Happy 70th birthday AMCN! It was way back on 1 June 1951 that the very first issue of what was then called The Victorian Motor Cycle Weekly was published, making what we know today as Australian Motorcycle News (AMCN) the oldest surviving motorcycle magazine in the world.
In his first editorial, founder George Lynn outlined the objective of The Victorian Motor Cycle Weekly as follows: “The aim of The Victorian Motor Cycle Weekly is to present news and reports of sporting events each week to everyone interested in motor-cycling matters. In short, it is hoped that the “Weekly” will become the motor-cyclists’ newspaper.”
That aim is still one of AMCN’s guiding principals to this day.
Not long after its inception, the The Weekly became a fortnightly publication, but it wasn’t until 24 May 1957 that it became a national publication with a name change to Australian Motorcycle News (AMCN) for Vol 6 No 3.
AMCN will celebrate its birthday with a bumper 212-page 70th Anniversary Edition (Vol 71 No 01) which will hit the newsstands on 8 July 2021. In it, we will not only provide a more detailed insight into the history of AMCN, but also take a look at how motorcycling has evolved over the past 70 years… and take a peek into the future. Happy 70th Birthday AMCN!
