This machine is the product of one remarkable man, the legendary Fred Marsh, a dedicated enthusiast best remembered for his home-built, Moto Guzzi-inspired V8.
A fitter and turner at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Southampton, Marsh had witnessed the MV Agusta and Gilera fours’ rise to dominance in the late 1940s and early 1950s and, in the absence of a response from the British motorcycle industry, he set about creating his own version.
Marsh started design work on the four in 1953, though the machine wasn’t run until 1962.
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With the exception of suitably modified Triumph Terrier cylinder heads, chosen partly because of their 75-degree valve angle that permitted the use of MV-type cams, all other parts were designed and made by Fred, including the necessary wooden patterns for all the major castings.
Read more in the June issue of TCM – on sale now!
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