When is a motorcycle worth as much as a modern house? When that machine is arguably one of the most important two-wheeled vehicles ever created and the oldest surviving example of its kind. And that motorcycle will go under the hammer in early October, with Bonhams Auctioneers unveiling the line-up for their Autumn Stafford Sale, where pre-war vintage machinery will once again dominate the highest sellers. The event’s main attraction is a 1936 Vincent-HRD Rapide Series-A, the very bike that Vincent displayed on their stand at that year’s Olympia Motorcycle Show, and it is expected to sell for over half a million of Australia’s finest dollars.
As we move ever closer to the end of gasoline-fuelled transportation, the price of history’s most prized examples of petrol-powered machines only skyrockets. In the world of motorcycles, pre-war machinery dominates this category. For the most part, the big sales have consistently been from the Brough Superior and Harley-Davidson stables. However, in 2018, when a 1951 Vincent Black Lightning sold for a mind-boggling AUD 1.16 million, collectors began to turn their attention to the British motorcycle company, to see where the next big sale would come from.
It was during that time that this very bike was in the middle of a nearly 18-year restoration. So, what makes this particular motorcycle so special? The simple facts are these: it’s a number-matching machine, the oldest surviving Rapide, just the second Rapide ever to be made, one of only 78 Series-A examples produced, and the very bike that was shown to the world at Olympia. The news of its debut at that show led the editor of Motor Cycling Magazine to state, “The announcement of the Vincent-HRD twin was the best and most encouraging story that I have read in a long while. The biggest thing yet in the 1937 programmes, it is a real quality job. In design and construction, it is the last word, down to the last detail.”
That is enormously high praise, and the Rapide more than lived up to those initial expectations. But it wasn’t a bike that was built overnight. Young engineer Philip Vincent had bought the HRD brand when it went into liquidation and had seen some reasonable success. However, he had relied on buying in engines from the likes of JAP, Rudge, and even a brief flirtation with Swiss-made MAG engines. But these never quite impressed the young Vincent. So, when he hired Aussie whiz Phil Irving, they set about designing their own in-house motor.
They built a nice 500cc single, utilising what would become their trademark high-camshaft layout, and the engine was used to power their Meteor and Comet models. But as the story goes, when two drawings of these engines overlapped on the design table, in the shape of a V-Twin, the idea was born, and the result was the A-series 998cc twin. Now they had a new problem: so powerful was their creation that the ever-popular Burman gearbox couldn’t hold the power. It was simply a torque monster, and to prove the point, way back in the ’30s, one example was piloted to an 11.7-second 1/4 mile time.
To compare that to a much more modern V-Twin, a 2017 Harley-Davidson Sportster XR1200 runs a 12.4! It’s little wonder then that the marketing department had a field day: “The performance is electric. Power appears almost limitless, yet it is so smooth and controllable that it is a delight to ride, even in thick traffic. There is only one snag we have discovered in owning a ‘Rapide.’ You never get a scrap with another machine, because no ordinary motorcycle can live with a ‘Rapide.’ The fact it was also beautiful to look at, featured brilliant suspension for its time, and had hugely powerful brakes, meant it was simply the best thing on two wheels.”
But there were two problems: so advanced was the A-Series Rapide that the average consumer had a hard time believing the hype… how could it be possible? And the price didn’t help either; the cost was, as it is today, the equivalent of the average home. So, it is little wonder then that in those dark financial times of the ’30s, only 78 were built, before World War II brought the industry and the globe to a grinding halt. But now, with so many rolling in cash—although most of us still battle—a bike like this has great appeal. The engine is numbered V1001, the second Vincent twin engine ever built, the first having been fitted to a 500cc frame for testing.
Then there is the fact that because it was the bike to debut at the UK’s biggest show, it was supplied as a ‘Special Show Model’ with polished crankcases, polished gearbox, TT bars, Duo brakes, Lucas Dyno Mag, Speedwell mudguards, pillion seat, a 120 mph speedometer, and an Eight-day clock. During its lifetime, V1001, as it is known, has been successfully raced, owned by the wealthy, left abandoned when its owner was posted to West Bengal, and then bought by its current owner, who has completed one of the most impressive motorcycle restorations of all time. Now it sits idle, awaiting the hammer to fall, and there is no doubt it will sell for an enormous sum, and I predict it will far exceed the above-mentioned estimate.
[ Bonhams ]