Tony Clarke

Tony Clarke was a British manager who led the project that became Dragon Data and the Dragon 32 home computer. While working with the Welsh toy manufacturer Mettoy, he championed the idea of entering the fast-growing home-computer market and became the first managing director of the new Dragon Data operation.

With little time to build an original platform from scratch, Clarke commissioned PA Technology in Cambridge to develop a prototype based on Motorola’s 6809 reference architecture. The project, initially called Pippin, was expanded from 16K to 32K as the British market moved rapidly toward more capable machines. It became the Dragon 32 and entered production in Wales in 1982.
Clarke oversaw the company’s launch, early manufacturing growth and efforts to establish distribution outside Britain. Although Dragon Data later changed ownership and management, his initial push took the machine from concept to a successful commercial release in less than a year.