CLASSICS

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE… …OF THE BILL HOLDER

IF YOU’VE GOT THE CASH YOU CAN OWN THE MOST EXOTIC MACHINES – AND IT DOESN’T NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE AS MUCH AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT
WORDS THE BEAR PHOTOS MECUM MIDAMERICA AUCTIONS (WITH SOME HELP FROM GIZMAG; THANKS, MIKE)

Well, the Cyclone Board Track Racer didn’t sell for a million bucks after all at the E.J. Cole Collection Auction in March in Las Vegas, despite having been owned by Steve McQueen. In case you weren’t aware of this, every classic motorcycle that comes to auction in the US has to have been owned by Steve McQueen, or the auctioneers take it outside and set fire to it on the spot. Then they take the owner’s wallet and empty it of cash before handing it back.

A 1917 four cylinder Henderson, also previously owned by Steve McQueen.

Oh, all right, they don’t do anything of the kind. But they might as well. In the heady world of motorcycle auctions, an advantage like previous ownership by a celebrity can add many thousands of dollars to the price of a bike. Take that Cyclone; built by an American factory in 1915 and restored meticulously,it would still have sold if it had been owned by you or me, but it would probably not have fetched US$775,000.

After all, McQueen’s sunglasses from The Thomas Crown Affair sold for $70,200 in 2006; I can’t give mine away.

The 1942 Crocker, not to be confused with the bikes now being built as Crockers and looking very different.

Doth bright paint, as on this 1975 Chang Jiang, a desirable motorcycling gem make? Naw.

This 1910 Detroit Single came from a relatively little-known manufacturer which only lasted for a year.

Steve McQueen is of course the celebrity of celebrities where motorcycling is concerned, and it is true that he must have owned and ridden hundreds of motorcycles during his all too short life.

Another of his bikes, a 1917 Henderson, sold for US$190,000. I’ll bet he didn’t own the 1975 Chang Jiang that was also for sale at the auction, though, even though he was the highest paid movie star in the world when it was built back in the ‘70s…

An Indian Big Twin outfit,looking just beautiful.

Another Henderson with a sidecar – didn’t they stand up by themselves?

The E.J. Cole Collection was variously described as “the largest and most significant collection of motorcycles ever auctioned at one time” and “The Motorcycle auction of the Century?”; it certainly put some of the most beautiful bikes ever made on the block. Among them was one of the hundred or so Crockers ever built, a 1942 bike that sold for US$350,000. And it wasn’t even owned by Steve McQueen…

And while we’re on the subject of sidecars, what about this immaculate 1914 Harley-Davidson JD model?

Any respectable motorcycle auction must include at least one Brough Superior. This one had not only not been owned by Steve McQueen, but also not owned by Lawrence of Arabia. Or me, for that matter.

And don’t you just have to love this 1914 Theim (or Thiem) Single? A handyman special it might be, but it’s a rare and valuable machine. It was not, apparently, crashed by anyone famous – except for being famous for crashing such a rare bike, I suppose.

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