Two pedigree racers will be highlight at upcoming Bonhams’ Las Vegas Motorcycles Auction, scheduled for January 9th. Two very special racing motorcycles – Rare BMW Factory Racer and Vincent Isle Of Man Winner will be presented with what is perhaps the most impressive collection of motorcycles offered at auction in years. “We are very pleased to be to have been selected to represent these historic motorcycles at auction, says Nick Smith, on behalf of the Bonhams Motoring Department. “Both machines are quite significant for different reasons and both represent the ultimate in motorcycling: racing at its highest level.”
First, the ex-1973 Daytona 200 1972 Butler & Smith BMW F750 – one of only two such factory-supplied, purpose-built machines modified by tuner Udo Geitl of Butler & Smith, the BMW importers for America. This particular F750 was an official entrant in the 1973 Daytona 200 with BMW rider Kurt Leibmann alongside its twin ridden by Reg Pridmore.
The second is the 1950 Isle of Man Clubman TT-winning 1947 Vincent HRD Series B Rapide ridden to victory by Alex Phillip and subsequently owned by larger-than-life British war hero “Mad Jack” Churchill. Soon after the Isle of Man win, the Rapide was uprated to full Black Lightning specifications and performed, in the words of Phillip, “like a rocketship” before being sold to the daring and eccentric Lt. Colonel Churchill of WWII commando fame.
