Tag Archives: motorcycle

November 2014 Auction Recap, Pt. II

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First up here is Silverstone Auctions’ NEC Classic Motor Show sale. Our featured Mercedes CLK DTM sold for $196,650. The top sale was this 1994 Jaguar XJ220 formerly owned by the royal family of Brunei. Check out full results here.

Photo - Silverstone Auctions

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

Osenat’s sale in Lyon had two cars that tied for the top sale – both at $120,280. First, this 1965 Alfa Romeo 1600 SS…

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

…and the other was this 1972 Maserati Bora.

Photo - Osenat

Photo – Osenat

Our featured Aries B4B sold for $14,880 while the Traction Avant Cabriolet failed to sell. Check out full results here. The third auction we’re covering in this rundown is RM’s sale of the Sam Pack Collection where this 1967 Shelby Cobra 427 Roadster was the top sale for $1,292,500.

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

We featured six concept cars from the Ford Motor Company that were offered in this sale. The top seller was, surprisingly, the Ford Sport Trac Adrenalin Concept which more than doubled the high end of its estimate, selling for $173,250. At the other end of things, the Ford Focus Kona Wagon brought $8,250. In the middle was the Lincoln MKS Concept for $27,500.

The two Thunderbird Prototypes sold – the Sports Roadster for $55,000 and the Supercharged for $57,750. The T-Bird-based Lincoln Mark X brought $129,250. Click here for full results. Next up, Mecum’s Anaheim sale. The #1 seller, far and away, was this 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB Short Nose that brought $2,150,000.

Photo - Mecum

Photo – Mecum

Our featured Jowett Jupiter sold for $26,000. Check out full results here. Finally, Bonhams’ Bond Street sale where our featured Porsche 908/02 was the top sale at $3,437,744. Two of our feature cars failed to sell: the Mercedes-Simplex and the Benetton-Ford. Interesting sales were topped by the huge price ($495,645) paid for this spotless 1929 Brough Superior SS100.

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

The Fiat-Abarth racing prototype sold for $213,767 and the Talbot Alpine Racer brought an impressive $2,169,294. Click here for full results.

Bonhams VMCC Banbury Run Sale, Oxford

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Bonhams sold a bunch of motorcycles and cars at their June 16 sale in Oxford, England. The top sale was a tie between a 1936 Alvis Speed Twenty-Five Tourer (below) and a 1950 Healey Silverstone – at about $100,000 each.

The Healey Silverstone (above) was among a collection of barn-find condition Healey-related automobiles that went across the block. Three other Healeys begin our “other interesting sales” bit of the program: first, this 1948 Healey Duncan that sold for $16,500.

Then there was this 1947 Healey Duncan Drone Roadster, likely the only in existence and ripe for restoration. It brought $43,000.

And, the final Healey, a 1952 Alvis-Healey Sports Convertible, which looks kind of like a period Jensen 541, sold for $61,000.

Interesting motorcycle sales include a 1909 Moto-Rêve 2.5hp V-Twin. Moto-Rêve isn’t a marque you see everyday and this example sold for about $12,500.

Another rare motorcycle is this 1902 Kerry 308cc. It is the earliest surviving (of about six) Kerrys. On display in a motorcycle museum since 1956, it was sold in 2006 and freshened to running condition. It sold here for $25,000.

Our feature car, the 1992 Maserati 222 SE sold for a paltry $4,500 – or about as cheap as you’re likely to find anything wearing a trident. And now for something completely different: a 1983 Bentley Mulsanne Turbo… Estate. That’s right, a Bentley station wagon. It was a 30,000 mile car that had spent its life on the Channel Islands before heading to the mainland in 2003 when it was sent to coachbuilder Coway Ltd and turned into the wagon – in striking maroon and yellow colors – you see here. You aren’t likely to find another. It sold for $31,500.

For complete results, click here.

Bonhams Stafford Motorcycle Sale Highlights

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The “Important, Vintage and Collectors’ Motorcycle” sale, held this past weekend by Bonhams at the Staffordshire Country Showground, featured a handful of big-money bikes that rolled across the block. The stunning top sale went to a 1934 Brough Superior SS100 that sold for $394,000.

The two motorcycles we featured, the 1953 Ferrari 150cc Super Sport and the 1928 Windhoff 764cc Four, did not sell. It seems we are back to our old ways of being able to pick out the motorcycles that won’t meet reserve. Other insane sales included a 1939 Vincent-HRD Series A Rapide that brough $366,000.

The Ferrari that we featured might not have sold, but a different “Ferrari” bike did. This particular motorcycle is a one-off, 500cc model built by David Kay Engineering with full blessing of Piero Ferrari, Enzo’s son. It sold for $139,000.

There were about 150 other motorcycle sold at this sale, including a few more $100,000+ Vincents. For complete results, check out Bonhams’ website.

Windhoff Four

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1928 Windhoff 764cc Four

Offered by Bonhams | Stafford, U.K. | April 29, 2012

Windhoff, which began producing motorcycles in Berlin in 1924, introduced their well-engineering Four in 1927. This bike featured a number of innovations that led to it being among the most expensive motorcycles of its day – not great news considering Germany’s pre-war economic woes. With an economy in ruins, the Windhoff Four was not long for this world. Company founder Hans Windhoff pulled the plug on the Four and returned to making light twins. This was not successful either and the firm folded in 1933.

The 764cc four-cylinder makes 22 horsepower. It’s so well engineered that I want to refer to it as the “German Brough Superior.” It’s certainly priced like it.

This particular motorcycle was sold at a Bonhams auction in 2008 for £100,500. The estimate for the current sale is £100,000-£130,000 or $160,000-$210,000. Not cheap, but you aren’t likely to find another one. For more information, click here and to see the entire lot list, click here.

Update: Did not sell.

Ferrari Motorcycle

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1953 Ferrari 150cc Super Sport

Offered by Bonhams | Stafford, U.K. | April 29, 2012

That’s right, a Ferrari motorcycle. But not that Ferrari. The lot description says that Enzo was “not pleased” that the name of his new sports car company was also being used on a line of unrelated lightweight motorcycles. But, the bikes were built by (dramatic music) his brother! Could you imagine an upstart motorcycle company trying to use the Ferrari name today? Oh, the lawsuits.

Built in Milan, Fratelli Ferrari’s motorcycles rolled out of the factory from 1951 through 1954, making them extremely rare. They ranged in displacement from 123cc to 248cc. Two or four-stroke. Single or twin-cylinder. This one is “original and unrestored” and has a 150cc single.

Think you can find something with a “Ferrari” badge for less than this? Good luck. The estimate is $7,200-$8,800. For the complete lot description, click here. And to check out the rest of the line up for this Bonhams motorcycle auction, click here.

On a side not, I apologize for the images. Bonhams has shrunken their images on their new website and I really loathe finding photos outside of the official ones for fear of misrepresenting the vehicle we are featuring. It might end up that we begin to feature less vehicles from Bonhams, which would be a shame. But I’ll do my best to get you the highest quality images.

Update: Did not sell.

Bonhams’ Shepton Mallet Motorcycle Highlights

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Bonhams recent (okay it was the 18th of February) motorcycle sale in Shepton Mallet, England featured a number of affordable bikes – a majority of all sales were of the sub-$7,000 type. The top sale was this 1932 Brough Superior Black Alpine 680:

It’s a good bet that when a Brough Superior shows up in an auction catalog that it will be the top seller of the sale. This time that was certainly true, selling for about $100,500 – more than double the price of second-highest seller. This is a time-capsule version that has never been restored and is not running. And the second-highest selling bike was a 1955 Vincent Rapide Series D for about $43,000.

The 1938 Ariel Square Four that we featured last month sold for a couple dollars under $19,000, which, I think, makes it the first motorcycle featured on this site to actually sell.

There were a ton of scooter or scooter-type… things (there was a Honda trike that looked like a toy) selling at this auction. Our picks for the coolest bikes sold were a pair of green ones. First, this 1957 Douglas 348cc Dragonfly:

It brought about $5,800 (I say “about” because the auction was in GBP and I have to do my own currency conversion). I just like the way it looks. Same with this 1978 Benelli 125 Turismo. There isn’t anything spectacular about it. I guess it’s because the paint is so nice.

Anyway, I wish I would’ve been there to buy it for its $1,082 selling price. For complete results, click here.

995cc “Squariel”

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1938 Ariel 995cc Model 4G “Square Four”

Offered by Bonhams, Shepton Mallet, U.K., February 18, 2012

The Ariel Square Four was a four-cylinder motorcycle introduced in 1930 as a 500cc motorcycle. In 1937 the model was updated to the “4G” with a 955cc OHV engine. It’s a powerful 1930s motorcycle with similar displacement to a 1960s-era Mini (which weighed a lot more). This isn’t a Vincent and doesn’t pretend to be but, on the plus side, it’s way more affordable.

Ariel was absorbed by BSA in 1944 and continued production until 1970. But their heyday was the 1930s when models like the Square Four and Red Hunter were serious bikes.

This particular bike was acquired in 1947 by the most recent owner (who is deceased). It also comes with a sidecar, but from the pictures it would appear that the sidecar needs some serious work. This one hasn’t been ridden in 40 years and hasn’t been started in 10. It is in original condition – and it doesn’t look too bad. It’s a restoration project and for the estimate of $11,000-$16,000, it’s a lot cheaper than some of the other restoration projects that we’ve seen at auction recently. Then again, it’s priced higher than many of the running bikes in this sale, which makes me feel better about talking this up as a desirable model.

For the complete catalog description, click here.

Update: Sold $19,000.

Auctions America Las Vegas Highlights

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The other big motorcycle auction in Sin City was brought to you by Auctions America (January 12-14, 2012). The big talk of this auction was the 1894 Roper Steam Motorcycle that we featured over a month ago. It was supposed to break all motorcycle auction records when it sold. Unfortunately, it did not sell – nor did a number of other high-profile motorcycles offered at this sale.

That said, there were still some significant money changing hands and some bargains to be had as well. One that qualifies as both was this 1910 Flying Merkel V-Twin Belt Drive. Flying Merkels are extremely rare and valuable: the pre-sale estimate on this one was $175,000-$200,000. It sold at no reserve for $77,500. A steal and the second highest price paid for a motorcycle at this auction. The distinction of Top Sale went to a 1964 Ducati 250 F3 Corsa at $81,200 that once belonged to 4-time Grand Prix motorcycle champion Walter Villa (this is according to their published results online. I read a story at AutoWeek.com that said the Merkel was the top sale).

One of my favorites from this sale was this 1926 Cleveland Fowler powered by a 600cc four-cylinder engine – of which just 100 were made. This one supposedly belonged to Steve McQueen – a name that increases the value of just about anything its attached to, especially things with wheels and engines. There didn’t seem to be any documented proof of this connection but the legend worked its magic: the bike sold for $76,160.

Pretty good lookin’, eh?

There were BSAa and Triumphs too numerous to count, but there was also the occasional bizarro-bike. Like this 2010 Confederate Fighter P120 – one of 50. Looking like it rode off the set of Terminator, it packs 160 horsepower and an all-aluminum monocoque. I’m guessing it rides about as scary as it looks:

There were a number of Harleys for sale in Las Vegas – and a bunch of “Anniversary” models from the manufacturer who is king of anniversary models (seriously, every 5 years). My Harley pick of the auction is this 1990 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy – one truly awesome looking bike. There is something about the styling of this Harley that stands out above the rest. I don’t know… but I think something about it’s $10,080 sale price is attractive too. Ah, the air of affordability!

Over 350 motorcycles sold and to browse through the full results, click here.

Coventry-Eagle Flying-8

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1925 Coventry-Eagle 980cc Flying-8 Sidevalve

Offered by Bonhams | Las Vegas, Nevada | January 12, 2012

Photo – Bonhams

Coventry-Eagle built very desirable bikes (desirable both then and now) from 1903 until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. They produced lightweight bikes and larger, more luxurious (and more expensive) bikes like this.

Introduced in 1923, the Flying-8 featured a 980cc sidevalve v-twin until an overhead valve JAP engine was offered in 1926. The models remained in production until 1931 and 1930, respectively.

Coventry-Eagles are fairly rare today and big bikes like this are especially sought after by collectors. This is a fine example with a recent overhaul that can be ridden and shown with pride. Bonham’s estimates it at $90,000-$110,000. Not cheap, but it’s not exactly Brough Superior money. More info here and more on Bonhams in Vegas here.

Update: Not Sold.

Brough Superior SS100

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1928 Brough Superior SS100

Offered by Bonhams, Yorkshire, November 16, 2011

The bike shown above is not the same bike offered by Bonhams at their Yorkshire auction (Bonhams keeps their photos to themselves). But, the bike shown above was actually owned by T.E. Lawrence (of Lawrence of Arabia fame). Lawrence was actually killed while riding an SS100 (sans helmet).

The bike offered by Bonhams is an early example – the SS100 entered production in 1924 and was produced until the war broke out and the company shut down production in 1940. Of all models, Brough Superior produced a little over 3,000 bikes, a third of which still exist today. The motorcycles were built to exacting standards – the highest standard for motorcycles built before or since. They were tested before being delivered and if they didn’t perform exactly to George Brough’s standards they were re-built until perfect. They were, and are, considered “The Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles.”

This model features the early 998cc JAP V-Twin engine producing 45 horsepower @5000 rpm (later models had Matchless engines). The ‘100’ in SS100 meant that they were capable of 100 mph.

They were expensive when new and they remain so today. The example offered by Bonhams is expected to sell for between €190,000 and €210,000 (or $250,000-$285,000). You can read the entire lot description here and about the sale here.

Update: Not Sold.