Several Brough Superior motorcycles – once considered the Rolls-Royce of the bike world – are going up for auction in October in the UK attracting prices up to £240,000.
The highest price paid for a Brough was £315,100 ($A664,000/$US488,000) at the Bonhams Bond Street Sale on October 30, 2014, for a 1929 Brough Superior 986cc SS100 Alpine Grand Sports.
While estimates for the Bonhams annual Stafford sale at The Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show (18 October) don’t surpass that, there are certain to be some high prices paid.
The highlight is a 1936 Earls Court Motorcycle Show Brough Superior 990cc SS100, estimated at £210,000-240,000. It received an extensive mechanical refurbishment in 2013, while maintaining its patina, and has been used by both the current and previous owner on touring trips around England and Wales.
Earls Court Motorcycle Show, 1937 Brough Superior 990cc SS100Another highlight is a 1926 Brough Superior 980cc SS100 Alpine Grand Sport, dismantled and offered for restoration, estimate £120,000-160,000.
Only 308 Brough Superiors were built from 1933 until 1940, making surviving examples exceptionally collectable.
The Brough Superior, famously ridden by Lawrence of Arabia, represented a quarter of a recent list of the top 100 most expensive motorcycles.
Last year a 1939 Brough Superior 1150 SV former police bike and sidecar set an Australia record price at auction when it sold for $111,000 at Shannons Melbourne Summer Auction on December 8, 2014.
Now Brough Superior has returned with the limited edition SS100, a 1000 cc V-twin Sport Classic designed as a 90th anniversary tribute (2014) to the most famous Brough Superior model in the company’s illustrious history, replete with technical innovations and high-tech components.
Other highlights at the coming Stafford sale include a series of motorcycle projects assembled and preserved over the past 40 years by Sydney-based enthusiast Gary Ross.
The lots include three Brough Superior motorcycles: a 1926 Brough Superior 980cc SS100 Alpine Grand Sport project, estimate £120,000-160,000, a 1927 Brough Superior 980cc SS100 Alpine Grand Sport project, estimate £120,000-160,000, and a 1931 Brough Superior OHV 680 project, estimate £15,000-20,000.
Bonhams spokesman Ben Walker says they have flown the Sydney collection some 14,000km to be in the Bonhams sale.
“The late-owner was an enthusiast and a true connoisseur,” he says.
Bonhams Autumn Stafford Sale takes place on October 18 at The Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show, Staffordshire County Showground.