resurrected the Enfield association, buying 750cc engines from Royal Enfield and housing them in the Tartarini chassis. This MkII model Enfield Interceptor engine produced a very respectable 40kW.

However, Floyd Clymer’s bid to breathe life back into Indian came late in his long and eventful life and he died, in 1970, before he could properly re-establish the marque. When Clymer died, his dream disappeared with him and the future of the Indian as a serious motorcycle came to a halt.

Almost in sympathy, Royal Enfield and Velocette closed their doors in 1971.

Minibikes and mopeds were produced by two companies bearing the Indian name until 1981, after which the once revered moniker was passed to a go-cart manufacturer.

One of the odd consequence of Clymer’s death was that when the Indian Enfield Chief stoppped production, there were about 90 Royal Enfield Interceptor II engines left over and nothing to put them in. The Rickman brothers were asked if they could do something, and produced what became theRickman Enfield.

While not an Indian in any sense, the Rickman Enfield was closely related to the Indian Enfields of the time and is a rare and unusual motorcycle in its own right. The bug of period association having bitten hard, Phillip acquired one of these very competent Rickman Enfields, sort of to act as a cousin to his two Indian Enfield Chiefs.

Phillip would like to hear from fellow owners, or anyone who can contribute information about Floyd Clymer and his Indians. Phillip may be contacted on +61 3 98023898 or Fax +61 3 98863539