On September 2nd, Bonhams is hosting an auction at the National Motor Museum in the village of Beaulieu, England. 18 lots are up fro sale and all but three of them are pre-1960s. Let’s see what’s on offer!
For a complete list of the motorcycles for sale, click here. My three favorites are:
1. 1931 Argson 174cc Invalid Tricycle – estimated to sell between $3,200-$4,500. Designed to provide mobility for the disabled, this tricycle utilizes a Villiers motor but an electric drivetrain was also an option. This example was restored from 1983-1992 and it was most recently run last month. If you’ve got the guts, you can apparently take it up to 35 miles per hour. It was also known as the Runnymede, and apparently a gentleman named Denny Denley rode a variant of these over the Alps in 1947.
2. 1988 Hopper-Armstrong Formula 2 Sidecar Racer – estimated to sell between $5,100-$7,700. The name comes about as it was built by Colin Hopper with an Armstrong 350cc twin motor. Per Bonhams, Hopper used to work at Armstrong and he snagged £60,000 worth of motors from them when they shut their race program down. 83 horsepower, 320 pounds, and a top speed around 120 mph. Not bad. This was raced between 1988 and 1995 with decent results but it has not been raced since.
3. 1930 Triumph/Brough Superior 981cc SS80 ‘Special’ – estimated to sell between $33,000-$41,000. This started off as a Brough Superior SS80 but when the frame broke the bike was rebuilt with a Triumph CTT frame. It’s a runner thanks to a recent engine/gearbox restoration but the transmission and forks are not original. What a great mutt.
4. 2015 Daimler Reitwagen Replica – estimated to sell between $13,000-$19,000. Alright, I had to include a bonus one. I’ve seen a few replicas of the Reitwagen (“Riding Car”) but this one is noteworthy because it runs. The original bike is long gone – it burned down in a shop fire in 1903. The builder created this using illustrations and photos for reference, and Bonhams notes that this is one of approximately 11 known replicas.
I should also note that there’s also hundreds of other lots including some fantastic vintage British cars – to take a look at everything (not just the bikes), click here. Special points go to this tribute to the Blue Bird, which is estimated to sell between $320,000-$390,000. It’s got a 24 liter, 12 cylinder Napier Lion airplane engine – apparently at one point in time this motor held the world speed records on land, water, and in the air! Estimated output of the engine is 700 horsepower and 1,800 pound/feet of torque! It was recently tested by Octane magazine who reported that it would smoke the tires at 80 miles per hour.
Photos from Bonhams