The Robert Lusk Motorcycle Collection, 1920 Matchless 1,000cc IOE Model H with Boat Sidecar

• Fascinating one-off sidecar boat outfit, complete with original outboard motor
• Ingeniously conceived and hand-built by inventor Cecil Downer-Groves, with copies of period photographs on file
• Restored by noted collector Cyril Giachardi in 1978
• Well-documented history and presented in beautifully preserved condition – ready for land or water adventures


Conceived from the outset as a sidecar partner, the 998cc side-valve Matchless Model H excelled in the role for which it was designed, its leaf-sprung, pivoted-fork frame ideally suited to hauling a chair. Few, however, can ever have been paired with a sidecar as unusual as the one attached to this example.

The dinghy body and ingenious outboard motor were the creation of Cecil Downer-Groves, a Jamaican-born inventor of British parentage who arrived in the UK in 1897 at the age of 17. Trained as a pattern maker, he became a compulsive innovator with a string of patents covering everything from vending machines to airframe stress-testing devices. Constructed entirely from scratch by Downer-Groves – including the outboard unit with variable-pitch propeller blades – the sidecar has survived complete with its original fixtures and fittings, oars, and canvas covers. Period photographs on file show the sidecar attached to a CD-G's original Matchless (London registration XC 3513 – known to have survived into the 1970s until having its registration removed), as well as afloat, while further images depict the chair's construction.

Sea fishing was one of Downer-Groves' passions, and he was adept at making his own tackle, rods and reels. Frustrated by the increasing numbers of bathers along the Sussex shoreline in the 1930s, he devised a way to fish further offshore. Using prime ash shaped with a steam box, he built the small sailing dinghy at his Thornton Heath home, transporting it the 60 miles to Shoreham by attaching it to the bare sidecar frame of his Matchless. Ingeniously, the boat could be mounted or removed with ease, and he also provided interchangeable bodies – with a conventional sidecar for everyday use. To extend his range, Cecil went a step further, designing and building a 100cc two-stroke outboard motor with his trademark reversible-pitch propeller, cast in gunmetal and filed by hand. Launched at Shoreham in June 1938, the boat promptly capsized with all three members of the Downer-Groves family aboard, yet thereafter gave many years of fishing pleasure until Cecil, aged 80, reluctantly retired from the pastime in 1959.

None of the registration documents on file record the frame number for the Matchless. The green continuation logbook, dating from 1971 and listing well-known collector Cyril Giachardi of Billericay, Essex, has a blank for the frame number, while the current V5C also makes no reference to it (none being located at the time of cataloguing). On file are copies of photographs taken when Cyril sold the outfit at Bonhams' October 2002 Stafford Sale (Lot 360).

The Matchless is powered by the robust inlet-over-exhaust (IOE) V-twin engine supplied by the Swiss firm M.A.G. Restored by Cyril in 1978, it remains in good condition throughout and carries its original registration number, reclaimed thanks to an original number-plate and a 1955 Motor Cycling article depicting the machine with then-owner Mr Barnard of East Ham, London, who had kept it for 35 years and was celebrated as one of Britain's oldest motorcyclists.

Robert Lusk took great delight in this wonderfully eccentric outfit, which combines engineering ingenuity with charm and a sense of fun. Presented today in beautifully preserved condition, it is offered with the aforementioned paperwork, continuation logbook, a letter from Cyril Giachardi to Colin Seeley detailing recovery of the registration and his knowledge about the chair, V5C, and later copies of period and family photographs. A delightful and fascinating machine, it is ready for someone to once again take it from the road to the water.

Prospective buyers should please note that whilst Robert actively started and maintained his collection, all machines are offered as requiring recommissioning to a greater or lesser extent.
Key not required