1895 motorcycle in Stafford sale
Added on Friday, January 15th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
1895 motorcycle in Stafford sale
It isn’t much to look at, but this Hildebrand and Wolfmuller from 1895 is one of the first production motorcycles ever made and incredibly rare. Bonhams will be selling it on 25th April at the Carole Nash sponsored Classic MotorCycle Show 2010.
The two Hildebrand brothers and Alois Wolfmuller were pioneering German engineers in the Victorian era and their Motarrad, also called La Petrollette in France was one of the very first attempts at making a motorised bicycle, on a factory scale. Some 800-plus units were produced in the late 1890s before the H&W factory got into financial difficulties and production ceased in 1897.
Very few examples have survived, with the H&W machine featuring a 1500cc, water-cooled, twin cylinder engine, producing 2.5bhp. Top speed was 30mph, which was impressively fast for the 1890s. The particular bike offered for sale at Stafford has been in storage in the USA since the 1930s, when it last ran.
The motorcycle is likely to attract strong interest from various motorcycle museums around the world, as well as wealthy private collectors. Bonhams have estimated the H&W will sell for between £40,000-£60,000.
The star attraction of the Bonhams motorcycle auction however is a 1938 Brough-Superior SS100, which Bonhams estimate will go for over £100,000. Unlike the H&W, the Brough-Superior is a classic you could realistically use occasionally, and that, coupled with its rarity and restoration history, makes it ultimately much more valuable.
More at; www.bonhams.com
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