Origin and Development
Howard Forrest, an engineer and former midget car racer, designed and built a 19.2 cubic inches (315 cc) water-cooled four-cylinder engine in 1936. In 1941, Forrest built a motorcycle powered by the engine, and he commuted to work at Gladden on the motorcycle during World War II. Company president John Gladden had Forrest and co-worker Chuck Gardner design a commuter motorcycle based on Forrest's custom bike.
Prototypes built during the war used pre-war Villiers 191 cubic centimetres (11.7 cu in) "Double Century" engines. These were no longer available at the end of the war, so the Mustang Colt, the first production version of the Mustang motorcycle, used a 125 cubic centimetres (7.6 cu in) Villiers engine in a downsized frame. 235 Colts were made before the supply of Villiers engines began to dwindle. Gladden then bought the Busy Bee Company, a manufacturer of small engines, to ensure supply for the Mustang Model 2. The Model 2 was the first motorcycle manufactured in the United States to use telescopic forks.
Forrest built special racing engines for the factory team and built several custom motorcycles based on Mustang frames, including one powered by an Ariel Square Four engine.
Read more about this topic: Mustang (motorcycle)
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