Dragon Data Ltd. was a Welsh producer of home computers during the early 1980s.[1] These computers, the Dragon 32 and Dragon 64, strongly resembled the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer ("CoCo")—both followed a standard Motorola datasheet configuration for the three key components (CPU, SAM and VDG). The machines came in both 32 KB and (later) 64 KB versions.
History
The history of Dragon Data in the period 1982–84 was a checkered one.
The company was originally set up by toy company Mettoy, and after initial good sales looked to have a bright future. At its high point it entered negotiations with Rexnord's Tano Corporation to form a North American branch.
Mettoy then suffered financial difficulties, casting a shadow on the future of Dragon Data before it was spun off as a separate business, forcing the company to seek outside investors and to dispose of a majority stake in this new enterprise. Prudential's technology investment subsidiary, Prutec, took a 41 percent stake, alongside Hill Samuel and the Welsh Development Agency (WDA), leaving Mettoy with a 20 percent stake.[2]