This particular example was manufactured in 1953, the final year that Joseph Ehrlich and EMC were solely dedicated to the production of ultra-fast lightweight motorcycles. It was acquired in 1954 by a Christchurch-based speedway engineering company called Uniworld. The bike was first raced around the Bromley cemetery circuit (Christchurch) and then, in 1954, it attained the New Zealand land speed record in its class. Legend has it that the record was achieved with a slipped clutch!
To hear this machine is something else - winding out to 12,000rpm, the yowl is like no other. It would be remiss also not to comment of the overall look of the machine: it is, without doubt, one of the most unlikely and successful designs to be offered in recent years. The ambition of the bike is without question - minimal weight and maximum velocity . However, everything else about the bike in some way challenged the norm of the day - the aesthetics are at once loose and highly spacious from one angle, then pinned and viciously refined from another. The philosophy of ensuring maximum power within the lightest configuration is achieved at the same time as delivering all that is required from a well-fettled race breed. There are few if any reference points for Ehrlich's highly refined and unique machine. Joseph Ehrlich went on to work and consult for a range of race factories for another 25 years, achieving significant success. From 1981, his 250cc EMC motorcycles won four Junior TTs at the Isle of Man, and one of them was the first 250cc machine to break the 110mph lap record. This particular Ehrlich built machine is a rare jewel indeed.