Motorcycles belonging to the late Bruce Brown, director of perhaps the greatest motorcycle film of all time, On Any Sunday, will go on sale next month.
Bruce died of natural causes, aged 80, died in December 2017, but his legend lives on in his Academy Award nominated 1971 film.
Now you can own a piece of Bruce Brown history with the sale of his 1967 Triumph T20 Mountain Cub and a 1970 Husqvarna 250 Cross.
They go up for auction at the Bonham’s sale at the Barber Motorsports Museum in Alabama on 5 October 2019.
Brown’s Triumph was his first real motorcycle after he traded in his Honda step-through scooter to help with the purchase.
Brown’s 1976 Triumph T20 Mountain CubIt opened the door to a friendship with Hollywood actor Steve McQueen, which led to the making of On Any Sunday. It’s in original, unrestored condition, with matching numbers and low mileage.
Brown’s Husky was given to him by Edison Dye, the then exclusive US importer of Husqvarna.
In a now famous gesture of brilliant product placement, Dye donated several 250 Cross models for the film.
In a letter dated 21 April 1970 from Dye to Brown, it says that this bike is “for your use of your filming of your new motorcycle movie”.
Film favourite
The director filmed many documentaries, but his iconic bike film kickstarted millions of riders in the ‘70s, including this scribe.
It is still a favourite for its coverage of contemporary flat track racing, desert racing and the playful final dune scenes with McQueen.
Bruce (right) with cast and crew including Steve McQueen (second left) on HuskiesThe final scene was filmed at sunset at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
“I figured there would be no way to get approval to film on the Marine base,” Bruce said.
“Steve McQueen said he’d see what he could find out. The next day he called and was told to contact some General and the next thing you know we are shooting the beach sequences. It was pretty amazing the doors he was able to open.”
Director gets funding
McQueen gave the director more than $300,00o to film the documentary after receiving a “cold call pitch” from the filmmaker.
Brown is also well known as the director of 1966 surfing documentary Endless Summer.
After On Any Sunday, Bruce went into semi-retirement, restoring and racing cars, playing the stock market, and deep-sea fishing.
In 1992, he returned with a lacklustre Endless Summer II.
Brown was born in 1937 in San Francisco and at the age of 10 his family moved to Long Beach where he developed an interest in surfing.
Bruce caught the riding bug in the early 1960s after visiting Japan.
“I remember going to Ascot Park and watching the dirt track races,” Brown says on his website.
“I met a few of the racers and was struck by how approachable and how nice most of these guys were. It wasn’t at all like the image a lot of people had about motorcycle riders in those days. I just thought it would be neat to do a movie about motorcycle racing and the people involved.”
Bruce’s son, Dana, has carried on the documentary tradition, with his 2003 surfing documentary Step Into Liquid, his 2005 Baja 1000 documentary Dust to Glory and his 2014 On Any Sunday sequel.