Lot 394: A 1939 Vincent HRD Series-A Rapide sold for $422,177.
• This year’s Bonhams Spring Stafford Sale surpassed all previous years’ totals, achieving a record $3.3 million, with 86 percent sold.
• Once rescued from being scrapped, the 1939 Vincent HRD Series-A Rapide motorcycle was the top lot of the sale, selling for $422,177.
• 100 percent of the 12 motorcycles consigned by Top Gear duo James May and Richard Hammond sold, achieving a collective $118,766
• British machines proved popular: the 1937 Brough Superior 1,096cc 11-50hp sold for more than three times top estimate, a total $225,063; the 1930 Brough Superior OHV 680 Black Alpine sold for $211,354; and the 1955 Vincent 998cc Black Shadow Series-D sold at $110,252.
British machines proved immensely popular, with 90 percent of the top 10 lots legendary British marques Vincent, Brough and Coventry.
The 1939 Vincent HRD Series-A Rapide motorcycle took the sale top spot. Once rescued from scrap and originally purchased in exchange for a mere $15 and an Amal TT carburetor, the fully restored Vincent sold for $422,177 to a bidder in the room.
Former Top Gear duo James May and Richard Hammond added some celebrity excitement to the event, cheerily bidding and joking with auctioneer Malcolm Barber. With 12 motorcycles consigned to the sale, the duo witnessed 100 percent of their collections sold, with Hammond’s 2010 Norton Commando 961SE the top lot of the series at $23,225.