One of the world’s preeminent specials builders is set to bring his latest masterpiece to life this weekend, when Allen Millyard’s Honda RC374 ‘replica’ will be fired up live on the Carole Nash stand at the 38th Carole Nash International Classic MotorCycle Show, held at the Staffordshire County Showground.

Allen’s previous creations include multi-cylinder Kawasaki two-stroke specials, the 5000cc Flying Millyard, a two-wheeled Chitty Chitty Bang Bang running a five-litre V-twin aeroplane engine, a 207mph monster powered by an eight-litre V10 from a Dodge Viper supercar and a V12 special using an engine created out of two Kawasaki Z1300 blocks. One thing is for sure, no one can doubt Allen’s engineering capability.

By contrast to those magnificent beasts dominated by their monster engines, Allen’s latest creation is a more compact affair.

While not a copy of the magnificent high revving six-cylinder Honda Grand Prix machines of the 1960s, the RC374 is a beautifully engineered homage to the 297cc RC174 on which the legendary Mike Hailwood dominated the 1967 350cc world championship.

The RC374 (the 374 refers to the cubic capacity of the machine) is completely hand built and features a hand beaten aluminium fairing, a unique six-cylinder engine and the remarkable attention to detail that has become Allen’s trademark over the years.

As you can see from the pictures, the bike looks absolutely stunning, not to mention a pretty accurate representation of Hailwood’s Honda machine. But the allure of the mythical Honda six was never the looks, rather the ear splitting sound, and if you want to hear what Allen’s RC374 is all about, you’d better get yourself down to Stafford this weekend.

Just make sure you take some ear plugs with you. Something tells us this bike is going to be gloriously loud! See you there.