Opis
National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands
Viewing: Tues 24th March from 1pm
Auction: Wed 25th March from 9am
Location: National Motorcycle Museum, Coventry Road, Bickenhill, Solihull B92 0EJ
1926 Sunbeam Model 11 Sprint 500cc
Believed to be one of 18 Sprints in existence
Estimate
£17, 000 - £19, 000
Registration No: BS 9367
Frame No: 0S338
MOT: Exempt
One of eighteen surviving Sprints according to the Marston Sunbeam Club
Formerly owned by Talbot historian Anthony Blight
Restored to a very high standard
The Road and Race Collection
John Marston, already an experienced bicycle producer, started building Sunbeam motorcycles in Wolverhampton in 1912. J. E. Greenwood was the chief designer at Sunbeamland until 1936, and while he produced a range of designs it was the 500cc singles on which Sunbeam built its excellent reputation. Factory tuner George Dance built a number of “Dance Specials” for hill-climbing and sprints, which gave rise to the catalogued 350cc Model 10 and 500cc Model 11 Sprint models. They were discontinued after racing on public roads was banned in 1926, and the Marston Sunbeam Club knows of only eighteen survivors of both kinds.
This superb 1926 Model 11 has formed part of the collection of the present owner since 2005, where it has been the oldest machine in a private museum containing over forty rare, unusual and well-provenanced road and racing machines spanning the decades. It was one of a handful of machines he acquired from the prolific vintage Sunbeam restorer Bill Page of Great Preston, near Leeds. He had owned it since 1986, and its previous owner was Anthony Blight of Callington, Cornwall, a figure most associated with Talbots; he was the author of the 1970 marque history Georges Roesch and the Invincible Talbots. It will now require recommissioning after years on static display.
** Bidding will take place live at the venue, online via our H&H website, by telephone and commission - T&Cs apply**
Parking and entry into the auction is free for auction attendees with a catalogue, available at the door.
Catalogues can be purchased for £20 (admits 2 people).
