Scrambler wins, Moby Dick loses

Ducati Scramblers came away with two design awards and a 1928 Brough Superior SS100 called Moby Dick valued at $A1m failed to sell at the weekend’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.

The show on Italy’s Lake Como features a concours and a Sotheby’s auction of rare and collectible bikes.

Ducati’s Design Centre captured two awards with their Cafe Racer (pictured top of page) winning the coveted Motorcycle Design – Concept Bike and New Prototypes category as well as the inaugural Villa Erba trophy awarded by popular vote. Their Scrambler Desert Sled came third in their design category.

Since both were designed by Ducati, they could be considered possible variants for the future.

Already the Scrambler has become the brand’s top-selling model now with nine variants and two engine sizes.

Moby Dick flounders

Meanwhile, Moby Dick failed to sell at the  ‘Moto-Icons: From Café Racer to the Superbike’ sale.

The Sotheby’s auction featured 20 bikes from a single-owner collection and several other expensive motorcycle also failed to sell, perhaps signalling a slump in the collector market.

Moby Dick was passed in at $A630,000 (€420,000/$US469,590).

Had the Brough sold for its estimated value, it would have been the most expensive sold at auction.

That honour still belongs to a rusted 1932 Brough Superior 800cc Model BS4 project motorcycle that was sold last year for $A623,946 (£331,900/$US480,196) after being lost for more than 50 years.

Another bike that failed to sell at the Sotheby’s auction was a 2010 MV Agusta 500 3-Cilindri, the last of six collaboration bikes created with World Champion Giacomo Agostini.

It was estimated at up to $A375,000 (€250,000/$US280,000), but was passed in at $A262,000 (€175,000/$US195,663).

Could this be a sign that the run of record prices for historic bikes is nearing its end?

Best in show

Best in Show at the Concours was this 6 hp Puch 250cc two-stroke single built in 1933.

Italian motorcycle collector Max Reisch says the bike has been preserved exactly as it was used in 1933 by his father Peter and pillion Herbert Tichy to ride from Vienna to Mumbai.

They covered 13,000km, crossing the Balkans, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Persia and Baluchistan.

The trip is documented in the book “India: The Shimmering Dream”.