Condor: the other boxer motorcycle

Unless you’re a military enthusiast or a Swiss army conscript, you probably haven’t heard of Condor-Werke AG. It’s one of Europe’s sleeper marques, and started building motorcycles for the Swiss military in 1893. (Yes, that’s a year before Hildebrand & Wolfmüller launched the first true production motorcycle.) The machine captured here by photographer Marc Schneider is a Condor A580 that rolled off the production line in 1953 in Courfaivre, a small town in the watchmaking canton of Jura. It’s owned by a collector who wishes to remain anonymous, but is happy to share images and a little history. The similarities...