The Velocette MAC is a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

made by

Velocette Velocette is a range of motorcycles made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling almost as many hand-built motorcycles during ...

. A reliable single-cylinder, the MAC coped well with the low-grade post war petrol and was a popular commuter and touring motorcycle. Although they started as innovators, Velocette failed to keep pace with developing technology and production ended in 1959.

Before World War II

The first version of the Velocette MAC was launched in 1933 and was developed from the overhead valve Velocette MOV 250cc, which suffered from reliability problems. The single-cylinder engine was enlarged to 349 cc and could comfortably reach . The early MAC weighed and had

girder A girder () is a Beam (structure), beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a sta ...

front forks.

Wartime models

MAC (WD)

In October 1939 a Velocette MAC was purchased by the British

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

Army Mechanisation Experimental Establishment (MEE) at

Cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

for testing its suitability for military use. As well as British observers there were also representatives of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

present. The tests were successful but a number of modifications were suggested and in 1940 the Velocette MAC was modified into a military specification. Velocette's first order for the military version was from the

French Government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

but the contract for 1,200 motorcycles was cancelled after the French capitulation. Only one was delivered before the French were overrun by the advancing

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

. The British

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

asked for some further modifications and took over the French order in June 1940. The Velocette was designated the MAC (WD), the WD coming from "War Department", although it was often referred to as the MDD as this was the prefix for the serial numbers. The MAC (WD) had an upgraded clutch and the pressed-steel front brake drum was replaced by cast iron fittings which became standard for the later MAC models, due to the shortage of aluminium which was needed for aircraft manufacture. Other modifications included a protective shield bolted to the frame over the crankcase. A strong carrying rack replaced the rear pillion seat and the headlamp was masked to comply with blackout regulations. The MDD could cope well with battlefield conditions, but Velocette's limited production facilities meant it was a difficult to keep up production and by September 1942 the MDD order was cancelled and the factory turned over to other War work. As there were a fairly small number in service both the Velocette MAC (WD) and the improved MAF were largely used by British-based forces, including the Fire Service and

Civil Defence Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, ...

organisations, as well as the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

The 'missing' WDs

A myth persists that a large consignment of Velocette MAC (WD) intended for use in France was lost in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

while being delivered. An order for 200 MAC (WD)'s was placed in July 1940 for delivery to the Central Ordnance Department at

Chilwell Chilwell is a suburban area in the borough of Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, England. It lies on the west side of the town of Beeston and is south-west of the centre of Nottingham. History Roman buildings, pottery and coins have been found i ...

but the order was never fulfilled, probably due to lack of capacity at the Velocette factory. When MAC (WD)'s were returned to civilian use after the war they often had the MDD engine and serial numbers ground off and replaced with later numbers, reinforcing the idea that they had been mysteriously lost without trace.

MAF

The Velocette MAF had the foot gear change mechanism reversed to make it the same as the other military motorcycles in use at the time. An order for 2,000 was placed in June 1941 but problems with Velocette's supplies and the limited production facilities meant that it was a difficult order to fulfil. By September 1942 they had only delivered 947 motorcycles and the order was cancelled.

Post war

MAC production restarted after the war. In 1948 the MAC's girder forks were replaced with innovative air-sprung Dowty Oleomatic forks. In 1951 these were upgraded to Veloce 'tele forks' which were developed for the

Velocette LE The Velocette LE is a motorcycle made by Veloce Ltd from 1948 to 1971. The designation LE stood for "little engine". Used by over fifty British Police forces, the police riders became known as "Noddies" because they were required to nod to se ...

. These had coil springs with damping. In the same year the engine was upgraded to an alloy barrel and head with wider fins to improve cooling. For 1953 the MAC was updated with fully adjustable rear suspension, swinging arm and a tube frame. The clutch and gearbox were also greatly improved. They exhaust muffler was also changed for that years MAC Model from the typical "Fishtail" style to a "Burgess" style. From 1954 the MAC was sold as a sidecar machine to try to broaden the appeal but production was halted by 1960. The company had invested £50,000 developing the Velocette Viceroy scooter and, despite continued sales of the singles, Velocette became insolvent.

References

External links

* {{YouTube, id=ylz596cGSh4, title=Velocette MAC 350cc
Velocette MAC engine detail

Picture of Velocette MAC (WD)

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

Military motorcycles