ALLY PALLY
A hoard of desirable MV Agustas from single-owner collection headed Bonhams’ successful sale at new London event
Hamer action from the new London event – Bonhams’ first sale at the venue
Private collections always draw attention at auction, as proved by the 74 motorcycles assembled by Roberto Anelli. Making the entire Bonhams sale at the Devitt MCN Ally Pally Show and Supersprint at Alexandra Palace, London, the September 23 bash had many desirable bikes with iconic British iron, significant racers and spotless Japanese classics. But it was the MV Agusta hoard that was the real attraction.
Eight desirable machines from the Italian marque ranged from rare roadsters and world championship racers to a 1978 Magni special. Yet despite the quality and exclusivity of the machinery, sale prices caused significantly less watering of the eye than anticipated. Star of the listings was a 1971 MV Agusta 750S, the four-cylinder, four-carb roadster. Derived from the 600cc shaft-driven 4C tourer of 1965, the 750S used a beefed-up 743cc engine and was the brand’s first road-going sports bike. Only 402 examples were made between 1968 and 1975. This bike shows just 7829 miles, and having previously sold at Bonhams’ Las Vegas sale in early 2016 for £87k its estimate stretched into six figures – yet the hammer dropped at £67,850. And a 1973 500/3 Grand Prix bike, thought to have been ridden by that there Giacomo Agostini, went for way less than its £250,000 to £350,000 estimate at £126,500.
Yes, we know these figures are still an awful lot of money. But in this company, the bikes appear to have been something of a snip.
Don’t take these sales as evidence of declining prices, mind – especially when it comes to those low-mileage
rarities. The auction included two examples of MV’S F4 Serie Oro, the limited edition ‘Gold Series’ version of the F4 750 inline-four sports bike. Designed with help from Ferrari, this descendent of that original 750S signalled MV’S comeback at the end of the 1990s. The first sale example had some 4000km on its odometer and sold for £19,550, which is a fair price; however, showing just 189km meant the second bike climbed up to £27,600 – over 40% more.
There were strong sales of other manufacturers’ produce, too. A decent ’69 Honda CB750 K0 hit a solid £16,100, despite not being the ‘sandcast’ variant, and there are obviously plenty of us still mistyeyed over our youth as a restored 1974 Yamaha FS1-E fetched £5175.
Fortunately there were affordableyet-desirable bikes for the less wellheeled, too. Honda’s light, powerful, reliable CR125M motocrosser was an instant hit in the early ’70s, won the AMA National Championship in ’74 and drove demand for small- bore off-roaders. Whoever paid £2530 for this nicely restored 1977 Elsinore example at the London event (complete with ace red grips) did quite alright for themselves.
The new event hosting the sale was a success, so hopefully we’ll see more at the same time next year. London-based classic fans can get a two-wheel fix much sooner, though, at the Carole Nash MCN London Motorcycle Show on 15-17 Feb at Excel. Early bird tickets on sale now atmcnmotorcycleshow.com