The original Quasar featured in the Top Gear programme was owned by enthusiast Mark Crowson, who embarked upon preserving and improving the Quasar heritage left by the late Malcolm Newell and the late John Malfoy. The item was written and presented by bike journalist Paul Blezard who bought a Quasar of his own in 2005 and sold it in 2010 to buy Ian Pegram's Genesis, a kind of modern Quasar with the safety features of BMW's C1 roofed scooter. The same programme also featured the first public outing of Royce Creasey's prototype Voyager, which was a roofless development of the Quasar, and the Oekomobil/Ecomobile fully enclosed motorcycle made in Switzerland by Arnold Wagner's company, Peraves.
QUASAR BIKE TV
Malcolm Newell and three Quasars were featured in a BBC TV motoring programme Top Gear which was broadcast on 14 April 1988. He was working on a leaning trike, with two narrow leaning front wheels when he died in 1994, aged just 54. Malcolm also produced a whole range of Phasar machines powered by engines from the Honda Goldwing and VT500, Moto Guzzi V50 and Convert, Z13, and Yamaha liquid-cooled 350s. The later machines included several with Suzuki GS engines, both chain and shaft drive, a Honda VF750 powered machine and one with a Kawasaki Z1300 6-cylinder engine. These later Quasars were fitted with motorcycle engines and several also had a Bob Tait-designed hub centre steering system, as did some of Malcolm's Phasars. Only 21 Reliant engined Quasars were produced, but Newell went on to build several more in his own workshop at Field Cottage, in Heddington.
When Romarsh collapsed, John Malfoy bought the remaining parts and assembled several more machines, and Malcolm Newell independently made at least one more from parts. All five vehicles were sold by December 1981, and a further batch of ten was prepared starting in August. In 1980, John Malfoy, who had originally designed the Quasar's unique fluorescent rear light, persuaded his employers, Romarsh, of Calne, to manufacture five Quasars under licence from Wilson Brothers.
Between December 1976 and October 1979, they only produced a total of seven vehicles. Wilson kept the rights to the machine, although Ken did all the work on it in his own time.Īlthough they had launched a publicity campaign to gain interest in the bike, even after they began to receive enquiries Wilson Brothers did not provide enough funds for production to meet demand. The first production Quasar was sold in December 1976, having been built by Ken and Malcolm at Wilson Brothers of Bristol, where Ken was employed full-time. Broadcaster Jane Omorogbe in a Quasar History Īfter his previous idea for a trike named the "Revolution" failed, forcing him to close his motorcycle shop called "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" in Devizes, Wiltshire, Malcolm Newell met Ken Leaman while on holiday in Scotland, and the two combined forces to design and build the first Quasar prototype.
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