British designer Paul Smith is known for his style of ‘classics with a twist’, which is what made him a fitting choice for a partnership in 2005 when Triumph asked him to take their classic Bonneville…and add a twist. He responded with 9 different one-off designs which were for sale through Smith’s shops. While I don’t care for any of …
Rotary Tourer In England – 1989 Norton Commander
There’s a lot of cool stuff going on with the Norton Commander – just 253 examples were built, it uses a Wankel rotary engine, it’s got some Yamaha parts in it…and it just looks so delightfully 80s!
1975 Reliant Robin
2-6 Update: About 16 months later, this Robin is back up for sale but it’s now on eBay with more information and pictures (plus you can watch the Top Gear bit again). This example (VIN:9519203V) has 74,600 miles and because it’s now on eBay instead of at Mecum, we know what the asking price is – find it in Anaheim, …
1973 Triumph Rickman TR7
It’s hard to go wrong with a Rickman Triumph – and this one’s even better than usual thanks to the beautiful blue and 825cc big bore kit!
1957 BSA Spitfire Scrambler
Post Sale Update: This Spitfire Scrambler sold for the BIN of $8,500 on eBay. Of the many BSA A10 models, one of the rarest would have to be the Spitfire Scrambler (aka the Rocket Gold Star Scrambler). Here’s a beautiful example that was acquired by the seller as a ‘rusted rubble of parts’ and rebuilt to ‘a quality standard.’ The …
2015 Norvin
Take a Vincent engine, slap it in a Norton chassis, and you’ve got yourself a “Norvin”! This example was put together last year and it’s claimed to be in showroom condition.
1 of 325 – 2015 Triumph Thruxton Ace Special Edition
Post Sale Update: After being relisted several times, this Ace Edition Thruxton sold for $10,100. Last year, Triumph released a limited edition of the Thruxton called the Ace Special Edition. 325 example were imported to the US, and the price of exclusivity was $700. As it seems every manufacturer is doing nowadays, the ‘special edition’ was just different paint and …
God Save The Queen – 1977 Triumph Bonneville Silver Jubilee
For some reason, Triumph decided to honor the 25th Anniversary (Silver Jubilee) of Queen Elizabeth’s reign with a limited release of the Bonneville. They sold 1,000 examples each in the US and UK and another 400 for the Commonwealth of mostly former British colonies.
The Gasbox – 1965 BSA Custom
The GasBox is a vintage moto shop in Ohio run by Jesse Bassett, who won a previous Ultimate Builder AMD Championship Series satellite competition in the freestyle class with the BSA custom.
1954 Ariel Square Four MKII Custom
You don’t normally think of an Ariel Square Four as the platform for a British custom, but this bike was given a 2.5 year long frame off restoration and turned into a ‘cafe racer’ in the process. I’m not entirely thrilled with the results – but what do you think?
1960 BSA Golden Flash
Despite the name, the Golden Flash (named for the “Polychromatic Golden Beige” scheme) was only available in black for home-market British customers. Thankfully, this export model has no such problem.
In Belgium – 1970 Velocette LE Police
Post-Sale Update: This Police Velo sold for $4,026 after 22 bids on eBay. The Velocette was a commercial flop but it did have some success with British police officers – leading to the nickname of “Noddy bike”. Here’s an example that served with the London Metropolitan police force before it was acquired by a Dutch rider in 2010.
1942 Excelsior Villiers Welbike
Post-Listing Update: This Welbike got no action at the opening bid of $11,000. At the request of the British government, Excelsior developed the Welbike, a tiny single seater that was designed to be dropped into combat situations via parachute-equipped containers, then unpacked and moving on the road within 11 seconds.
BSA Style From Japan – 1966 Kawasaki W1
In 1960 Kawasaki Aircraft acquired part of the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan, Meguro. Meguro had a license to produce the BSA A7 and Kawasaki’s money allowed them to introduce it to the world. In 1963 Kawasaki completed the takeover of Meguro and by 1966 had brought out the W1.
1967 BSA Hornet
Built from 1964 through 1967 the Hornet was marketed as ready to ride in the dirt. It came in 2 variants, the ‘East Coast Model’ with high pipes and the ‘West Coast Model’ with low mounted pipes.