AJ Stevens & Co. AJS Motorcycle History

The A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd. was founded in 1909 by four brothers - George, Harry, Jack (John) and Joe Stevens, of Wolverhampton, England. The 'AJS' name stood for the initials of Jack Stevens' full name 'Albert John Stevens.'


The Stevens brothers began by working at the Stevens Screw Company, started by their father Joseph Stevens in the late 1800s. Joe senior built small 125cc 'Wearwell-Stevens' motorcycle engines through around 1905, when his sons began building their own motorcycles using J.A. Prestwich (JAP) engines.

AJS built its first production motorcycle, the 'Model A,' in 1911, using their own proprietary single-cylinder 292cc side-valve motor which produced 2.75 hp. By 1912, AJS introduced its first V-Twin powered 698cc three-speed 'Model D,' which produced 6 hp.
After several victories at the Junior TT, AJS was receiving more orders than it could fill, so the company built a new factory (the Graiseley Hill Works) at Graiseley Hill and Penn Road in Wolverhampton.

Throughout the 1920s, AJS produced several successful models, from the 349cc single-cylinder 'Big Port' launched in 1923, to the 349cc model 'K7' in the late 1920s. The K7 was a racing version with a chain-driven OHC engine. These were followed by the 498cc OHC model 'K10,' and 'M10.'



Matchless Purchases AJS
In the early 1920s, AJS decided to dabbled in automobile, and bus manufacturing, but sales never reached expectations, and the company's fortunes declined. In 1931, AJS introduced its last motorcycle under the A. J. Stevens & Company banner, which was a shaft-driven 496cc V-Twin called the 'S3.'

These ventures were ultimately unsuccessful, and in 1931 AJS ceased operations, declaring bankruptcy. The 'AJS' name and motorcycle assets were purchased by Collier & Sons, owners of the 'Matchless' motorcycle company, and the AJS car division was sold to Crossley Motors in Manchester.

The AJS name was worth continuing, due to their many accumulated world records, but the AJS 'Graiseley Hill Works' was sold to the Star Aluminium Company Ltd. and the Wolverhampton Die Castings Company shortly after AJS' sale to Matchless.



AJS V4 500 'Vee 4'
In an effort to create something unique, that would properly utilize the AJS name, Collier & Sons launched the 'Vee 4' touring bike in 1935. Designed by Bert Collier, the Vee 4 had a unique, and technologically advanced 500cc 50º chain-driven SOHC engine, with exposed 'hairpin' valve springs. The AJS Vee 4 was an offshoot of another v-four Collier engine design - the 1931 593cc Matchless 'Silver Hawk.'
By 1936, AJS introduced a racing version of the Vee 4, using a supercharger designed by Swiss engineer Arnold Zoller. The supercharged V4 produced 55hp, and had a top speed of 135mph, and was designed to compete against BMW's supercharged racers.

Between 1936 and 1939, the AJS Vee 4 set several records, breaking the 100 mph lap speed record at the Ulster Grand Prix. During the last model year for the Vee 4 in 1939, a liquid-cooled cast alloy engine was produced, using enclosed valve springs.

The followup to the V4 was the AJS 'Porcupine,' which was a supercharged 500cc parallel-twin, but when the International Motorcycling Federation's (FIM) new racing regulations banned the use of 'forced induction' engine modifications in 1946, the supercharged Porcupine was discontinued.

Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, AJS built several notable racers, from the 7R to the 1951 7R3, using three valves per cylinder. AJS went on to build several road bikes, such as the 750cc AJS 'Model 33,' and 2-stroke off-road dirt bikes such as the 250 and 410 'Stormer,' and 'MX' motocross bike.



The End for AJS
Charlie and Harry Collier formed 'Associated Motor Cycles' (AMC) in 1938, and Matchless (AMC) continued to build motorcycles under the AJS name through the 1960s. In 1966, AMC was sold to Norton-Villiers parent company, Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC of Coventry, England.

By 1974, Norton-Villers also reached the end of its financial rope, and a bailout from the British government formed NVT (Norton-Villiers-Triumph) from the failed companies. NVT was also short-lived, going into receivership in late 1974.