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• Auction House:
  Webb's
• Sale Name:
  Vintage Motorcycles and Industrial Design
• Sale Date:
  10 Mar 2013 ~ 1pm (NZ time)
• Lot #:
  6
• Lot Description:
  1970 Velocette Venom Thruxton 500 Dodkin Tuned
• Notes:
  The Velocette Venom Thruxton was the final development of Velocette’s remarkable pushrod single – a design in essence that dated back to the mid 1930s. Applying a minimal viable design philosophy the Thruxton’s evolution was slow. However, by the 1970s it had developed into a genuine 180kph machine. It was perhaps a poetic and fitting swan song for the entire British industry. With its romantic 1930s fishtails to its classically tuned power plant the Thruxton acknowledged 50 years of signature thinking. Considered the ultimate sports pushrod engine it included a sophisticated head with extra large valves and a down draught inlet port. This was married to an enormous carb that required a special cut away in the tank to fit. Combined you have an enormously flexible and highly economical power plant. Adding to this the proper black skin and racing fairing and cool aero dynamics and you have one timeless and wildly charismatic piece of kit which would have attracted the true outsider rider of the day. Setting records that still stand today and with only 1200 genuine Thruxton’s ever dispatched from the factory they remain one of the great collector bikes of the twentieth century. This example would be counted as one of the best in existence. History: This Thruxton has only had four owners. It was first registered in Cambridge, UK, on 9 March 1970 having been purchased new by Alan Baldwin. Baldwin onsold the Velo nine months later, through a dealer, on 14 January 1971 after finding it difficult to handle in city traffic. The new owner was a David Morton who registered the Velo in his name on 24 February 1971. Also in Cambridge, Morton owned the Velo for approximately 13.5 years and used it extensively except for a period of six years during which it was in storage in Sweden (from 1973 to 1979). The Velo was then returned to the UK and used through to 1985 when it was resold through a dealer. The new owner was Peter Thomson, a New Zealander living in the UK at the time. Thomson then delivered the Velo to Geoff Dodkin’s premises in London with instructions for Dodkin to fully restore the machine and fit a new dolphin AR9 glass-fibre fairing. The project was completed using many new parts; it was entirely repainted, rewired, etc. Completion of the task was confirmed in writing by Dodkin on 24 February 1986. In April 1986 Thomson shipped the Velo to New Zealand and it was registered on 30 June 1986. It was shipped back to the UK on 8 July 1986, arriving on 9 December 1986. Then, after the machine had spent 4.5 years in the UK, Thomson shipped the Velo back to New Zealand; it left in June 1990 and arrived in August 1990, and was registered on 17 December 1990. The Thruxton was purchased in Auckland from Peter Thomson by Pat Steer of New Plymouth on 3 November 2001 and Steer has been the proud custodian of this fine machine since. This Velocette Thruxton reluctantly comes to auction for reasons of age and health.
• Estimate:
  NZ$42,000 - 52,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Automobiles & Accessories

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.